Presidio Board Willing to Move

Friday, May 23, 2008

BAY AREA - Local 792 received word this week that the Presidio Trust Board, for the first time, is willing to move on due process and negotiating wages and benefits. Union Negotiators have been working for a first contract with the Presidio Trust for over seven years. LIUNA Public Employee Director Bob Purcell and Local 792 Business Manager Chris Darker met with Presidio Top Administrators in Sacramento two weeks ago to work out a deal in light of the unions recent move to amend legislation that would ultimately mandate the Presidio Trust to provide the same pay and benefit package as other federal workers. Trust employees currently are at will and have no due process rights. “This is great news for our members at the Trust. We have a choice at this point. We can negotiate a contract that we both could live with or let the legislation dictate where we go next”, said Darker. UPEC Chief negotiator Steve Allen began negotiations in November 2007 shortly after Local 792 merged three bay area bargaining units into the local. In January, the union layed out a political solution to the seven year stalemate and joined forces with the San Francisco Labor Council. In March, Allen and his bargaining team reached the first tentative agreement followed by five additional tentative agreements in negotiations. The next negotiations session is tentatively set for June 10th in San Francisco.

Board Says, “Glenn Superior Court-Stand before the Federal Judge”

REDDING HQ - The UPEC Local 792 Executive Board made a local historical decision yesterday to retain the Law firm of Goyette and Associates to see that Glenn Superior Court is held accountable for their misconduct. Nearly four years ago, UPEC Business Manager Chris Darker determined that Glenn Superior Court Clerk Norma Raygoza had not just been wrongfully denied a promotion but that she was discriminated against because she was Hispanic. Darker pursued the issue through the grievance procedure for nearly a year when the Court Administrator, Tina Burkhart, suddenly decided promotions are not subject to arbitration. Since the Court had no interest in settling the matter in-house, Darker recommended that Raygoza contact the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This is a process that must be initiated by the victim which in this case was Raygoza. “The Court Administration has broken the law by discriminating against a person because of their race”, stated Darker.
In February 2005, UPEC member Norma Raygoza contacted the EEOC who eventually agreed to conduct a full investigation of the Glenn Superior Court. During this time, Norma continued her work as a Court Clerk II and trained current and new clerks how to do the work of a Clerk III and IV (higher classifications which Administration say’s she doesn’t qualify). The EEOC gathered depositions from current and past employees and finally in July 2007 issued their findings. The EEOC found that Glenn Superior Court had discriminated against Norma Raygoza because of her race (Hispanic) A VIOLATION OF FEDERAL LAW! Darker and Raygoza were happy that the EEOC had proved what they knew all along but saddened by the fact that it was true. “In this day, I find no comfort in the fact that our own judicial system, the people who we trust to administer justice, find this behavior acceptable”, stated Darker. Despite being supervised by those who discriminated against her, Norma has continued to go to work every day. “This has been hard on me and my family. I have had to force myself, on many occasions, just to get out of bed. I have to fight this discrimination for my children and grandchildren, and for everyone who is being discriminated against because of their race”, stated Raygoza.
The Court agreed to meet for a settlement conference in January 2008. UPEC Representative Dave Ritchie and Norma Raygoza left in the darkness of morning and travelled to San Francisco for the conference. By mid-morning, Glenn Superior Court Administrators stated they had nothing to offer as settlement. The court administrators said since they promoted Raygoza to Court Clerk III in August 2007 (finally and only after the findings of guilt) they had done all they could do. This not only surprised Raygoza and Ritchie but also the EEOC.
In April 2008, Norma Raygoza received her “Right To Sue” letter from the EEOC. “Obtaining this type of letter from the EEOC is very rare these days”, stated Darker. This letter grants her permission to take the Glenn Superior Court to Federal Court and sue them for discrimination. The only problem is if Raygoza wants justice it will come at her own expense and time from work a problem Court Administration is betting on. The union is not obligated to represent members beyond what the collective bargaining agreement states which in this case is arbitration. In fact, in this case, UPEC’s legal obligations were completed in December 2004. “There was no way I was going to close my case back in 2004. There is no room for racism or bigotry in our union. I have always believed we must see justice done and that an injury to one is an injury to all”, stated Darker. “I want every employer who employs our members and discriminates against them to know that UPEC, Local 792 will go the extra mile to see justice done. I am sure the Glenn Court was not counting on the union getting involved but they still have a few weeks to do the right thing”, said Darker.
Board members are in disbelief that a California Superior Court broke the law and now refuses to make it right, “I was deeply moved by Norma’s case.  It is particularly personal to me because I work for the California court system”, stated Board Member Tom Pringle. “I believe we have a moral obligation and this case tests the principles that are the foundation of our union”, Stated Board Member Ron Huey. Since March, the UPEC Executive Board has been reviewing this case with legal counsel Paul Goyette. The UPEC Board decided yesterday to step up support to do all it can financially and to gain the support of all union members to raise the money necessary to get this case to Federal Court and back.
The Board has established a special Legal Defense Fund for cases such as this. Donations can be made to the “NORMA RAYGOZA LEGAL DEFENSE FUND”, C/O United Public Employees of California, Local 792 1860 Park Marina Drive. Redding, California 96001.

