Susanville POA begins Safety Campaign

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Susanville - The Susanville Police Officer’s Association have recently started their Community Safety Campaign.  Association President Matt Wood will be working together with UPEC Union Relations Representative Christine Perry to launch a radio campaign to address safety issues in their community. “We are pleased to work with KSUE and KJDX Radio to bring this program to the community”, said Perry. Each month the topic will change, May featured Bicycle safety tips as May is Bicycle Safety Month.  June will focus on driving safety issues for children’s safety and vacation travel. 
Susanville POA joins many of our UPEC Law Enforcement Associations that are doing their part to promote public safety. “I commend the Susanville POA for taking this step in their community and Christine on carrying out our Community Action Plan and her commitment to assist our public safety officers both Police and Fire in promoting public safety”, said Business Manager Chris Darker. The Susanville Police Officer’s Association is proud to take a leadership position in the community to serve with pride, protect the future of their citizens and help promote their community.

SRMC and RN’s at Impasse

Friday, May 23, 2008

REDDING - Following just a few negotiations sessions, management at Shasta Regional Medical Center and the UPEC Registered Nurse Bargaining Unit declared impasse last week however, if you watched the local news SRMC management claimed the union walked away from the table and an un-named union spokesperson stated “the union was going to picket the hospital and go to the media”. Business Manager Chris Darker denied the hospitals accusations in a TV news interview initiated by a press release from SRMC Management. “We had no reason to go to the media, we were still in negotiations and had sent a letter to the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)”, said Darker.  Chief negotiator Mike Lyon stated the hospital was unwilling or unprepared to continue negotiations and SRMC’s Chief Negotiator gave Lyon the “go-ahead” to contact the FMCS.
SRMC RN’s are currently over 12% behind other area hospitals and want parity and future increases. The hospital stated they are not interested in paying a competative salary now or in the future. SRMC Administration is concerned that the Nurses may strike and stated they have a contingency plan in place. SRMC Nurses went on a five-day strike a decade ago when Tenet Healthsystems owned the hospital and refused to restore benefits they unilaterally cut prior to voting in the union.  Business Manager Chris Darker stated that a strike is not in the works at this time and said “Only the Registered Nurses at SRMC who are union members can decide and vote on a strike”. Local 792 has only had two strikes in the past thirteen years. The hospital is now owned by Health Partners of America (HPA). SRMC is the only hospital it operates in California and has other facilities in Texas.

Pacific Grove to start Negotiations

PACIFIC GROVE - UPEC Labor Representative Rick Burruss is preparing to get negotiations back on track following the recent hearing with the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB). The union filed a case with PERB when the City unilaterally decided that all City employees were going to be made “at-will” and many services would be contracted out. This in turn put negotiations on hold in the fall of 2007 prior to Local 792 acquiring this bargaining unit. Burruss attended the recent hearing in Oakland which ended in an agreement between the union and the City that essentially said the City would drop it’s effforts to make employees “at-will”. UPEC anticipates that this next round of negotiations won’t be easy either. Pacific Grove may be looking to take their employees out of the PERS retirement system. Upec represents 136 employees in the City. 

UPEC to get S.F. Law Suit back on track

BAY AREA - UPEC members in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) may be closer to getting a settlement in a case that has been dragging on for years. LIUNA won a Blood Borne Pathgen Arbitration five years ago. The case was filed on behalf of workers who were coming into contact with Blood Borne Pathagens in the course and scope of their duty. The GGNRA administration failed to provide training and special equipment to deal with and dispose of hypodermic needles and related paraphernalia. The union contends that the settlement is calculated at $2.2 million dollars and the Fed’s are at $157,000.00.  Labor Representative Dave Ritchie has been assigned to work on a remedy on June17-18, 2008.

Presidio Board Willing to Move

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.