UPDATE: Local 685 Unit Bargaining
Negotiations for a successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – our union contract – have been ongoing for months and although most other County bargaining units have settled, and many have received their first pay raise, your Local 685 bargaining committee has respected members’ directive and refused to accept Chief Probation Officer Terry McDonald's demands.
Specifically, the Chief, in exchange for a modest pay raise (the same raise other County employees have already secured), is demanding that we give up:
- The 56-Hour shift at Camps;
- Our seniority rights; and
- Our transfer rights.
(See article below for an update on our joint effort to secure an additional 1% and a $1,000 one-time bonus.)
56-Hour Shift
In a series of membership surveys in August 2018:
- 95% of members completing the survey directed our bargaining committee to reject the Chief’s proposal to eliminate the 56-Hour shift at Camps.
- Just 8% of staff working at the Camps stated that they would stay at the Camps if the shift was changed to a 4/40 – 92% stated they would either transfer out or leave the Department.
- 78% of members currently working in the Halls stated that they would not promote or transfer into the Camps if the 56-Hour shift is eliminated.
- Camps personnel overwhelmingly reported that eliminating the 56-Hour shift would negatively impact our ability to treat minors in our care, specifically in the areas of:
Family reunification
Staff-client relationships
Behavior modification
Family access to MDTs
Educational advancement
Seniority and Transfer Rights
For years, anti-labor forces in both the public and private sector have been attacking the bedrock principals of seniority and transfer rights in an effort to allow management to cherry-pick which employees can promote and move into new positions – either up the ranks or laterally. With her bargaining proposals, our Chief has clearly revealed herself to be a card-carrying member of the anti-labor tribe.
The seniority and transfer principles are objective and quantifiable, promoting solidarity among workers as opposed to individualism. They protect workers from arbitrary treatment, particularly vulnerable workers, including people of color, women, LGBQT, and seniors. Critically, these rights provides job security in an environment ruled by political whims, a revolving door of senior leadership, and racial and gender bias.
Professionalizing the Halls
Local 685 has long advocated for professionalizing the Halls to enhance our ability to rehabilitate the minors in our care by providing a career path in the Halls. We surveyed members, specifically asking: “If you were allowed to promote into the DPO series (DPO 1, 2, and 3) and remain in the Halls, would you remain in the Halls?” The answer?
57% of those working in the Halls stated they would in fact remain in the Halls if a career path was available to them!
Your Local 685 Bargaining Committee will continue to hold firm. Members stated overwhelmingly in the surveys that you are ready to take action, from wearing a button in solidarity at your workplace, to worksite actions, to rallying at the Board of Supervisors. Stay prepared to take action!
|
UPDATE: Fringe Benefits Negotiations 2018
On Wednesday, October 17, 2018, after 8 months of face-to-face meetings with CEO Representatives, the CEO’s office made its final offer to the Coalition of County Unions (CCU) for a successor fringe benefit memorandum of understanding. The CEO’s final offer, which is economically inferior to wages and benefits agreements the CEO made to other County Unions, was unanimously rejected by the ten unions affiliated with the CCU.
The following compares the two packages offered to County employees by the CEO Sachi Hamai:
|
Value* of additional 1% + $500 bonus:
$60,073,318
Number of Covered Employees in CCU:
28,539
Per em
ployee d
ifference between CCU offer and SEIU agreement:
$2,105
*The gross cumulative difference assumes that 100% of population gets 1% raise and $500 bonus. Does not include additional 2% for Sheriff's Dept. employees, and does not include accounting for wage increases that are on a different cycle.
The County claims that in order to pay for the additional 1% pay raise, and to fund the additional $500 bonus above what was offered to the CCU, SEIU Local 721 agreed to a significantly lower increase in the County’s contribution to their Options Plan (similar to our Choices Plan):
|
When applied to the population of County employees that participate in the Choices Plan – those affiliated with the Coalition of County Unions and several other labor organizations – the savings to the County of these lower contributions is significantly more than the cost of the 1% pay raise + the $500 one-time bonus.
