Bargaining Unit 3 conference call
Bargaining Unit 3 (BU3) welcomes new members and officers to its Bargaining Unit Negotiating Committee (BUNC) as a result of a special election on August 15.
The retirement of Jim Stoffer from DMH, and the layoff of Cindie Fonseca in CDCR, resulted in two vacancies. The new BU3 BUNC is:
One of our BU3 members was assaulted in her office at the California Rehabilitation Center. She was able to break free and then chase her attacker and cause him to be detained. This is the second teacher assault at CRC in recent weeks and is of grave concern. BU3 stewards at CRC have been fighting to keep their education officers in the education compound when inmates are present since a change was made in March. BU3 and local stewards will work together to demand a meeting in which the incidents are debriefed and security concerns can be raised with management. Clearly, policies regarding security coverage and alarm systems need to be changed. The union is filing grievances concerning safety, as well as reprisals that have resulted from prior grievances filed by our teacher stewards. John Kern asked all activists on the conference call to circulate cards of support on Aug. 23 and to get them to the BU3 leadership for forwarding to CRC.
Kathleen Snelling of Atascadero State Hospital reported that teachers in DMH routinely respond to assaults and have been directed to participate in searches as well as other non-teaching duties. She reminded us that all patients at ASH are also felons and most are not released to the community but to jail or prison. She said education is considered a low priority at ASH which seems to be part of a statewide trend in all agencies. There are now only 8 special education teachers and 6 vocational instructors at the work site. She said she knows the current economic climate is not the time to achieve parity with other BU3 members but DMH and DDS teachers look forward to fighting for parity in the future. She expressed appreciation for the work Jim Stoffer did on behalf of DMH and DDS teachers before his retirement from the bargaining team and state service.
Pamm Handel reported on the recent meeting of the Statewide Bargaining Advisory Committee (SBAC). Saturday included excellent training on speaking to the media about our "lavish" retirement by Nancy Farias and Naj Alikan. Several BU3 DBURs (District Bargaining Unit Representatives), old and new, attended a helpful orientation session. Margarita Maldonado, the chair of BU1, gave a bargaining update. Of course, much of the focus was on the current campaigns for governor, assembly and senate seats in California. The need to get our members and their families registered to vote and voting, by mail or at the polls was stressed. Tom Stroud echoed the fact that the SBAC meeting included valuable training and the all important reminder that our highest priority must be in the political campaigns this fall.
Collette Cunningham is the new DBUR for DLC 751. She agreed that the SBAC was very informative and looks forward to representing teachers and librarians in her DLC and from DDS and DMH. Gary Pannett gave a list of District Labor Councils which lack a current DBUR. John Kern emphasized that our goal is full representation for all aspects of BU3 in order to provide a voice for members in all employing agencies and in all classifications. He noted that the work Jim Stoffer did to represent concerns of teachers in DMH and DDS will be missed and we hope new leadership can be encouraged in this area.
Mark Barr echoed the need for wide representation in BU3 and said he agreed to participate as a new alternate bargaining team member to help meet the challenges ahead for DDS and DMH teachers especially. Jim Carreon said he has found the experience of bargaining on behalf of BU3 very challenging and eye-opening and he encouraged activists to join the BU3 bargaining team when the opportunity arises. "It's difficult but essential work," he said.
Local 1000 has decided to be public with its proposals at the bargaining table. Every proposal your bargaining team makes is posted on the Bargaining Unit News page. The employer's responses are summarized. We last made a proposal with significant movement on Aug. 17 and we will receive the Schwarzenegger Administration's response on Mon., Aug. 30.
Other BU 3 issues continue to be dealt with, although at a slower pace. We continue to meet with the employer regarding the combination of the 2287 and 2290 prison educator classifications. After being pressed by your bargaining team the State Personnel Board (SPB), in a meeting with the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA), finally agreed to allow CDCR to conduct the rehiring of teachers by combining the reemployment lists from both classifications. This guarantees that rehiring opportunities will be offered by seniority. We will be meeting with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) next week to agree on the implementation of this combination.
We will soon schedule meetings with CDCR over new regulations for inmate libraries. The impacts of these regulations will be negotiated with our Librarians, Senior Librarians and Library Technical Assistants with BU4 at the table.
