Unit 15 Upward Mobility Task Force Meeting

On June 15, 2018, the Bargaining Unit 15 Upward Mobility Task Force met with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and the Employment Development Department (EDD) to discuss the departments’ upward mobility programs for Unit 15 employees.

Garth Underwood, a Correctional Supervising Cook (CSC) in CDCR led the team with support from Eric Murray, CSC in CDCR, Ellis Washington, Custodian in EDD, Eric Colón, CSC in CDCR and Maria Patterson, Chair of Unit 15.

“Our goal for this meeting is to create a positive working environment so we can have productive discussions on how these two departments support our Unit 15 members and their ambitions for Upward Mobility,” said Garth Underwood. “…CDCR is currently developing a program that they hope to launch later this year, and the team is excited to use these meetings to share our experiences and provide valuable feedback as custodians and CSCs.  We represent all Unit 15 members and welcome input from everyone who wants to improve upward mobility.”

CDCR launched an email “hotline” to answer Unit 15 member questions on current upward mobility program items at: cdcrupwardmobility@cdcr.ca.gov

EDD and the team reviewed the current offerings for upward mobility in that department and discussed access issues for our Unit 15 members at EDD.

A follow-up meeting is scheduled for September 2018 with the goal of adding more departments to the task force.

If you would like to stay in touch, receive updates or have concerns at your worksite, please contact the SEIU Local 1000 Member Resource Center (MRC) at 866.471.SEIU (7348).