Value of lower Choices contribution:
$111,427,577
Number of Covered Employees in CCU:
28,539
Per employee difference between SEIU agreement and County’s budgeted Choices increase:
$3,904
Clearly, if the Coalition of County Unions was to agree to the lower Choices Plan contribution to fund a larger pay raise and one-time bonus, there is more than sufficient savings available. The County’s final proposal is
inequitable and punitive
, negatively impacting 28,000 fire fighters, doctors, engineers, appraisers, probation officers, deputy sheriffs, building and construction trades workers and more.
From an economic perspective, the County’s proposal does not make sense:
- The 2018-19 budget is $32.8 Billion, larger than 36 states and equal in size to the state of Arizona.
- On October 2, 2018, the CEO reported an additional $200.7 Million in 2017-18 year-end fund balance, which that day was put into already healthy reserves.
- On October 15, 2018, the CEO’s budget director reported reserves of nearly $2 Billion, of which $913.8 Million in reserves are unallocated and available to allow County employees to keep up with the cost of living; and $624.6 Million in reserves are set aside for Board of Supervisor priority projects.
- The State and Federal government, along with Contract Cities, cover 61% of the cost of salaries. Therefore, the additional cost to the County (above the SEIU 721 tentative agreement) is not $67.5 Million; it is just $26.3 Million.
Efforts to raise these issues with the County Supervisors has met with deaf ears. Therefore, the CCU is planning a powerful public response designed to win a fair contract.
About the CCU
The
Coalition of County Unions
is comprised of ten AFL-CIO unions representing more than 28,000 fire fighters, doctors, engineers, appraisers, probation officers, deputy sheriffs, building and construction trades workers and more.
The CCU negotiates the “Coalition of County Unions Fringe Benefits Agreement” while member unions negotiate individual unit contracts for wages and working conditions.
The CCU Fringe Benefits Agreement also applies to a number of County unions not affiliated with the AFL-CIO, including the Professional Peace Officers Association (PPOA) and Teamsters Local 911.
The following Unions are affiliated with the CCU:
- L.A. County Probation Officers’ Union, AFSCME Local 685 – AFSCME 685
- American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees Council 36 – AFSCME DC 36
- Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs – ALADS
- Committee of Interns and Residents, Service Employees International Union, Local 1957 - CIR
- California Association of Professional Employees – CAPE
- International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501 – IUOE 501
- Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building Trades Council – LA/OC B&CTC
- LA County Fire Fighters Local 1014
- LA County Lifeguard Association - LACOLA
- Union of American Physicians & Dentists, UAPD – AFSCME, AFL-CIO
|
Ninth Circuit Mulls Extent of Protection To Accord Probationers’ PCs, Phones
Friday, November 16, 2018
Metropolitan News-Enterprise | By a MetNews Staff Writer
Pending before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the issue of whether, by virtue of the huge amount of personal information that can now be extracted from a user’s computer or cellphone, decisions allowing the warrantless search of such devices by a probation officer, as a condition of a supervised release, have been rendered obsolete.
Read more
|
|
Local 685 Meeting Schedule
December
General Membership Meeting
Dec. 6; 7:30 PM
Stewards Meeting
Dec. 20; 7:30 PM
Location*
AFSCME Local 685
3701 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 510
Los Angeles, CA 90010
*Pursuant to our Local 685 Constitution, the General Membership meeting has been fixed on the second Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at the Local 685 Union Hall at 3701 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 510, Los Angeles, CA 90010 (except November and December/ 1
st
Thursday of the month).
|
AFSCME Advantage
Being an AFSCME member doesn’t only get you an advantage at the bargaining table – it also gets you access to discounts and benefits that can help make life a little easier.
- Auto Advantage
- Scholarships
- Health Services
- House & Home
- Insurance
- Legal
- Money & Credit
- Travel
- Union Shopping
|
AFSCME Local 685 Constitution
|
Article I:
Name
The name of the Local shall be Los Angeles County, California, Probation Department Employee Local Number 685 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO.
Article II:
Affiliations
This Local shall be affiliated with California District Council Number 36 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO.
Article III:
Objectives
The objectives of this local union shall be to carry out on a local basis the objectives of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees and the following additional objectives and methods:
A. To promote the organization of workers generally and public employees in particular.
B. To advance the social, economic, and general welfare of its members.
C. To foster and promote a liberal and progressive public attitude toward probation services.
D. To promote efficiency in public service generally and to cooperate in providing efficient service.
E. To extend and uphold the principle of merit and fitness in public employment.
|
|
