Public Employee News - July 2008
Let's get back our roots
By Don Dietrich, director
Unionism began to take shape in America in the late 1800s, around the time the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) organized Dec. 7, 1896. The brave souls who are our forefathers of the union movement took great personal risks and sacrifices for the common good of the working class.
Working conditions were horrific, and lives were lost due to unsafe working conditions. Resistance to organized workforces was often violent and deadly, yet our forefathers pushed forward, risking life and property. They were able to unite workers to stand together for strength, and their collective effort brought advances in safety, wages and benefits.
If you think your employer is bad now, imagine working 50-80 hours a week with no overtime. Imagine losing a hand or an eye at work and not receiving any medical or financial assistance. No vacations, no sick leave, no weekends – you can see why our forefathers were willing to risk life and limb to improve working conditions.
Now more than 100 years later, we benefit from the early struggles. Most of the early sacrifices are long forgotten and taken for granted, and there is a complacency among organized workers. You see the same members at union events, and participation dwindles each year
We are facing a crossroads in organized labor once again. It’s time to stand together for the good of working men and women. The economy is horrible, people are losing their homes, health care costs are skyrocketing and work is being outsourced to countries where the deplorable working conditions our forefathers fought against still exist.
What can we do? Let’s get back to our roots. It’s the coming together in unison for collective strength that forces improvements to working conditions and compensation. We need to organize ourselves for the fight of a lifetime. While it won’t be violent like our forefathers faced in the late 1800s, it’s still a fight.
So let’s get up off the couch and work together. Whether it’s political action or attending meetings, we all need to put in the effort. Politicians still recognize organized workers as a viable force to be reckoned with. We just need to show them we are up to the challenge.
Knowing what is important
By Art Frolli, business representative
Many public-employee contracts run from January through December, or more commonly, July through June. Since most governmental agencies work from a fiscal budget, it only seems logical that Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) would follow the same time frame. Because of the anomaly mentioned above, coupled with multiple bargaining units’ contracts all coming due for renegotiation, the first half of this year has been quite busy. From the beginning of the year through June 30, I negotiated six successor agreements spread throughout Northern California. Many of my colleagues also negotiated multiple contracts during this time.
In the public sector, each bargaining unit is a separate entity with specialized needs and goals. Typical negotiation issues include salary increases, retirement enhancements, health-care benefits, special pay, cost-of-living increases, call-out pay, premium pay and post-retirement health-care costs or other retiree enhancements. All of these issues have different values depending on how they are perceived by the bargaining unit.
Before the opening of a contract, an agent should meet with the bargaining unit, so everyone has an understanding of the goals of the group before entering into negotiations. The agent should have a list of benefits the bargaining unit would like to see in the upcoming contact and a ranking of which items are most important to the group. The agent should also have an idea of what the bottom line is for the group and keep that in mind before entering into a tentative agreement.
Generally, the top three issues are salary increases, retirement enhancements and health-care benefits. In the past few years, rising health care costs have become a growing concern at the bargaining table. Employers generally want to pass some of the cost onto the employee, while the employee is trying to maintain the status quo.
Generally, a successor agreement can be completed in as few as two or three days or as long as a year, depending on the level of commitment by labor and management to reach an agreement. Remember: Often times, the definition of a successful contract is that neither party is completely satisfied, so it is important to know what benefits are most important to the represented members.
County executive draws a crowd for CEMA lunch
By Randy Johnese, business representative
County Executive Pete Kutras attracted more than 300 participants for the County Employees’ Management Association’s (CEMA) first Professional Development Luncheon of 2008. Kutras was introduced by CEMA President Edna Esguerra and CEMA Second Vice President for Professional Development Dolores Morales. In a departure from previous years, Kutras chose to speak at the first luncheon of the year instead of the last. His speech focused on lessons from Santa Clara County’s history, which was well received by the audience composed primarily of CEMA-represented middle managers. CEMA sponsors four to five Professional Development Luncheons a year using a fund the group negotiated with Santa Clara County. Participants pay $10, and any uncovered costs are picked up by CEMA.
