On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, SEIU Local 1000 met with the California Department of General Services (DGS) to discuss the reissue and/or update of employee policy documents without proper notice to the Union.
Background: Bargaining Unit (BU) 14 leadership was alerted by membership that the Office of State Printing (DGS/OSP) had initiated the process of updating and/or reissuing employee policies and requiring that employees provide signature acknowledgement of receipt. BU 14 Chair Robert Vega contacted Union staff to address the issue and requested staff research whether the Union had been provided notice of the policy updates.
After investigation, it was determined that DGS/OSP had failed to notify the Union of the updated and/or reissued employee policies in accordance with MOU Article 24.1. In response, the Union issued a cease and desist to DGS/OSP and requested proper notification of any and all updated and/or reissued policy documents.
DGS/OSP responded by retracting one updated policy and authoring notice to the Union for the remainder of the updated and/or reissued policies in accordance with the agreement. Upon receipt, BU 14 requested a meeting with DGS/OSP to address the issue of notice directly.
Meeting: During the meeting, DGS/OSP agreed to the following:
- They will properly notify the Union of all updated and/or reissued policies in accordance with MOU Article 24.1.
- They recognize that an employee’s signature of acknowledgment on an updated policy is not equivalent to an employee’s agreement to the terms of the policy.
- They acknowledge that all employees must be offered copies of all updated and/or reissued polices, especially when a signature of acknowledgement is requested.
Next steps: If you or a coworker is asked to sign an updated and/or reissued policy by DGS/OSP reach out to your BU Chair to verify whether or not the Union has been informed.
You can contact the Unit 01, 04, and 14 inboxes with any questions you have about the implementation of updated and/or reissued policies at DGS/OSP by emailing [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]
Our BU teams were led by Robert Vega (BU 14), Susan Rodriguez (BU 1), and Karen Jefferies (BU 4). To learn more about your Bargaining Team, please go to www.seiu1000.org
Any other Union questions may be addressed by calling the Member Resource Center (MRC) at 866.471.SEIU (4738).