Published: July 25, 2022

2018_UICC_LMC_Charter

 

UICC REGIONAL LABOR-MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE CHARTER AND STRUCTURE  September 2020

 

BEAVERTON, BEND, NORTH VALLEY AND WILSONVILLE UI CONTACT CENTERS

 

  1. Purpose:

 

The Employment Department’s Unemployment Insurance Contact Center Regional Labor-Management Committee (UICC Regional LMC) is comprised of labor and management representatives that meet and confer for the purpose of:

 

  1. Regularly communicating for the purpose of keeping each other informed about initiatives, changes, and what is going on in the outside world that could impact employees, and provide feedback as needed.

 

  1. Resolving UICC workplace matters raised by employees and management to help ensure the delivery of quality services to our customers, to further the  Employment Department’s guiding principles, and to make recommendations for improvements in  UICC services. The Committee will track issues raised to ensure timely resolution.

 

  1. Complying with Article 106.1C of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

 

  1. The committee shall have neither the authority nor the entitlement to negotiate or contravene any provision of the contract. Topics within the purview of the Collective Bargaining Agreement or grievance process, and human resources and personnel performance matters, are outside the jurisdiction of this committee.

 

  1. Defining issues clearly enough to identify components and to determine who is responsible to resolve (e.g. Labor-Management, Safety Committee, management chain, etc.). Develop possible resolutions or recommendations including recommendations for where issues should go for resolution, if not appropriate for the LMC. The LMC will retain only those issues that fit within this Charter.

 

  1. Work towards creating a positive work environment for ensuring that issues are resolved at the lowest possible level between employees and management.

 

  1. To ensure matters brought to LMC, outcomes, resolutions, and successes are communicated jointly to labor and management employees through processes established by the LMC.

 

  1. Regional Labor-Management Committee Structure:

 

The Regional structure for the Employment Department Labor-Management committee(s) shall be seven regional committees and one statewide committee.  The statewide LMC will define and give oversight to the regional committees.  Regional Committees shall have representation on the Statewide Committee. The membership of the regional and statewide committees shall be as follows:

 

 

If a Regional Committee Member is also already a decision making member of the Statewide Committee by nature of his/her position, then another member may be selected to reach the total of nine members each for both Labor and Management.

 

  1. Decision Making Membership of the UICC Regional LMC:

 

Up to six persons will represent the union on the UICC Regional LMC. These members will be selected by SEUI members in an election ran by the union.  The members shall be working within the region or assigned as Union Steward within the region

  1. One SEIU Section Officer
  2. One Union Steward
  3. Four Members selected from Union Membership
  4. Or any combination of a-c.

 

Six persons will represent management on the UICC Regional LMC, and will have responsibilities for or within the region

  1. At least one Area Manager from within the Region
  2. One representative from OHR (OHR Manager, Assistant OHR Manager or Senior HR Business

Partner)

  1. Four managers
  2. Or any combination of a-c

 

Alternates:

Committee members may send an alternate in their absence.  The selected alternate should be as closely situated as possible to the committee member based on position. Alternates have full proxy to act on behalf of the committee member.

 

  1. Advisory Members:

 

  1. One staff representative from SEIU
  2. One staff representative from DAS
  3. Employment Department Director and Deputy Director

 

  1. Membership Terms:

 

The terms will be one year and two years, and it is recommended terms are staggered.  Members can be reappointed or reelected for additional terms. The term follows the seat and not the person.  Both the agency and SEIU recognize the value in fresh perspectives. Alternates may be used by either management or labor.

 

  1. Facilitator:

 

The facilitator of the committee will be filled by rotations, alternating labor and management, or at the discretion of the committee.  The committee reserves the right to use a third party, neutral facilitator. Selection will be by consensus of the current LMC members, according to rotation. The duties of the facilitator are as follows: follow the agenda, facilitate discussion to keep it focused, and bring it to decision/conclusion. The structure of the facilitator may be changed at the discretion of the Committee.

 

 

  1. Committee Process:

 

  1. Problem Solving/Decision-making:
    1. We will work to solve problems and make decisions through consensus.
    2. If all attempts to solve the problem have been exhausted, the parties will agree on the next steps.
    3. The LMCs will utilize interest based problem solving.
    4. The decision-making membership (see committee structure) of the UICC Regional LMC are the responsible parties for reaching consensus.
    5. Recommendations from the LMC will be forwarded to the statewide LMC for review and implementation, as needed.
    6. A quorum (see committee structure) is needed to reach consensus and to forward recommendations to the agency’s Executive Team. A quorum is defined as half the committee membership plus one person present in person or via technology.

 

  1. Meeting frequency:

 

UICC Regional LMC meetings will be monthly.  Every 4th Thursday of the month.  Length of meetings will be determined by the agenda.

 

  1. Ground rules for the committees:

 

All LMCs shall conduct business using the following ground rules:

  1. All are equal at the table
  2. Be respectful
  3. Listen to each other with an open mind
  4. Let others be heard
  5. Be an advocate for others to be heard
  6. Provide criticism constructively
  7. Maintain worksite confidentiality – topics and issues can be shared as needed, but do not use members’ names
  8. Maintain employee confidentiality – do not use names in discussions; focus on issues, not on individual employees, managers, or customers
  9. Do not take comments personally and avoid personal attacks
  10. Give your personal best thinking; look for points of agreement
  11. Live with decisions that have been agreed upon unless the membership of the Committee agrees to revisit the decision

 

  1. Agenda setting:

 

The agenda for each meeting shall be determined by the committee.   An agenda for the next meeting will be developed and communicated by the assigned facilitator no later than 48 hours prior to the next meeting.  The committee may agree at the beginning of each meeting to amend the agenda. Committee members will define issues, determine data needs, ensure the data will be available for the meeting, and will recommend the appropriate forum (e.g. LMC, Safety Committee, management chain, etc.) for issue resolution. It is recommended that agenda topics are received from staff and management through the Contact Center LMC email so that all members can be aware of potential agenda items as they are raised to assist with the planning for the next meeting.

 

  1. Guests and Observers:

 

Guests may be invited to attend LMC meetings. Persons so invited are required to coordinate with their supervisor for the required absence from regular work.

 

  1. Issue tracking:

 

The Committees will use an action item log for easy tracking purposes.

 

  1. Staff support (UICC Regional LMC):

 

An office coordinator from any of the centers will be responsible for recording the meeting and drafting the minutes, which shall be forwarded to committee members for review prior to the next meeting. Approved minutes shall be posted to the agency’s internal website. Meeting minutes will be sent to committee members within 24 hours of the meeting. Committee members will review and provide edits within 48 hours.

 

 

  1. Relationship with Director’s Office: If the Regional LMC believes an issue brought to the Statewide LMC has not been addressed satisfactorily, either group of members (union or management) may ask for a meeting with the Director to express their concerns, issues, and interests regarding any issue within the UI Contact Center region to request executive resolution.

 

  1. Pay status:

 

See Articles 106 and 106.1C in the Collective Bargaining Agreement for pay status.  This article does not apply to guests or observers.

 

 

Approved: