CSUEU E-News: August 25, 2011
Biweekly news digest from the California State University Employees Union
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CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE
REPORT SIGNATURE GATHERING
2011 CSEA WOMEN’S CONFERENCE, OCTOBER 7-8
PROTECT PUBLIC LIBRARIES
CELEBRATE LABOR DAY, SEPTEMBER 5
SIGN UP FOR THE MEMBER BENEFITS NEWSLETTER
LEARN LABOR HISTORY THROUGH SONG
CALPERS GETS "AAA" FROM FITCH RATINGS
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Contract Negotiations Continue
Three days of contract negotiations with CSU management were concluded on Friday, and another three rounds are scheduled in September and October, starting with sessions at the Office of the Chancellor in Long Beach, September 7-9.
“The CSUEU team is focused and works hard,” says CSUEU President Pat Gantt. “The CSU Chancellor’s Office team has been very slow to present its proposals and does not appear eager to reach agreement any time soon. The usual practice is that each party presents its proposals prior to the expiration of the contract. We met that practice, but the CSU has delayed presenting its proposals. For example, we have yet to see their initial layoff article.”
He adds, “It’s always difficult to forecast the length of bargaining, especially when the management team has not presented all of its articles in a timely fashion.”
Major changes proposed by management last week included increasing parking fees by letting individual campuses decide the increases rather than linking increases to statewide General Salary increases. They also sought to eliminate the current contract’s Rural Health Care
Stipend program (Article 21.11). The CSUEU has rejected both of those proposals.
Read last week’s Bargaining Update for details on discussions on parking fees and contracting out, among other topics and articles that were broached over the three days.
The contract expired on June 30, and the CSU has refused to grant a temporary contract extension. The CSU is obligated to continue the terms and conditions of the expired contract, with two exceptions:
- The arbitration provision does not survive the expiration of the agreement. Therefore, grievances dealing with events that arise after June 30, 2011, will not be subject to arbitration. In many cases, however, management violations may be unfair labor practices which can be appealed directly to the state Public Employment Relations Board. In fact, CSUEU has a pending unfair labor practice charge against CSU over its failure to bargain in good faith before the expiration of the contract.
- In the absence of a collective bargaining agreement, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that all overtime hours worked by non-exempt employees be compensated in cash.
Don’t Sign Anti-Union Petitions and Report Signature Gathering!
A petition for a ballot measure that would all but end union expenditures on political action is open for signatures. It’s financed by anti-union oil and real estate interests, wealthy investors, and CEOs who are paying signature gatherers to stand outside shopping areas to collect signatures in order to place the issue on the fall 2012 election ballot.
CSUEU urges voters to not sign the petition and to call (877) 440-9585 to report where signature gathering is taking place.
Although it appears to limit both business and union political contributions, the initiative in fact focuses on unions by making it unusually difficult for unions to fund their own Political Action Committees (PACs). It bans the voluntary contributions that workers now make and creates a new set of rules that deliberately makes it almost it impossible for working people to compete with corporate power and money. It places no restrictions at all on corporate political action committees.
Supporters have to collect more than 500,000 valid signatures by October 24. Although they’ve already collected several hundred thousand, many of those are likely invalid, and, fortunately, supporters appear to be losing steam for obtaining the final signatures they need.
That’s due in part to the fact that Amazon.com is conducting its own signature-gathering campaign for an initiative to overturn a law intended to tax the company’s California sales. Amazon can afford to pay its gatherers far more than the PAC initiative supporters can, so many signature gatherers are focusing their attention on the Amazon initiative.
“One of the arguments against the petition is that few private businesses take payroll deductions for political action already,” explains CSUEU Communications Committee Chair Ray Finnell. “They simply pay less, account for the money as if it had never been available for payroll, and put it into PACs or pay their own lobbyists when they feel like it. So limiting their ability to withhold makes no difference to them.”
The PAC petition, also known as the “paycheck deception” initiative because of its focus on automatic paycheck deductions, is similar to Prop. 75 and Prop. 226, which a coalition of community groups and unions successfully fought in 2005 and 1998 respectively. Learn more about the history of Props. 75 and 226.
Again, please don’t sign the petition and call (877) 440-9585 if you see signature gathering taking place!
Download SEIU State Council’s flyer (PDF).
More details from SEIU State Council.
Read the full text of the initiative.
2011 CSEA Women’s Conference, October 7-8
“Embracing our Past, Envisioning our Future,” celebrating the 100th anniversary of voting rights for women in California, is the theme of the 12th annual CSEA Women’s Conference, taking place at the Marriott Manhattan Beach, October 7-8. The pre-registration deadline is September 1.
The festivities kick off on Friday evening with an opening reception honoring both the oldest and youngest activist present. Special guests include Assemblymember Betsy Butler (D-El Segundo), along with Blanca and Teresa Alvarado, mother-daughter community activist team from Santa Clara County.
