Click! Network Broadband Technicians Face Uphill Battle
Our newest members of Local 120, the Broadband Technicians of Click!
Network, have been getting a hard time from City management lately.
Since winning recognition as represented employees, Click!
management has spared no opportunity in attempting to ignore their
newly acquired union membership status.
First there was the City's mandatory training for non-represented
employees, to learn about the new 'pay for performance' employee
evaluation program. Their boss had ordered them to attend the
training, even though it does not apply to represented employees.
Only after intervention by Union President John Ohlson, did their
boss back off, and rescind the order to attend the training.
Next they were forced to change their work shift from daytime hours
to 2:00 AM - 10:00 AM with one day's notice; to accommodate after
hours maintenance work without paying overtime, as has been the
custom. The City maintains they have always done things this way,
even though that has not been the case.
Lately, Click! Network management
has demanded that the new bargaining unit of Click! Network employees
negotiate their new contract after hours, unlike ANY other of the 28
Union bargaining units in the city, who do their negotiating on city
time.
Finally, some bright light at the end of the tunnel; the Broadband
Technicians have appointed two Shop Stewards; Henry Lee and Bill
Goodwin. Both have recently attended Shop Steward training from
AFSCME, and will now be better prepared to take on future issues.
UPDATE 1/1/10: A merger election will soon be held between
the City Bargaining Unit and the Click! Unit, to bring both groups
under one contract.
UPDATE 2/9/10: The merger election passed by an overwhelming
majority of both units. The management at Click! Network are
attempting to block the merger election, stating that the Broadband
Technicians do not have a 'community of interest' with the other IT
workers in the City Unit, even though the work they perform is
remarkably similar.
Click! Network is costing the City of Tacoma thousands of dollars
in unnecessary legal expense, by contesting the merger election, and
forcing the Click! Network workers to negotiate a completely new,
separate contract, for ONLY 9 PEOPLE! An inquiry to the
City regarding the practicality of this effort was responded with
the following: "reasonable minds can differ".
Let's put an end to this nonsense, and get on with the merger!
Pam Murray Wins AOR Grievance
On September 29, the City of Tacoma settled a Step 2 grievance
requesting the Principal Technical applied rate for ADSA Pam Murray,
IT Department. Even though she had met the qualifications for
Principal Tech long ago, and had been requesting the applied rate
through various venues, the City had not responded and advanced her
to the Principal Tech level.
The key criteria for receiving Principal Tech AOR is overseeing
three or more Developers, and being responsible for a mission
critical technology. Pam supervises 4 Developers; one of which is
already receiving Senior Tech AOR for maintaining the GovME website,
which has been designated as mission critical by Public Works
management.
The Union then filed a grievance at Step 2 in the grievance process,
and after reviewing the facts in the situation, the City finally
acquiesced, and granted her the applied rate. Winning this grievance
will increase Pam's pay by 15.4%.
Officers Elected for 2009 -
2010
At the December 1, 2008 General membership
meeting the following officers were elected to serve for the
2009 - 2010 term:
John Ohlson - President Angelo DeFazio - Vice President Dian Seider - Secretary Treasurer Celeste Suliin Burris - Recording Secretary Wayne Withrow - Sergeant at Arms Kathy Gregoire - Trustee
The Local 120 Executive Board would like to
thank outgoing officers Loralee Armstrong and Joyce Seeger for
their long years of dedicated service to our Union.
AFSCME
38th International Convention - San Francisco
Local 120 Delegates included,
left to right: Front row: George Hermosillo, Karen R. (TPCHD).
Second Row: Celeste Suliin Burris (City of Tacoma), Dian Seider (Library),
Joyce S. (TPCHD). Back Row: John Ohlson, Dave Shaughnessy (City of
Tacoma); Wayne Withrow (TPCHD), and Angelo DeFazio (Library).
Barak Obama addresses AFSCME members at the
International Convention in July, 2008.
Nine delegates and
alternates from Local 120 recently attended the AFSCME International
Convention in San Francisco's Moscone Center. Joining 5000 other
AFSCME members, the delegates set the agenda for the coming election year
and heard from Presidential nominee Barack Obama via satellite feed.
Hearing rousing speeches from Hillary Clinton, Al Gore and
Barack Obama, the delegates are ready to help elect a Labor-friendly
President, and take back America for working families.
The delegates attended workshops about organizing, political
action and pension plans, and joined with Union members from similar
professions across America to discuss the most critical issues facing their
members today. Al Gore encouraged the nation to set a goal to reduce global
warming within ten years.
Highlights from Obama’s speech: 'We can't afford to let John
McCain serve out Bush's third term'.
'The current administration is not just anti-union; they are
trying to keep us from fighting for ourselves'.
'We are less than 100 days away from the change we seek'.
President Gerald McEntee closed the satellite broadcast by
proclaiming; 'AFSCME will pull out all the stops to ensure Barack Obama
will be the next President of the United States'.
Contract Negotiations Update
COT Unit Negotiates Salary
The City of Tacoma bargaining unit is
engaged in a review of the Class & Comp salary survey data.
Wages for 2010 will be negotiated from these surveys.
City Loses
"Citywide Bumping" Arbitration, Celeste Returns To
Work!
Local
120 Recording Secretary Celeste Suliin Burris has won her
grievance arbitration, challenging the City's assertion that
there are no city-wide bumping rights when employees are laid
off.
Celeste was laid off in July 2006, as part of a massive staff
cut requested by City management. She filed a grievance
against the city because past practice has been to allow
employees to bump across departmental lines in the event of a
layoff, yet she was not allowed to bump when her position was
eliminated. The Union presented various pieces of evidence
supporting our claims, including written policies, memorandums,
and city web pages that all acknowledged city-wide bumping
rights for employees.
As a result of the win, Celeste will have her employment
status at the city restored, will receive back pay, and will
retain the right to bump the least senior employee in her
classification.
UPDATE 5/27/07: Due to an unacceptable offer by the
City, Celeste has elected to return to city employment.
Update: 9/24/07: The Tacoma Fire
Department has created a new position for Celeste to work in, at
her original pay & classification.
How
did YOUR Rep Vote
on the important issues facing our Union today? Enter your zip code
below, and find out!
Quote of the
day: "For a worker to refuse to belong to a union is not to
exercise a democratic freedom. It is to accept benefits that others have
worked for without contributing to the costs. Democracy flourishes only
when freedom is accompanied by responsibility." (Australian Bank
Employees Union)......
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Local
120 Recording Secretary Celeste Suliin Burris has won her
grievance arbitration, challenging the City's assertion that
there are no city-wide bumping rights when employees are laid
off.
