Our Unit 20 bargaining team returned to the table today with a focus on improving the quality of care our Medical and Social Services Specialists provide as well as the quality of their personal lives. We impressed on the state that working in challenging, sometimes dangerous situations with high-need populations requires a commitment from the state to the well-being of our members.
The Unit 20 bargaining team reinforced the overall value of scheduling in today’s bargaining session. We also presented specific proposals on scheduling and working conditions for them to act on. Those proposals include:
- Language establishing a joint committee to create a standardized vacation bidding system that would allow our members greater latitude in planning their lives.
- Regional committees to develop temperature policies in areas with extreme temperatures. A comfortable environment is important, not only as a working condition for our members, but also for the comfort and safety of the people we serve.
We reminded the state that all of the issues we are bringing to them for Unit 20 members will not only improve the quality of our lives, but also work toward making the State of California the “employer of choice” for Medical and Social Services Specialists. We asked them to work with us to make employment in Unit 20 attractive—both for the recruitment of prospective employees and to retain current employees.
Today, hundreds of Unit 20 members took action in their workplaces in support of vacation scheduling negotiations at the table. They purpled up and wore leis to say they were “all in” for a better approach to scheduling time off.
Unit 20 returns to the bargaining table on next week to continue to push these issues as well as to prepare for our discussions on compensation.
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