 are (l. to r.) Local 777 Business Manager Fred Lowe; Board Member Paul Bechely; and Mike Duffy, Local 777 Housing Authority POA President. |
"Keep the Movement Moving! " - Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Early Settlement for Riverside County!
"This is the first time in all my years with the County that I remember getting our raise on time!" This, according to Sandy Brown, Investigative Tech, is only one of many "firsts" the recently ratified MOU will bring to Riverside County employees. Additional "firsts" include the highest raise in County history at 13.41% (compounded) over the thirty-six months for the majority of County employees who currently are at the top step, and the LIUNA supplemental Pension. This means on July 1 of this year all employees represented by the Union will receive a 2% pay increase in addition to the 3.3% pay increase everyone will receive this March 23.
The MOU also included money for additional Parity adjustments. All represented employees received a 10.12% pay increase (compounded) for the 36 month MOU expiring this June 30. In addition to this over 2,362 UPEC members have already received Parity adjustments of an additional 5.5% - 20.6%. "When we began our organizing campaign in January of 1997 we told employees it would take five years before they would really see any appreciable difference," reports Business Manager Fred Lowe. "There are currently an additional 2,015 employees now under study, and we are confident that by the time our new MOU expires the vast majority of employees we represent will agree that changing to UPEC representation was the smartest thing County employees could have done…"
Governor Gray Davis signed two bills sponsored by Local 777 and its public sector sister Locals that will help our Housing Authority Police in Los Angeles and will change the Government Code to allow the LIUNA (Industrial) Supplemental Pension to coordinate and integrate with PERS.
PERS had recently given a legal opinion that it would take legislation to "fix" antiquated language in the Government Code regarding defined benefit plans. PERS legal counsel had opined that, as the Code was silent on this issue a Bill had to be passed and signed by the Governor allowing supplemental plans like LIUNA's.
State Senator Joe Baca (who has since been elected to Congress with LIUNA support!) agreed to sponsor the legislation and SB 583 was born!
are (l. to r.) Local 777 Business Manager Fred Lowe; Board Member Paul Bechely; and Mike Duffy, Local 777 Housing Authority POA President. |
Training Money Sought
Local 777's other goal for the 1999 Legislative session was on behalf of its members that work as Police Officers in the Los Angeles Housing Authority. For some reason dating back many years, they had not been allowed to receive Training money from the Peace Officers Training Fund, which comes from the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST).
The training money comes from the collection of fines and forfeitures, which the Housing Authority has been contributing to for years!
Assemblyman Carl Washington from Los Angeles agreed to sponsor the legislation, creating Assembly Bill 1336.
Robert Pernell, former Research Director from the LIUNA Legislative Dept. in Sacramento, provided the leadership that helped move the Bill through the various committees in both the Assembly and the Senate. He was recently appointed a Commissioner to the California Energy Commission by Governor Davis. A great big thank you to those UPEC members who gave up their Monday and Friday evenings to make phone calls for Representative Baca including Lillian Hall, Ron Hall, Greg Haushalter, Priscilla Haushalter, Bobbie Maddox, Jeanette Perez, Sala Ponnech and UPEC staff members Linda Jefferson, Dee De Jong and Kathie Delgado.
Special recognition goes to Lillian Hall who is an Office Assistant II in the District Attorney Family Support Division. Lillian was almost a fixture in this campaign. She volunteered countless hours. Lillian has a way with telephones and was quite convincing.
 Lillian! |
 and Frank Silva |
Environmental Services employees working in the Intensive Treatment Facility, Frank Silva, Carolyn Williams, Rene Malone and Cathy Dougherty, recently received back pay in amounts ranging from $397-$500 in settlement of a grievance filed on their behalf by UPEC Representative Linda Jefferson. These employees had been required to respond to pages during their lunch hour which violated their right to an uninterrupted lunch period.
The settlement paid each affected employee one-hour per each ten days worked during the two-year period of April 24, 1997 through April 24, 1999. Also part of the settlement was an agreement to continue the general weekday lunch break from 11:00 AM -12:00 Noon and establish a "rotation lunch period" which will provide continuous coverage to the Department and uninterrupted lunch breaks for the employees.
Through the UPEC-County Labor Management Committee, Permanent Floater positions have been created and approved by the Board of Supervisors. There are still openings if you are interested in a six month trial period. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life and maybe this could be the promotional opportunity you've been looking for!
To apply, call Assistant Human Resources Director Dave Wahlquist at: 955-3587.
 DeJong, Vicki Kasad from Human Resources, Committee member Randy Kuettle, Chief Steward Carol Gordon, and Committee members John Fazio and Michele Jecter |
Employees for the City of Lake Elsinore recently ratified a new MOU through June 2002, with the able assistance of UPEC Representative Dee De Jong.
