State uses stone-age logic to deny laptops, cell phones

Updated 11:00 a.m., July 18
Failing to recognize the most basic need for tools that would enable our Educational Consultants and Librarians (Unit 21) to properly do their jobs, DPA negotiator Randy Fisher classified cell phones and laptops as “leisure items” while describing himself on multiple occasions as “lucky” because he had both.

Unit 21 members spend up to 50 percent of their work time in the field, and are required to stay in contact via phone and e-mail. Currently, phones and laptops are not provided.
Fisher continued by saying “It’s a choice between what’s most efficient, and what’s most cost effective, and the state gets to decide.”

“We’re not only disappointed at the state’s extreme lack of concern, but Randy Fisher’s cavalier answer,” said Terry Lawhead, bargaining chair of Unit 21. “He cited typewriters, ditto machines, and Dictaphones as examples of ‘things that used to be necessary’ but repeatedly minimized the need for modern technology.”

Two tentative agreements were signed on Thursday, including one that allows members to exercise “professional judgment in scheduling work hours and location.” Our bargaining team exchanged 2 additional proposals, while the state presented seven, including five that should have been submitted at the master table.