Lottery Stewards and members creating a better workplace through better, regular communication with management
California Lottery employees can look forward to improved working conditions after a committed group of Local 1000 Stewards organized for and secured a meeting with the newly appointed Lottery Director. They made real progress on several, closely felt workplace issues and set the stage for further improvement through regular meetings.
Those issues included managers who are hostile towards stewards and their union activities; the uneven application of and adherence to rules, policies, and laws; and Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaints are not being fairly and/or thoroughly investigated.
Beginning in January, the CA Lottery Stewards Team, comprised of members from Lottery offices across the state, planned and executed a number of steps leading up to a meeting with Lottery Director Harjinder Shargill-Chima and key Lottery staff.
The four-month effort set the stage for real change at the Lottery:
- EEO at the Lottery will now issue a 90-day status letter to complainants.
- Some Lottery managers are being confronted and investigated for their behavior toward stewards and others.
- Quarterly meetings with the Lottery Steward Team members and Lottery managers will begin in August 2024.
- Members will be contacted by their stewards to provide input into their concerns to raise at these meetings.
“These results come from members coming together and making a stand,” said Lottery Steward Mike Ramos, who’s also the vice chair of the Unit 1 bargaining team. “We now have a regular forum to identify and solve issues of importance to Lottery employees.”
A shout-out to these member-activists-stewards at Lottery: Mike Ramos, Paulina Vasquez, John Reedy, Kim Brown, Amanda Hobaugh, Kimberly Lopez, Marie Valencia, Roland Kwan, Sandra Seldean, Adrian Llammas, Cullen Kral and Frances O’Rourke. They were joined in key meetings by Irene Green, VP for Bargaining, and Local 1000 Contract Department staff.
“The meeting with our new director was productive, engaging and encouraging. It opened up communication between the lottery and SEIU-represented employees which will pave the way in making the Lottery a great place once again for all our members,” said Steward Kimberly Lopez.
If you have questions or concerns about the Lottery workplace, contact your Local 1000 Steward!