The Unit 21 bargaining team - representing Educational Consultants and Librarians - was at the table for nearly 14 hours today, and signed 17 tentative agreements. Among the most important is the creation of a new Education Leave Pilot Program that will allow members with five years of service to use a month or more of education leave for professional development.
Another important tentative agreement victory addresses our member priorities over a negative work environment created by bosses. Many Unit 21 members complain that supervisors frequently ignore their professional expertise. This new tentative agreement will create a joint labor management committee to address this issue specifically. The new professional assessment and development committee will include all agencies with Unit 21 members.
Unit 21: Educational Consultants & Librarians
The educational consultants and librarians of Unit 21 includes consultants who work with educational programs from pre-kindergarten through post-secondary or higher education, and the state librarians and archivists.
Today, Local 1000 returned to the negotiating table to meet with representatives from the state and continue bargaining for our new contract. The state spent the last two weeks reviewing the proposals we gave them in April - 29 Master Table proposals affecting all Local-1000 represented employees, and 50 different proposals affecting our nine individual bargaining units.
During that same time, the bargaining team took this opportunity to host six town hall and 158 worksite meetings up and down the state. They updated members and encouraged them to become active because each member is critical to successful contract fight. Before and after each town hall meeting, bargaining team members spoke one-on-one with attendees, connecting with them on a more personal level to hear their comments and answer their questions.
Between April 29 and May 10, more than 100 Bargaining Update Meetings are scheduled at worksites all over California to inform members about our bargaining progress. Our bargaining team members are working hard to build upon our previously hard-fought contract wins by strengthening employee rights and benefits, providing additional compensation and improving our medical coverage.
At these meetings, you will receive information regarding what we have presented to the state, any resulting developments, and you will have the opportunity to ask questions. You'll also have an opportunity to become part of a Contract Action Team (CAT) to deliver news about bargaining and contract actions to your coworkers. Our contract starts and ends with you! Be sure you're there every step of the way!
Local 1000's bargaining team signed the first tentative agreement of our new contract at the master table today, one that provides a huge advance in our fight against outsourcing.
The agreement makes permanent the Budget Solutions Task Force that was established by the June 2012 Side Letter Agreement. The ongoing work of the task force is to achieve real savings by reviewing and analyzing private vendor contracts. It also reduces the use of outsourced work that can be done more efficiently and at less expense by state employees.
Our bargaining team presented a new proposal today that would limit the state's ability to use retired annuitants and student assistants - another provision of the side letter agreement to be made a permanent article in our contract.
Today's negotiations also included further discussion of our proposal to improve the business and travel expense article. Local 1000 members provided expert testimony about out-of-date and insufficient reimbursement and per diem rates.
Local 1000 returns to the bargaining table tomorrow and again on Friday.
The Unit 21 bargaining team returned to the table today - for the second time this week - to focus on issues of importance to the Educational Consultants and Librarians represented by Local 1000.
Unit 21 presented five proposals to state representatives:
- Formation of a Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) on disabilities.
- Formation of a JLMC on professional assessment and a change of culture.
- Continuation of a JLMC on community colleges.
- Continuation of a JLMC for archivists.
- Continuation of a JLMC for bus driver trainers.
Our bargaining team also discussed the impact and importance of our master table proposals and how they would specifically impact Unit 21 employees: anti-bullying measures, changes in the business and travel article, and bilingual pay. The state's bargaining team is composed of different members at different tables, and this effort is designed to communicate to the state as broadly as possible our members' key priorities.
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Dear Unit 21 employee: This morning our bargaining team met with the state to present proposals, which pertain specifically to our unit. These proposals seek to protect our existing contract language and improve our unit specific interests.
Here are the highlights of the proposals presented today:
In Solidarity,
Miguel Cordova
Unit 21 Bargaining Chair
Stay informed throughout the bargaining process - there are several ways for you to keep up-to-date on the latest news and information:
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Local 1000's bargaining team - more than 200 member-elected representatives - worked through the weekend to review the results of bargaining surveys and develop conceptual proposals that will drive our upcoming contract negotiations with the state, which are slated to begin April 10.
Protecting retirement security, preserving medical benefits, an end to furloughs and a wage increase were among the key priorities expressed by members. Our Bargaining Unit Negotiation Committee (BUNC) further parsed survey results - including member comments - to develop proposals specific to each of our nine bargaining units.
The Local1000 Statewide Bargaining Advisory Committee--consisting of more than 200 elected members from throughout the state--came together Jan. 12-13 to map out a strategy and timeline to guide our upcoming fight for a fair contract.
Their agenda included development of an aggressive plan to gather member input and to engage and mobilize thousands of state workers to support the bargaining process.
"We're working to protect and improve the benefits and working conditions we have fought to achieve," said Margarita Maldonado, Local 1000 vice president for bargaining.
Representatives from every bargaining unit also came together to discuss the importance of representing workers in each individual unit. Please click here for the full bargaining unit report.
On November 30, 2012, the Department of Human Resources (CalHR) Benefits Division released the following information:
Effective January 1, 2013, the personal vehicle mileage reimbursement rate for all State employees will be 56.5 cents per mile. The relocation/moving mileage reimbursement rate for all current State employees and New-Hires to State service will now be 24 cents per mile.
Hundreds of bargaining unit member leaders recently met on October 6-7 in San Diego to discuss critical campaigns for Local 1000. Representatives came from all areas of California to discuss the importance of the November election and make over 3,400 calls to urge a NO vote on Proposition 32. We heard from speakers from our coalition partners such as the League of Women Voters and the Center on Policy Initiatives regarding the importance of partnering to defeat anti worker propositions and campaigns.
We discussed the implementation of our side letter agreement and were given an in-depth review of common violations since July 2012.
In addition, with contract bargaining approaching, member leaders discussed best practices for prioritizing diverse and critical issues. Preparation for bargaining will take center stage at our next Statewide Bargaining Advisory Committee meeting in January 2013. Please click here for the full bargaining unit report.
Bargaining Unit 21 October 2012 SBAC [PDF]