A new layoff plan has been announced due to the closure of the facility known as Stark or CIM South. This could affect several educators depending on the staffing for CIM West. DBUR Larry Huff reported that CIM West is scheduled to reopen in the very near future and that teaching positions are not yet funded. Mitigation of the impact of the CIM Layoff will be negotiated by Local 1000 using a team of staff and members representing all the affected bargaining units, including BU3.
Although it is not yet official, the Lanterman Developmental Center in San Bernardino County is also facing closure. Renee Mondlack reported that no date has been announced but that the client census is dropping quickly. She asked if we could advocate for changes in the credentialing required in other state agencies in order to facilitate the placement of Lanterman BU3 employees. John said this was unlikely but that Local 1000 supports a retraining program in which teachers could add a necessary credential to facilitate a career change within state service. Stay tuned on developments at Lanterman.
The California Rehabilitation Oversight Board (C-ROB) was created by AB 900 and includes representatives from education and public safety agencies statewide. Executive Director Laura Hill has been very active in seeking advice and information from our members. Recently she has been visiting prison schools to check on the implementation of the new academic delivery models. Cindy Greer reported that she recently visited VSPW and saw first hand the full classes and the lengthy waiting lists. She has also noted low student enrollment in some male prisons where some teachers face empty or partially empty classrooms, despite the huge layoff of teaching staff earlier this year. The next meeting of the C-ROB is Sept. 8. BU 3 representatives will attend and address the members of the board who are always interested in hearing reports directly from practitioners in the field of correctional education.
John Kern reminded all activists that the bargaining team depends on a constant flow of information from our members in all the institutional schools in which we work. We need these reports in order to do the best job possible in representing the important work of BU3 educators in the legislature, in the press, in front of oversight committees and in negotiations with our employer, the State of California.
Many thanks to BUNC member Gary Pannett for moderating the conference call.
- Chair: John Kern, CDCR - Division of Juvenile Justice
- Vice Chair: Kathy Skow, Department of Rehabilitation
- Alternate Vice: Pamm Handel, CDCR - Division of Juvenile Justice
- Member: Gary Pannett, CDCR - Division of Adult Institutions
- Member: Tom Stroud, CDCR - Division of Adult Institutions
- Alternate Member: Jim Carreon, CDE - State Special Schools
- Alternate Member: Mark Barr, Department of Developmental Services
- Alternate Member: Don Marriott, CDCR - Div. of Adult Institutions
One of our BU3 members was assaulted in her office at the California Rehabilitation Center. She was able to break free and then chase her attacker and cause him to be detained. This is the second teacher assault at CRC in recent weeks and is of grave concern. BU3 stewards at CRC have been fighting to keep their education officers in the education compound when inmates are present since a change was made in March. BU3 and local stewards will work together to demand a meeting in which the incidents are debriefed and security concerns can be raised with management. Clearly, policies regarding security coverage and alarm systems need to be changed. The union is filing grievances concerning safety, as well as reprisals that have resulted from prior grievances filed by our teacher stewards. John Kern asked all activists on the conference call to circulate cards of support on Aug. 23 and to get them to the BU3 leadership for forwarding to CRC.
Kathleen Snelling of Atascadero State Hospital reported that teachers in DMH routinely respond to assaults and have been directed to participate in searches as well as other non-teaching duties. She reminded us that all patients at ASH are also felons and most are not released to the community but to jail or prison. She said education is considered a low priority at ASH which seems to be part of a statewide trend in all agencies. There are now only 8 special education teachers and 6 vocational instructors at the work site. She said she knows the current economic climate is not the time to achieve parity with other BU3 members but DMH and DDS teachers look forward to fighting for parity in the future. She expressed appreciation for the work Jim Stoffer did on behalf of DMH and DDS teachers before his retirement from the bargaining team and state service.
