Modoc County General Unit Ratifies New Two Year MOU

Thursday, September 30, 2010

The Modoc County General Unit recently voted to accept a two year contract for their unit. The County has recently been facing the threat of bankruptcy because of a fourteen (14) million dollar deficit. With the possibility of bankruptcy on the horizon the employee’s agreed to the following in a two year contract:
1. All employees shall remain frozen at their current step in salary range and they will not be eligible for a merit or longevity increase for a continuous year for each employee.
2. For a period of no more than two years all employee’s will waive a $50.40 cash payment for health insurance and all employees who opt out of health insurance will waive the $350.00 per month that they received. Both will be re-instated no later than September 1, 2012.
3. Employees receiving State Disability may elect to supplement their SDI payment with an amount of paid sick leave (if available) converted in hours that will in combination not exceed their regular salary for the pay period.
4. Sick Leave incentive will be eliminated for a period not to exceed two years. It will go back into effect no later than September 1, 2012.
5. Effective January 1, 2011 all floating holidays will be eliminated for a period of two years and they will go back into effect on January 1, 2013.

This was a difficult situation for all members especially the bargaining team members. I would like to thank the bargaining team members; Bill Hall, Betty Brown, Melissa Carnahan, Nancy Richardson, Dennis Seaton, Jessica Johnson and Brian Ascherman for all of their time and hard work that they put into negotiations.

Candidate Precinct Walking

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

REDDING - Candidates are asking for support in getting their message out to Redding and Shasta County Citizens. Precinct walking is in it’s third week and volunteers are needed for just a few hours on Saturday and/or Sunday through November 1, 2010. Please contact Tammie at UPEC 530-245-1890 to sign up and for further details.

Support Police and Fire Rally

PRESS RELEASE

REDDING - Faced with unprecedented cuts in both Police and Fire Services, as well as a City Council who refuses to bargain in good faith, a coalition of concerned citizens is holding a rally and march on TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5th beginning at 4:00pm in front of the Redding City Hall.

This is your opportunity to support our police officers and firefighters who put their lives on the line every day to protect the community.
We will also recognize the many other hard working City employees who are facing deep cuts in their departments.
For more details, contact Chris Mitchell with “Citizens United for Public Safety” at 530-242-0309.

Study: Unions Make Even Nonmembers Happier

Friday, September 24, 2010

Paul Kix
AOL News
The American worker has never been more dissatisfied with his job. Meanwhile, union membership continues its 50-year decline. Coincidence? Benjamin Radcliff thinks not.

He’s a professor of political science at Notre Dame and the co-author of a new study about unions in 14 nations. His research shows that people who live in countries thick with union membership are a happier lot—regardless of whether they’re in a union or not. “There’s a direct effect of being a member and sort of an indirect effect,” Radcliff tells AOL News.

The study crunched life-satisfaction data from several European countries, as well as Japan, Australia and the U.S. As its write-up notes, happiness with one’s life increasingly means happiness at work, and so Radcliff and his colleagues looked to see what brings nine-to-fivers joy.

In a (oversimplified) word: unions. For those who are members, there are all the obvious gains, such as job security, decent salaries, decent hours, decent benefits. But for workers who aren’t, there is Radcliff’s indirect effect: “People who have union jobs like their jobs better,” Radcliff tells AOL News. “And that puts pressure on other employers to extend the same benefits and wages to compete with the union shops.”

As if to pre-empt the complaints of the good people at the Cato Institute, the study also says that the subset of union members making the highest salaries don’t attribute their happiness to unions. It’s the lower-paid people who find contentment through organized labor.

Also, happiness itself is only somewhat quantifiable, even viewed through the prism of work, Radcliff says. To take the best measure of it, one needs to consider the unemployment rate, the level of trust among countrymen, even church attendance.

But, on the whole, there is “a causal relationship” between happiness and the density of unions, Radcliff says. Denmark ranks near the top in both categories. The United States, by contrast, ranks in the bottom third for happiness among the 14 countries studied. “There’s a reason for that,” Radcliff says.

Ex City Manager of Bell, CA Arrested

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

HQ - Eight current and former Bell, California, city officials were arrested Tuesday in connection with a probe conducted by the Los Angeles County district attorney, a source close to the investigation told CNN.

High salaries paid to city officials sparked local outrage and national attention when they came to light in July. Bell City Manager Robert Rizzo, Police Chief Randy Adams and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia resigned after media reports they were each making several hundred thousand dollars a year.

District Attorney Steve Cooley planned to speak to reporters about Bell on Tuesday afternoon.

Last week, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown sued eight current and former officials “to recover the excess salaries” that Bell officials were being paid. He also was pursuing a reduction of their pension benefits.

Provided by CNN

Chico Employees Join UPEC

Friday, September 10, 2010

CHICO - The Confidential Employees of the City of Chico petitioned the United Public Employees of California Local 792 (UPEC) to become their exclusive employee representative. The Petition was filed June 16, 2010 by UPEC with the City manager on behalf of the Confidential Unit, The secret ballot election was held July 22 - 29, 2010 and won nearly unanimous approval.
The City Council approved UPEC as the Recognized exclusive employee representative. “We are pleased with the results of the election and look forward to working with the members”, said UPEC Business Manager Chris Darker.
This unit will be the only unit that UPEC represents in the City of Chico. The unit contains Administrative Assistants, Analysts, Human Resources Technicians and Paralegal Staff.
Business Manager Chris Darker will lead the negotiations beginning September 20th.