Union Siblings,
Yesterday, Thursday, September 21st we met with County officials to continue our determined quest of bargaining for a fair and deserved contract. The Union and the County have come to agreements in a few pending proposals.
In a major win for our members, the County decided to withdraw their proposal of eliminating the Open Window process that historically works in favor for employees with seniority. The County could not provide the Union with an alternative that was as fair and transparent and after weeks of questioning they decided to withdraw their proposal. This means our Open Window process will continue as it is.
The County also withdrew their proposal requesting that grievances begin to be settled within 365 calendar days. The Union rejected their proposal and after not being able to convince your Bargaining Committee as to how it benefits the membership it was voluntary withdrawn. This means our grievances with the County will take as long as needed for our members.
A third win for the Union was the County again withdrawing their own proposal that would have required the Union to share costs for any grievances that went to arbitration. The Union repeatedly asked why other unions did not share that same language and after being unable to justify why our membership had to be partially responsible for arbitration costs the County withdrew their own proposal.
The County rejected a proposal from the Union to codify the ability to have limited make-up hours in a pay period as long as it would not result in Overtime. We are aware this happens at various regions with a variety of supervisors and will continue to try and find a solution that is fair for workers. County officials stated they are not interested in codifying the language into our MOU.
The County rejected a Union proposal that could allow workers with 10+ years of service to accrue at a higher vacation rate of .087 hours and allow for more bankable hours up to 10 weeks.
The County rejected the Union proposal to add Juneteenth, a Federal holiday, to the County holiday calendar.
The Union continued to request a raise of 17% over 3 years with a $1800 ratification bonus. The County has not responded to our compensation proposal yet.
The County has proposed clarification language indicating that ANY probationary employee, whether new or promotional, if released and believes it is due to discrimination would have the ability to take that grievance to the third step in the process. Previously, this language only
applied to new hires but the expansion will now also protect promotional probationary employees. The County and the Union have agreed to this clarification language.
The Union has approved the County withdrawals of their proposals listed above.
Thank you to all our members who showed up to picket this week. We were able to have some of the same signs used on our picket line with us at negotiations to send a message that our members are active on the picket lines and inside the bargaining room. Your efforts and voices will not be silenced even when you aren’t present.
We will be updating the membership in the following days with future efforts to show County leadership that this fight is not over. Your messages of support and kindness keep us going forward in this battle.
Thank you for your solidarity and your bravery in showing leadership how
vital we are to this County and our clients.
AFSCME Strong!
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