Health Records Technician Bargaining Update for June 5

Notification

Unit 4 Meet and Confer for Recruitment and Retention at Avenal, Ironwood, Calipatria, Chuckawalla Valley, Centinela, High Desert, California Correctional Center, and Pelican Bay State Prison

On June 5, 2017, SEIU Local 1000 met and conferred with representatives from the California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) and the California Department of Human Resources  (CalHR) to negotiate on behalf of our Health Records Technicians working at Avenal, Ironwood, Calipatria, Chuckawalla Valley, Centinela, High Desert, California Correctional Center, and Pelican Bay State Prisons.

The SEIU Local 1000 team included Sophia Perkins, Chair of Bargaining Unit 4, Karen Jefferies, Vice Chair of Bargaining Unit 4, Sally Yarnall, a Health Records Technician from Centinela and Contract Department staff.  The team held discussions and passed a proposal to make Health Records Technicians and Medical Transcribers eligible to receive the Recruitment and Retention differential in Article 11.20 of the MOU.

“We strive daily to meet the needs of CDCR.  We provide critical services to physicians, nurses and hospitals to ensure a continuity of care.  The worksites where we do our work are remote, have severe weather reaching 118 degrees and have recruitment challenges,” said Sally Yarnall. “At these eight institutions, HRTs work alongside Office Technicians, Personnel Specialists, Custodians and many other classifications – the difference is that they are eligible for the differential, and we are not.”

“Restoring this differential is about equity at the worksite” said Sophia Perkins, Chair of Bargaining Unit 4. “It is about our members being able to live and participate in their communities.”

The meet and confer team will continue to engage our members as we wait for the state’s response to our proposal.