The pace of bargaining is starting to pick up. We’re closing in our final month of bargaining and now is our chance to win on everything from better wages to benefits to workplace flexibility. This week we reached an agreement with management on three issues that are quite exciting! Here are the highlights:
- Inclement Weather: Allowing people who have access to the inclement weather pool to use those hours for partial closure days, which many worksites saw a number of this past winter.
- Protecting Limited Duration Workers: Managers will no longer be able to end a limited duration position for any reason if that employee has been in their job for over 24 months. The position can only end if the project or extra workload ends, or for just cause.
- Holidays: People will be granted time off to observe religious or cultural holidays not recognized in our contract. We will be able to use accrued leave, leave without pay, or temporary schedule modification to cover the holiday (requires 30 days’ notice and is subject to operational needs).
While these wins are exciting, we still have a lot of important proposals on the table, such as raising wages and keeping our healthcare premiums low. We are bargaining every week in June – it’s go time! You can make a huge difference by showing up and supporting our bargaining team. Here are three things you can do to make a big difference.
- If you haven’t downloaded a statewide petition in support of bargaining, download a copy here and ask your co-workers to sign it.
- We’re asking all worksites to hold an action each week in June to support a fair contract, you can see a sample action plan here. Talk with your organizer for support in setting up actions.
Support SEIU members in the child welfare program. If you’ve read the news recently, you know that the foster care program is suffering from a huge staffing problem that is putting our members and vulnerable children at risk every day. Please take a moment to ask your Legislators to fund child welfare.