Pamm Handel reported on the recent meeting of the Statewide Bargaining Advisory Committee (SBAC). Saturday included excellent training on speaking to the media about our "lavish" retirement by Nancy Farias and Naj Alikan. Several BU3 DBURs (District Bargaining Unit Representatives), old and new, attended a helpful orientation session. Margarita Maldonado, the chair of BU1, gave a bargaining update. Of course, much of the focus was on the current campaigns for governor, assembly and senate seats in California. The need to get our members and their families registered to vote and voting, by mail or at the polls was stressed. Tom Stroud echoed the fact that the SBAC meeting included valuable training and the all important reminder that our highest priority must be in the political campaigns this fall.
Collette Cunningham is the new DBUR for DLC 751. She agreed that the SBAC was very informative and looks forward to representing teachers and librarians in her DLC and from DDS and DMH. Gary Pannett gave a list of District Labor Councils which lack a current DBUR. John Kern emphasized that our goal is full representation for all aspects of BU3 in order to provide a voice for members in all employing agencies and in all classifications. He noted that the work Jim Stoffer did to represent concerns of teachers in DMH and DDS will be missed and we hope new leadership can be encouraged in this area.
Mark Barr echoed the need for wide representation in BU3 and said he agreed to participate as a new alternate bargaining team member to help meet the challenges ahead for DDS and DMH teachers especially. Jim Carreon said he has found the experience of bargaining on behalf of BU3 very challenging and eye-opening and he encouraged activists to join the BU3 bargaining team when the opportunity arises. "It's difficult but essential work," he said.
Local 1000 has decided to be public with its proposals at the bargaining table. Every proposal your bargaining team makes is posted on the Bargaining Unit News page. The employer's responses are summarized. We last made a proposal with significant movement on Aug. 17 and we will receive the Schwarzenegger Administration's response on Mon., Aug. 30.
Other BU 3 issues continue to be dealt with, although at a slower pace. We continue to meet with the employer regarding the combination of the 2287 and 2290 prison educator classifications. After being pressed by your bargaining team the State Personnel Board (SPB), in a meeting with the Department of Personnel Administration (DPA), finally agreed to allow CDCR to conduct the rehiring of teachers by combining the reemployment lists from both classifications. This guarantees that rehiring opportunities will be offered by seniority. We will be meeting with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) next week to agree on the implementation of this combination.
We will soon schedule meetings with CDCR over new regulations for inmate libraries. The impacts of these regulations will be negotiated with our Librarians, Senior Librarians and Library Technical Assistants with BU4 at the table.
A new layoff plan has been announced due to the closure of the facility known as Stark or CIM South. This could affect several educators depending on the staffing for CIM West. DBUR Larry Huff reported that CIM West is scheduled to reopen in the very near future and that teaching positions are not yet funded. Mitigation of the impact of the CIM Layoff will be negotiated by Local 1000 using a team of staff and members representing all the affected bargaining units, including BU3.
Although it is not yet official, the Lanterman Developmental Center in San Bernardino County is also facing closure. Renee Mondlack reported that no date has been announced but that the client census is dropping quickly. She asked if we could advocate for changes in the credentialing required in other state agencies in order to facilitate the placement of Lanterman BU3 employees. John said this was unlikely but that Local 1000 supports a retraining program in which teachers could add a necessary credential to facilitate a career change within state service. Stay tuned on developments at Lanterman.
The California Rehabilitation Oversight Board (C-ROB) was created by AB 900 and includes representatives from education and public safety agencies statewide. Executive Director Laura Hill has been very active in seeking advice and information from our members. Recently she has been visiting prison schools to check on the implementation of the new academic delivery models. Cindy Greer reported that she recently visited VSPW and saw first hand the full classes and the lengthy waiting lists. She has also noted low student enrollment in some male prisons where some teachers face empty or partially empty classrooms, despite the huge layoff of teaching staff earlier this year. The next meeting of the C-ROB is Sept. 8. BU 3 representatives will attend and address the members of the board who are always interested in hearing reports directly from practitioners in the field of correctional education.
John Kern reminded all activists that the bargaining team depends on a constant flow of information from our members in all the institutional schools in which we work. We need these reports in order to do the best job possible in representing the important work of BU3 educators in the legislature, in the press, in front of oversight committees and in negotiations with our employer, the State of California.
Many thanks to BUNC member Gary Pannett for moderating the conference call.