Parks Local 733 meeting was held in Florence on October 1st & 2nd, 2010
Oct. 1st 6PM-8PM Dinner and Networking
Oct. 2nd 8:30 AM – 2:30 PM
Oct. 2nd 6-8 PM BBQ and Networking – Family Friendly
We had 22 people in attendance at this meeting which was the most ever in recent memory for a parks local meeting! Donna Glathier attended from SEIU. Secretary Barb Lakey read the minutes from the last meeting held in Eugene on May 7th and 8th. There were no errors, omissions or corrections to those minutes.
Maurice Wray shared some recent “Wins” with the group. The first was the calculation of personal business days for seasonal staff. Since this duty has been taken away from the Office Coordinators, some Salem staff had been “rounding” the hours off for seasonal staff thereby shorting them PB. This has been resolved...no more rounding.
The second win was the calculation of the recognized service date (RSD) for seasonal staff. Salem HQ Human Resources staff had not been following the contract to figure this date causing some seasonal staff’s RSD to be incorrect. This has been remedied.
When seasonal staff are brought on, some Office Coordinators send the completed union membership application to OPRD HR staff with the rest of the orientation paperwork, some send them to the union directly and some send to both. A suggestion was made to ask OPRD HR to add sending the membership application to both places to their check list. In the past, the applications didn’t always make it to the union office. This caused a lot of folks to be listed as fair share instead of members. Donna recommended that we make an attempt to obtain the seasonal staff’s e-mail addresses so we can communicate with them before/after their season.
There was a lengthy discussion about volunteers/hosts and the jobs that they perform. Some of the concerns voiced were:
Hosts don’t have the same accountability as staff
Hosts at some parks take jobs away from staff – have much more responsibility
No policy in place for progressive discipline for hosts
Over the years, hosts have gone from “meet and greet” to doing everything from construction to maintenance on equipment to working in booths.
This will continue to be a topic for discussion. Suggestion was made to try to get OPRD to adopt a policy regarding hosts so we have a starting point.
Currently DAS is conducting an Office Worker Class Study which includes the Office Coordinator positions. Paul McKenna and Andy Boeger from SEIU are taking the lead on this study. Questionnaires have been made available to those whose positions are affected. Meetings will be held to discuss our options and plan. Stay tuned to the SEIU web site for updates.
After hearing a brief report on Local 733 budget status, Donna Glathier walked us through a summary of the big picture, the SEIU 503 budget. Donna also reiterated the importance of voting for worker friendly politicians in all areas. Another area in which SEIU 503 continues to focus is organizing unorganized workers. Donna announced the results of the statewide election of officers: Heather Conroy is the new Executive Director. Linda Burgin remains SEIU President. James Jacobsen is Vice President and Barbara Casey is Secretary/Treasurer.
It is vital that we all continue to educate our friends, neighbors, relatives and other members of the voting public about the work that we do. This basic education will help change the negative perception of public workers that has been broadcast all over in the form of negative ads, SNL skits and worker unfriendly politicians’ speeches.
President of Local 733, Peggy Rinck, and VP, Steve Hernandez, have both attended round table meetings with local legislators bringing our current issues to their attention...which brings us to- bargaining!
We discussed several ideas to put on our bargaining surveys, such as:
BOOTS...we would like OPRD to adopt the same boots language that Forestry currently has. We would like to be able to have a boot allowance, not a reimbursement. We would like to be able to have the agency pay for
boot repair instead of just replacement.
HOSTS...we would like OPRD to adopt a policy re hosts.
Statewide OPRD communication – BLOG -
Steve Hernandez continues to do a great job updating our blog. You should check it out often. Cards were distributed at the meeting with the blog address on them...so spread the word!
Next Meeting…
Place: Bend, Oregon (details to follow – watch blog)
Dates: Tentatively set for second weekend in April, 2011
Depends on bargaining schedule!
Lodging reservations are made in advance by the union when you register. Mileage is reimbursed. More details later. Depending on budget, this may or may not be a family friendly meeting.
