Our Unit 1 team—pressing to advance the pay and working conditions of our represented employees—met with the State on Saturday and again on Monday. While several tentative agreements were reached, we’re still awaiting answers on our economic proposals as we continue our fight for a number of Unit 1 classifications.
In several areas, we felt the State’s repeated resistance to recognize the commitment and contribution of Unit 1 employees, and the battles are heated and lacking a reasonable outcome, in some cases.
In one example, we were unable to reach agreement on a performance incentive for the Actuary classes. It’s troubling that the plan was created by a joint State/Union task force and recommended for new contract language by the State. It’s a frustrating conclusion after a long-time effort and multiple counteroffers.
Our efforts to update the 30-year California State Lottery Sales Incentive Bonus (affecting both Units 1 and 4) are still unresolved. Like the Actuary program, the results of a two-year effort by a joint State/Union work group are still being ironed out in the bargaining arena. We’re additionally frustrated by the State’s recent presentation of a counterproposal that left out any mention of economics. Our efforts on this issue continue.
EDD continues to use and abuse Permanent Intermittents without any effort to convert those workers to full-time status. What’s clear is that the State wants to create a “ghost workforce” that they can grow and shrink according to their needs, so much so that they’d like to take away our hard-won contract section 18.2.1 EDD PI’s Conversion and Ratio, altogether, or “hold it in abeyance” for three years.
By not observing previously-negotiated PI ratios and having a portion of EDD’s employee roster as “at will” employees, they’re creating real economic uncertainty for those workers. We continue the fight on this issue as our current contract comes to an end.
While Unit 1 is still waiting for responses on a range of economic proposals, including Special Salary Adjustments, we did reach tentative agreement on rollover language that preserves our current rights:
- 21.5.1 – Work Space Allocation
- 13.7.1 – Performance Standards
With just a few days remaining before our contract expires, Unit 1 is on standby to meet once again with the State to resolve outstanding issues. When we meet, you’ll read it here first!
To see updates on other bargaining unit contract sessions, please visit the Contract Action Center page at seiu1000.org
Winning a good contract starts with you. Don’t just belong to the Union, participate. Sign up for our Silent Protest March in Sacramento on June 29.