Shasta Courts Employees Ratify New MOU

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Earlier tonight, members of the Shasta Courts Unit - including Court Clerks, Courtroom Clerks, Court Reporters, Service Officers and other non-supervisory Court employees from the Superior Court of California, County of Shasta voted to ratify a successor MOU after three months of negotiations with the Court.  The MOU, set to last 16 months, includes a one-time payment to all bargaining unit employees, and holds employee contributions for Retiree Admin Fees at their current levels.  Medical, Dental and Vision formulas will continue over the course of the MOU and for the first time, the Court has agreed to pay stipends for Court Reporters providing real-time reporting, Bilingual employees fluent in spanish, and has agreed to create a new Service Officer classification at 5% above the current class - recognizing increased responsibilities for SO’s performing dispatch functions.

Let Public in on Labor Deals

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Sac Bee Editorial: Let public in on government labor deals
Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, May 13, 2008
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/932926.html

Peter Scheer, who heads the California First Amendment Coalition, has a novel idea: End the secrecy surrounding local government labor contract negotiations.
You can understand the logic and the urgency behind his idea when you consider the situation in Vallejo. That city is filing for bankruptcy. Why? Local officials approved salary and benefits costs for current employees and retirees that are more than the city can afford.
Scheer’s point is that California law allows local government officials “to avoid public discussion of the true cost and fiscal impact of the pay deals that they have approved.” By the time the public sees anything, a union contract already is a done deal and no changes can be made.
In some states, all phases of the bargaining process, including negotiations, are open to the public (though government officials may discuss strategy for labor negotiations in closed session). Minnesota, Florida, Kansas and Tennessee are examples.
California is at the opposite extreme. The state’s Brown Act not only allows negotiations about salaries and benefits to be conducted behind closed doors, it allows local government officials to vote on a final agreement in closed session. Only after that vote and union acceptance of the contract does the local government have to let the public in on the deal. And only then does the text of the contract become a public record – when it’s too late to change anything.
The situation in Vallejo should cause legislators to revisit this nonsense. At a minimum, legislators should require local governments, before any vote, to publish a proposed contract and prepare a single, authoritative, easy-to-read document listing all parts of the offer, including cost. They also should require local governments to hold a public hearing to consider the financial ramifications of every labor agreement. The vote to approve or reject the contract should be held in public session.
The Vallejo debacle highlights a basic truth: the public that pays the bills should be able to see and question a contract before a vote, not after.

CELEBRATE NATIONAL NURSES WEEK

Monday, May 05, 2008

Last week UPEC, Local 792 celebrated “National Nurses Week” for our represented employees in that field. Spearheaded by Business Manager, Chris Darker and Union Relations Representative, Christine Peery the nurses were honored by radio spots throughout the week in the north-state.

The Union also prepared a barbecue tri-tip dinner for the nurses at Shasta Regional Medical Center. The volunteers began setting up at 8:00 AM and were not done serving until after 10:00 PM that night. Over 120 pounds of tri-tip were cooked and served along with beans, salad, rolls and beverages to our member R.N.’s, L.V.N.’s, and technicians at the hospital.

Numerous volunteer’s stopped by or spent the whole day running this event. I would like to thank Chris Darker, Christine Peery, Executive Board President Mike Cottone, Executive Board Members Holly Pearson, Debra Belstad, and Steve Suske, also Joe Harvick, Allie Lyon, Paul Heckman, Patti Wyatt, Crystal Mair, Danielle Standley, Jerry Stark, Terri Bono and the sons and daughters of some of these members who helped spell their parents late in the afternoon. The hospital would not allow us to have the event in their parking lot so we did the next best thing on a nearby public parkway. I know I probably left someone out who helped during the day and if I did I apologize in advance. Without all of the help an event of this magnitude would not have been possible. Executive Chef, Joe Harvick, was responsible for the excellent tri-tip that was served during the day.

A live radio remote was held from noon until 2:00PM by KSHA 104.3 FM, along with the radio spots that were heard on KSHA, KQMS, and KRDG. It was a family atmosphere throughout the day with a good time had by all. Negotiations updates were handed out and questions were answered for the SRMC employees. Special thanks to bargaining team members Debra Belstad, Tina Vaughn, Robyn Nickels and Danielle Standley who spent time at the event.

Thank you all for making this a success.

Shasta Courts Supervisors to Vote on New MOU

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Supervisory employees at Shasta Courts will be voting next week on a potential successor MOU.  Voting will take place by ballot between 12 and 1pm on Monday May 5th, with special provisions being made for Supervisory employees stationed at the Burney Court.  The settlement carries the recommendation of the Negotiating Team and although that recommendation is made, no additional details are available at this time other than those available to members of that specific bargaining unit.  This story will be updated with results of that ratification effort on Monday May 5.