Politics and pubic employee associations
Get involved, or get run over
By Fred Klingel, business representative
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, public employee associations were getting their teeth kicked in for more reasons than one. Once they had enough, they banded together and passed strong laws to protect all public employees – the Myers, Millias and Brown Act – and other special rules, such as the Police Officers’ Bill of Rights, also known as POBR. These laws found in the 3500 series of the Government Code have protected public employees for nearly half a century, but many attorneys and some employers are not enamored with the rights of their employees or with those who put their lives in harm’s way to protect the citizens they serve.
Times have changed, and public employees need to refocus on a not-so-new paradigm called political action. The concept has been around for eons but has never been the focus of smaller associations.
Politicians (quite a few of them former attorneys) constantly seek to reach higher office, and to do so, they need your vote. Associations (no matter how small) need to be politically active and involved in their local political scenes, whether it is with the school board, city council, county board of supervisors, state office or even the judiciary. Judges are appointed by the governor, and they run for re-election every few years.
How do these associations get started? First of all, you have to know the people in your community, where you live, shop, eat and for those in law enforcement, where you patrol (your beat). Individuals who work in the courts: Know your judges, deputy district attorneys and the defense and civil attorneys. Know the movers and shakers in the community, like those involved in the political scene and business. Get involved, and help these politicians with their pet projects, because they all have them. Larger law enforcement associations like the Police Officers’ Research Association of California (PORAC) have been doing this for years, and it works for them. PORAC is politically savvy, which you can see for yourself if you join your local chapter and attend a meeting. The knowledge gained from becoming politically active is a tremendous asset to your association. Remember: These associations will support the candidates of your choice, but you will need to get involved.
All Local 3 members should urge non-members to join and get involved. Most Local 3 members on the public employee side are aware they are part of a much larger construction side but don’t get involved. This is an unfortunate position, because your association is missing out on some helpful, dedicated members with abilities.
Get involved in phone banking at your local district office during the upcoming elections, and make an effort to learn from the experience. The union has been doing this for years, and you’ll gain insight on what can be done in the political arena and how the people in your community think. Get involved in the districts, because they are the ones supporting you and the politicians you want in office.
No matter how small a group or association you belong to, I urge you to become a part of the whole, larger part. Those of you on the sidelines whining about how unfairly you have been treated and how nobody listens to you – it is time to do something about it or ride into the sunset. Get involved, or get run over. Remember: Any journey starts with the first step.
What part of the word "hire" did you not understand?
By Bill Pope, business representative
Seeing a promotion, resignation and retirement create workload increases and raise safety concerns for the employees at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay, Local 3 Job Steward John Draper made a plea to the San Mateo County Harbor District commissioners to lift the hiring freeze and hire a permanent deputy harbormaster. The commissioners agreed to his request and directed the general manager to immediately hire someone for the position.
After that meeting, the general manager decided he was going to fill the vacancy with a transfer from another harbor. The employee selected for the transfer contacted the union and stated he did not want to be transferred and did not understand the transfer process, so I demanded to meet and confer regarding the impacts of the transfer.
Both issues were resolved at the next San Mateo Harbor District Commission meeting in which Draper and I addressed the commission. We explained how the general manager implemented the commission’s decision, and they were not pleased. The president of the commission stated they knew what they were doing when they decided to lift the hiring freeze and instructed the general manager to hire a deputy harbormaster. The issue of the transfer was discussed, but they wanted a new hire. So, the general manager hired a new employee, and the employee who was going to be transferred didn’t get transferred; case closed.
CEMA political action underway for 2008
By Tom Starkey, business representative
CEMA recently launched its 2008 political-action activities with attendants of the South Bay Labor Council Committee on Political Education (COPE) Banquet held at the San Jose Convention Center.
This is an important year for Santa Clara County politics, as three board of supervisors’ seats hold an election this year. Seats in District 2 and District 3 will need new leadership, since both incumbents are termed out. Incumbent Liz Kniss is running unopposed in District 5. The direction of the board and a pro-labor majority is at stake in this election. The CEMA Political Action Committee (PAC) is working hard to support candidates who support CEMA’s bargaining issues in the upcoming 2009 contract negotiations.
The PAC held endorsement interviews in March and made endorsement decisions in April. Members are now walking precincts, fundraising and making phone calls on behalf of CEMA’s endorsed candidates. A runoff is possible in District 2 and District 3. Hopefully by November, CEMA will claim success for the election of two new board members who support the concerns of middle management.