UPEC members received a 4% increase effective July 1, 1999. In each of the next two years they will be given a raise based on the April Consumer Price Index (CPI) for that year. The City also agreed to absorb any increases in medical coverage for the employees for the duration of the MOU. Other improvements include the establishment of a Standby Policy and a Sick Leave Buy Back Policy.
The union bargaining team was comprised of Carol Gordon, Jon Fazzio, Michele Jecter, and Randy Kuettle, and they deserve a round of thanks for their commitment and professionalism!
Over the last few years an Animal Control officer has been required to work routine shifts in the various districts on county recognized holidays except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. When the officers complained about this not being cost effective and the interruptions to family life it was met with vague arguments of it being "required" by different ordinances.
Mark Visyak, a Worksite Leader, with the support of his fellow officers, set out to do the required research and found no such ordinances! Mark came to UPEC with this problem and asked for union assistance in getting the holidays off and instead be allowed to work standby for emergencies.
A meeting was held that included Mark, ACO Doug Kopitzke, Supervisor Randy Grissom, and Interim Manager Ian Dalgetty. A consensus was reached that will now allow Animal Control officers to remain on emergency standby instead of having to work on holidays.
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UPEC Riverside Staff Director Carol Macera |
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Thirty-four Local 777 members from the Cities of Los Angeles, Downey and Pasadena, as well as from our Los Angeles Housing Authority Police, attended the Steward Training held last year at the Pasadena Hilton hotel. Offered for college credit by the Labor Center at Los Angeles Trade Technical College, the course was taught by prominent arbitrator Lou Zigman, Esq.
Giving two Saturdays is not easy but it is those kinds of sacrifices that make our union strong, because you are the "U" in union!!!
Many of the members asked that we make this an annual event, and so we will. This year we will plan it well in advance to give "U" more time to arrange your schedule so that "U" will be able to attend!
Approximately 80 City of Newport Beach part-time employees voted overwhelmingly to be represented by Local 777 in their employment relations with the City.
The organizing campaign, headed by Linda McSweeney and Representative Paul Bechely focused mainly on part-time workers employed at the Library and City Hall. According to Paul Bechely, many of the employees had worked for several years for the City but have never received any medical benefits, sick leave, vacation or holiday pay.
After winning their Agency Shop election by an almost three-to-one margin, City employees face tough bargaining for a new MOU as a lot is at stake.
Because the union will attempt to negotiate stronger language to protect against privatization, negotiations should be turbulent. Privatization issues are now very real after the recent election of some Council members who believe a cost comparison should take place with the private sector for every City job…
We asked early enough and we scored! We were able to buy a block of tickets behind home plate in the Inner Reserved Section for a Saturday, June 17, 1:05 p.m. day game against the St. Louis Cardinals and Mark McGwire!
Tickets cost $15 each and once they are going, going, they will be gone! Make your check out to: LIUNA Local 777 or call the Local's office for more info.
 of Los Angeles membership meeting. Posing with Laura (third from left) are (l. to r.) Local 777 Representative Steve Belhumeur, and Chapter Board members William Montgomery, Kurt Reschke, Lorna Ward (Chapter President), John Curtin and Oscar Suquette |
The public sector will soon face a shortage of qualified employees that may reach crisis proportions-becoming worse than the private sector-in the next ten years. This, according to a recent study done by Samuel M. Ehrenhalt of the Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, N. Y.
Ehrenhalt's study found that 45% of public employees were 45 or older in 1998, compared with 30.1% of private-sector workers. He also found that the public employee workforce is aging more rapidly. Its 45-64-year-old contingent jumped from 36.8% to 41.7% of total government payrolls between 1994 and 1998, whereas the share of private-sector workers of a similar age edged up from a low 25.3% to 27.8% during the same period.
The other side of the coin is the relative death of workers under 35. Ehrenhalt reports that such young workers represented just 27.6% of public employees in 1998, compared with 43.2% for the private sector.
In the next decade the number of U.S. workers aged 25 to 34 will shrink by some 3 million. Also in the next decade (at least in California) one half of all Department Heads will retire, and with them will also go a tremendous amount of public sector knowledge and expertise…
This means that the challenges we face will only grow, and we will have to continue being more creative and open to new ideas if we are going to help solve the problems that confront us on a daily.
On January 2 Myrah Slusher who worked in the Environmental Services Intensive Treatment Facility, died of cancer.
UPEC members and staff want her family to know that we are aware of the pain they are going through, and that we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers… Myrah was an early UPEC supporter during the 1997 Election Campaign, and will be missed by all who knew her.
