LIUNA Approves Variance

Thursday, January 08, 2009

HQ - Click on “Business Managers Office” for details.

Robo-Dial Installed

REDDING - UPEC has completed the next phase of it’s member communication devices this week with the installation of a “robo-dial” unit. This unit allows the Local to record a message and send it to the membership via telephone. Calls would be made by UPEC’s computer begining at 5:30pm and ending no later than 9:00pm. Recorded calls could be made for meetings of specific bargaining units, bargaining teams, stewards and local wide. “We know that most people don’t like recorded phone calls so we will keep them to a minimum and messages short as possible”, stated Business Manager Chris Darker. UPEC effort to provide fast and informative communication to it’s members began about two years ago as funding allowed. Affiliated Associations may request UPEC Staff to send robo calls to their members as well.

LIUNA Approves UPEC Executive Board Changes for 2009-2012

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

REDDING - The UPEC Board just received approval from LIUNA President Terrence O’Sullivan to reconfigure the UPEC Executive Board for the next term. Nominations will be held in April of this year for all positions on the UPEC Executive Board. The Local recognizes that additional areas are now represented by the local and there is a need to involve the membership from all areas so they too have an opportunity to serve and make policy for the Local Union. This was accomplished by adding one (1) additional Board member seat and changing the three (3) “At-Large” seats into regional specific seats. Additionally, the number of board member seats for each Region in the local will be determined by the number of members in the region or sector. A “Region” is generally a county or counties where UPEC represents members. A “sector” is a large group of one specific job class. The Regions are: Modoc, Siskiyou, Lassen, Trinity, Shasta, Glenn-Colusa, Butte, San Francisco, Healthcare, Santa Clara, and Monterey-Santa Cruz. All regions have at least one (1) representative (500 or less in region), two (2) seats for regions of 1,000 and more, and three (3) seats for regions with 1,500 and more. This and additional information will be mailed with the notification of election to each member.

NLRB Hearing Set for Shasta Regional Medical Center

REDDING - After two months of investigation and interviews by the National Labor Relations Board officials, a hearing date has been set for February 18, 2008 in Redding. UPEC staff have aggresively pursued recognition from Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. and filed charges against them for violating the the Collective Bargaining Agreement and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). On the eve of the “Halloween Nightmare”, UPEC filed charges with the NLRB against Prime and Shasta Regionl Medical Center for making unilateral changes without bargaining. This was followed by additional charges by UPEC and the Service Employees Internatinal Union (SEIU). “These are your typical Corporate Bullies who do what they want just to delay the bargaining process. These millionaires know they are violating Federal Law and only care about their bottom line”, said Darker. Darker contends this is a tactic right out of the “Union Busters Textbook”. The Union met with Primes Attorney on November 2, 2008 and tried to convince them to recognize the Union and made offers to try and settle the dispute. Additionally, UPEC continued to make offers to negotiate a settlement over a period of weeks and the Corporation has not invited UPEC back since November 2nd. “We work with employers all over the state and none of them treat their employees and their Union in this manner”, said Darker.
UPEC went through this before with Tenet Healthcare Systems between 2000-2003 where the Corporation kept the Union in litigation by appealing decisions and not settling. While the Union lost nearly $300,000.00 in revenue plus legal fees, UPEC ultimately prevailed and continued their representation of SRMC employees until October 31, 2008.
“I think it’s obvious that our members at SRMC needed our representation then and they certainly need us now. We could walk away from this mess but I can’t let good people; people who we have known for more than 10 years and are our friends and neighbors work for these Corporate bullies without our help”, stated Darker.

Shasta DSA Supports UPEC on Court Street Safety

REDDING - Shasta Deputy Sheriff’s Association President Jon Ruiz reported that his Association voted to support UPEC in our stand for better safety for employees and the public who cross Court Street.  On December 15, 2008, Business Manager Chris Darker spoke to the Shasta County Board of Supervisors about the danger to County employees and the general public crossing Court Street. “I am convinced more than ever that somethig needs to be done”, said Darker. On the evening before Darker appeared before the Board, a five year old boy crossing Court Street with other adults was hit by a car. Just a week prior, two Shasta County employees were hit at Court and Tehama Streets resulting in fatal injuries to one and critical injuries to the other. While Darker was speaking to the Board, Redding Police Traffic Units were busy writing tickets on Court Street in front of the Court House resulting in nearly 40 tickets ibeing issued in a matter of a few hours over two days.
“We have brought this issue to County Administrative staff before and because the cost ($80,000.00) nothing was done”, said Darker. Darker asked the Board to direct County Administration to work with the City of Redding to improve crossing conditions and called for a lighted crosswalk and overhead amber lights. The City is still looking into the problem but sounds reluctant to spend the money.
Business Manager Darker is asking for interested and affected employees to attend a short meeting at the UPEC Union Hall on Monday, January 12th at 5:30pm to discuss the issue and organize support for better safety on Court Street.

Shasta County General Unit Negotiation Fund

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

The SCGU voted on October 29, 2008 to continue having a $10.00 fee taken out of the paycheck where members receive three paychecks in a month. This fee is to be put into a negotiations fund to be used only for SCGU. The fee passed with a vote of 17 to 15. If a member has a concern or further questions that they would like to discuss the issue may be addressed at the next SCGU meeting on Monday, January 12, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at the Union office.