Saturday’s keynote luncheon speaker is award-winning new media writer Sarah Granger, founder of the nonprofit Center for Technology, Media & Society, dedicated to bridging gaps between government, technology, media and other stakeholders.
Workshops will fill most of the day and include such topics as media strategies, conflict resolution, health issues, work/life balance, and financial survival for women. In addition, the CSEA Foundation will hold fundraisers for scholarships, and a variety of colorful exhibitors and vendors will be on hand as well.
“This conference is designed to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of women getting the vote in California,” said CSUEU Chapter 309 President Nancy Kobata, chair of the CSEA Women’s Committee. “We hope that all women will gain a feeling of empowerment by learning how far we have come in the past 100 years, as well as gaining a vision of the road that still lies ahead. We wish to thank this year’s organizers for all their hard work to make this special event a success.”
The conference is a collaborative effort of CSEA and its affiliates, including CSUEU. Volunteers include Nancy Kobata and Natalia Bremer of CSUEU, Beverly Waller Wharton and Marianna Bauske of CSEA Retirees, Inc., Mary McCaig and Evelyn Poppa-McKenna of ACSS, and Johnnie Young-Craig and Kathleen Collins of Local 1000.
“We also want to thank CSEA Vice President Donna Snodgrass and dedicated CSEA staff members Sherrie Golden, Dina-Marie McGowan, and Chris Miller,” added Kobata. “Mark your calendars and plan on attending this year’s conference. You won’t want to miss it!”
Protect Public Libraries
Public libraries are in jeopardy. A company called Library Systems and Services, Inc. is pitching the idea that putting our public libraries into private, for-profit hands will save money and preserve services. They're banking on the fact that, during this budget crisis, local governments will be eager to turn over public libraries to private corporations and are making the decisions to do just that, without any public dialogue or standards to protect the taxpaying public.
Assembly Bill 438 by Assemblymember Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) would place strict conditions on cities contemplating contracting out for library services, including requirements for multiple advance notices of a public hearing, the completion of a study enumerating anticipated savings, open bidding and an assurance that no existing library employees would lose their pay and benefits.
Click here for an SEIU State Council page to add your name to the tens of thousands who are asking state legislators to keep our libraries public with the following message: “Public libraries should be operated for the public good, not private profit. So I urge you to vote for AB 438.”
Celebrate Labor Day, September 5
Labor Day celebrates 100-plus years of union history and accomplishments. Learn more about Labor Day 2011 at this special site.
Sign Up to Receive the Monthly Member Benefits Newsletter
The September edition of the CSEA Member Benefits newsletter is chock full of discounts for CSUEU-represented employees on special events, travel destinations, gifts, electronics, insurance and more.
You can have the newsletter delivered directly to your email inbox once a month by subscribing at the Member Benefits web site—it’s an easy way to save money through your Member Benefits department.
Learn Labor History Through Song
Laney College in Oakland offers an unusual labor history course starting this Saturday that promises to be fun and educational: The Labor Heritage/Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus (Labor Studies 214 A-D).
The chorus repertoire consists of songs about work in a variety of musical styles, from folk ballads to gospel. Conductor Pat Wynne is a voice teacher, performer, and member of the Freedom Song Network and Locals 6 and 1000 of the American Federation of Musicians. The class meets in Room 110 Art Center, 900 Fallon St. (across the street from the Lake Merritt BART station), every other Saturday afternoon, and everyone is welcome. Details: (510) 464-3210 or (415) 648-3457.
A wide variety of labor study programs are available at colleges and institutes across the state, many of them starting in the next week or two. As an example, here are links to a sampling of current San Francisco Bay Area opportunities:
http://www.laney.edu/wp/labor_studies/
http://www.sjcc.edu/Acad/Divisions/humanities/labor.html
http://www.ccsf.edu/NEW/en/educational-programs/school-and-departments/school-of-behavioral-and-social-sciences/labor.html
http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/laborstudies/
http://www.sfsu.edu/~bulletin/noindex/1011/programs/laborst.htm
CalPERS Gets "AAA" From Fitch Ratings
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) announced last week that Fitch Ratings has reaffirmed its highest rating for the pension fund’s Credit Enhancement Program, which is designed to help municipalities around the country that want to sell bonds to the market.
“This rating validates the financial strength of CalPERS,” said Joe Dear, CalPERS Chief Investment Officer. “Our members and employers can be proud to be part of such a sound organization.”
Fitch rated CalPERS on the system’s high liquidity cushion; its funding levels even after applying Fitch’s conservative discount rates; and its prudent underwriting guidelines.
CalPERS, which has assets of about $222 billion, administers pension benefits for more than 1.6 million active and retired California state, public school, and local public agency employees and their families. The average CalPERS pension is $2,220 per month. More information is available at www.calpers.ca.gov.
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