Glenn County Board of Supervisors Discuss Additional $1.1 Million Shortfall

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

In June 2010 the Glenn County Board of Supervisors approved the 2010-2011 budget with $2.4 million in cuts. While reviewing the 2010-2011 budget in July and August the County became aware of a shortfall of an additional $1.1 million. At the August 31, 2010 Board of Supervisors meeting the board directed the department heads to determine the effects of the potential cuts and how the cuts would be implemented. Some departments like the Assessor Recorders Office have a voluntary retirement that will help them meet this shortfall, however, most departments are not in that position. UPEC represented employees have already been voluntarily paying 4% of the PERS payment to help with the budget crisis.

The Board has to adopt a balanced budget by October 2, 2010. The discussion regarding the upcoming cuts was continued to the next Board of Supervisors meeting on September 7, 2010. Below are the cuts per department that was discussed at the August 31st meeting, please note that these numbers can be changed by the Board until the budget is adopted.

Sheriff’s Office $225,000
Planning and Public Works $235,000
District Attorney $100,000
Finance $220,000
Personnel $80,000
Clerk of the Board $80,000
Assessor/Recorder $40,000
County Counsel $80,000
Agricultural Commissioner $40,000
Probation $15,000
Total: $1,115,000

Updated Member Handbook Available

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A revised version of the UPEC Laborers’ 792 Member Handbook is now available from our downloads page.  You will need an account for our website to access this page - if you do not have one, please register through the link on the right-hand side of this main page.

De La Torre Appointed to LiUNA General Executive Board

WASHINGTON D.C. - Northern California District Council Business Manager Oscar De La Torre Appointed Vice President, Joins General Executive Board
Oscar De La Torre, Business Manager of the Northern California District Council of Laborers, has been appointed to LIUNA’s
General Executive Board to fill the position of VicePresident-at-Large.

De La Torre is a third-generation Laborer who first joined LIUNA in
1985 as a construction laborer and member of Local Union 261 in San
Francisco. De La Torre served as Secretary-Treasurer and Business
Manager of Local 261. In 2009, he was elected Business Manager of the
Northern California District Council of Laborers, a position he will
continue to hold as he serves on the General Executive Board.

“The service, dedication and commitment Oscar has shown to his
Local Union and the Northern California District Council of Laborers
will benefit all of LIUNA,” said General President
O’Sullivan. “He has strengthened a foundation built over
generations and is a true asset to our union.”

During his career, De La Torre has built strong coalitions with
non-profit groups and currently serves on the board of the San
Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, the Mission Housing
Development Corporation and the Instituto Laboral De La Raza.  De La
Torre also serves LIUNA through his work on the boards of the Northern
California Laborers Pension Fund, the Northern California Laborers
Health and Welfare Fund, and the Training & Retraining Fund and
the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee.

De La Torre called his appointment a “profound honor” and
said, “I look forward to working to make LIUNA even stronger and
to creating more opportunities for the men and women we
represent.”

LiUNA to Rejoin the AFL-CIO

Monday, August 16, 2010

San Diego - In a Laborers meeting at the LiUNA Tri-Fund Conference in San Diego Sunday, President Terrence O’Sullivan announced that the Laborers will rejoin the AFL-CIO on October 1, 2010. Several hundred LiUNA Representatives cheered the decision made that day by the LiUNA General Executive Board. He also announced that the Laborers will end the affiliation with Change to Win at the end of the month.
General President O’Sullivan added that Change to Win had served the union well and it was time to move forward and build and strengthen the AFL-CIO.

UPEC Supported Bill on Governors Desk

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

SACRAMENTO - Adults who provide alcohol to minors at parties may soon be facing expensive lawsuits in addition to arrest.

The Teen Alcohol Safety Act of 2010, or AB2486, would allow party hosts to be sued if they serve alcohol to a minor who is subsequently injured or killed. The bill, authored by Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, received bipartisan support in the Legislature and is now awaiting Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature.

“It’s a rare opportunity in public service to be able to author legislation that literally could save someone’s life,” Feuer said. “This is one of those bills, as we know from the tragedies that precede it. The stakes are very high here.” The bill was enacted in part as a response to the death of Shelby Lyn Allen, a 17-year-old from Redding who died in 2008 from alcohol poisoning after she drank vodka at a friend’s house while the parents were in their bedroom. A national survey released in March showed that the number of 9th through 12th-graders who reported drinking alcohol within the past month rose 11 percent between 2008 and 2009.

UPEC Business Manager Chris Darker who also serves as the Vice President for the Shelby Lyn Allen Alcohol Poisoning Education Foundation, is pleased with the Legislatures response to the Bill and getting it to the Governor in this session.

“This Bill will save lives and bring accountability and awareness of this growing problem to parents and children”, said Darker.  “Underage drinking is not acceptable whether it’s a child’s parent or not. I think it’s unfortunate that there are people who think as long as their children and your children consume alcoholic beverages under their roof that underage drinking is safe”, said Darker.

The Shelby Lyn Allen Alcohol Poisoning Education Foundation has found that many parents are just uniformed about the dangers of excessive drinking practices by teens and just how little it takes for their children to be poisoned. “There are others who could care less about our kid’s health and safety so I guess you can say there is a program for everyone now”, said Darker.

Steve Allen, Senior Labor Relations Representative for UPEC Local 792, and his wife Debbie lost their daughter Shelby on December 20, 2008 to alcohol poisoning and have been working to educate parents and teens on the dangers of alcohol while testifying on several occasions in Sacramento as the Bill worked it’s way through the halls of the capitol.

Feuer said the goal of the bill was not to create new liability for the sake of a lawsuit. “It would be my hope that the liability provisions of this legislation are never pursued in court because no further instances arise where adults provide alcohol to kids,” Feuer said.

Labor Federation Responds to Whitmans Latest TV Ad

Friday, August 06, 2010

California - What Meg Whitman doesn’t say in her new warm and fuzzy ad speaks volumes. The truth is, her tenure at eBay was riddled with failure. Whitman likes to talk about the jobs she created at the company but never mentions that under her leadership, nearly 40% of the company’s jobs were overseas. She presided over a 50% decline in the company’s stock during her final years as CEO and jacked up fees on US customers so she could expand the company’s presence in China. Whitman was even sued by her own shareholders at eBay for now-illegal insider deals she made while sitting on the board of directors at disgraced banking giant Goldman Sachs. In 2008, the company slashed nearly 10% of its workforce, cutting the jobs of more than 1,000 workers. Despite her record of failure, Whitman made more than $500 million at eBay.

California voters understand failure when they see it. The Whitman economic philosophy is simple: if it’s good for Wall Street and big corporations, it must be good for everyone. The millions of Californians who lost their jobs and their homes because of the economic collapse Wall Street created know exactly how dangerous that philosophy is. If Whitman were to run California like eBay, Californians could expect more outsourcing, job cutting and lavish perks for CEOs.

Her latest ad does nothing to answer the growing concerns voters have over her corporate background and Wall Street agenda. No amount of money spent on slick ads can convince voters that the CEO way is the right way. It’s time for Whitman to come clean about her corporate past and history of outsourcing and eliminating jobs.

From: Steve Smith, Communications Director, California Labor Federation