Bargaining Unit 1—representing a diverse group of classifications in Professional Administrative, Financial, and Staff Services—went to the bargaining table with State negotiators on April 19 and hit the ground running with five tentative agreements on their first day of negotiation.
“Our Unit 1 team has worked diligently since the last contract negotiations in 2019 to prepare for this,” said Susan Rodriguez, Unit 1 Bargaining Chair. “A number of taskforces, joint labor-management committees (JLMCs), and workgroups were established during that time to open up the dialogue surrounding key issues for Unit 1. We will present contract proposals that address the joint recommendation of those groups.”
“With such a diverse bargaining unit, representing many different skill sets, we’ve found the workgroups, taskforces, and JLMCs to be powerful tools to continue negotiating for better working conditions,” Susan said. “In fact, two of our agreements today keep those groups in place.”
Unit 1 presented five contract articles to the state for “rollover,” signaling our desire that the existing language remains unchanged, keeping in place the hard-won rights from previous contract campaigns. The State agreed, and thus, a “tentative agreement” was reached on these five articles:
- 11.28.1 – California State Lottery (CSL) Business Building Incentive (BBI) Program
- 5.13.1 – Correctional Case Records Analyst Workload Committee
- 5.16.1 – Disability Determination Services Division (DDSD) Joint Labor Management Committee
- 21.7.1 – Organizational Development
- 21.9.1 – Business Cards
Of particular note: in reaching an agreement on 5.13.1, the State recognized the importance of the need for continued effort in solving workload and other issues in the Correctional Case Records Analyst classification.
Unit 1’s next meeting with the State to win a contract that Respects Us, Protects Us, and Pays Us is set for April 25. To read about what happened in Tuesday’s other bargaining sessions, please visit the Contract Action Center page at seiu1000.org
There’s real truth to the Local 1000 slogan, Stronger Together. We only win a great contract with a strong Local 1000 membership. So, if you’re not already a member, we encourage you to join us today.