New Blog Stuff

Check out the "File Cabinet" to the right to view pages of reports of past meetings/events and our Current contract. Thats right our Contract can be accessed electronically on this blog!

Parks Meeting in Florence - Oct 1st & 2nd

I would like to thank everyone who came to our recent Parks Local 733 Florence meeting. We had over 20 participants and many were from HQ! The discussions between Field staff and members who work at Headquarters regarding volunteers/hosts was very productive. We will be posting the meeting minutes and possibly pictures within the next month. By the way big thanks for the two members who brought the BBQer's for our Saturday evening picnic!

We will also post the date for the next meeting along with the agenda within the upcoming months. Stay Posted

Bargaining Surveys: Your Voice Matters!

The Bargaining Survey is the heart of how contracts are negotiated. Whether its about particular issues at your job site you wish to address or all-encompassing issues, such as furloughs, this is the tool that determines how our elected delegates bargain this coming winter. Please take some time and use the new online Bargaining Survey with the link provided below. This should take no more than 20 minutes. Yes, Seasonals you can do it to even if your season has just ended.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DAS_Survey

At the end you will be given a chance to list and describe specific changes you would like to see (example: Better boot reimbursement language that does not limit from boot models that do not have safety toes Article 122.3 A, B Section 3 ).

Personal Leave for Seasonals

This year a seasonal employee attempted to use a fraction of an hour of their PB Time and was almost denied. Through further investigation, Payroll told the employee's OC that PB for seasonals was being rounded off (in thier interpretation of Article 55 Below). The employee had 12.27 hours, by rounding they would be denied the .27 hours.

Article 55 Section(1)Part-time, seasonal, and job share employees shall be granted such leave in a prorated amount of twenty-four(24) hours based on the same percentage or fraction of month they are hired to work, or as subsequently formally modified, provided it is anticipated that they will work 1,040 hours during the fiscal year.

It is a contract violation to deny an employee this fraction of time because our contract language specifies that PB time is prorated for seasonals. Thank you Maurice Wray Shop Steward for bringing this to their attention.

Dudley opposes Parks initiative

Heres an interesting article about how Dudley feels about parks. Article was originally posted last month.

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/08/dudley_releases_budget_reform.html

Local 733 October Florence Meeting

Register now for our upcoming meeting in Florence October 1st and 2nd. On the 1st we will have an evening networking dinner followed by a regular scheduled meeting the next day at 8am. After registration, travel and lodging is paid for (as long as you attend meetings, travel reimbursment depends on distance from florence).

To register download or print registration form found under "Pages" on right side of blog

Did you work the 4th of July but not the 5th?

Are you one of the lucky (or unlucky) ones who are required to work on the 4th of July but get the 5th off and you did not recieve holiday pay? Then you you may be getting compensation (form of a check) after payroll finishes their recent audit of July timesheets.

Article 58 Section 5 talks about the observed holiday falling on Monday the 5th since the 4th was on a Sunday. In the last part of the section 5 it states that if you are an employee who is required to work on holidays and its in writting (like your job description?) then you are exempt from the observed holiday language and your recognized holiday is the actual holiday date outlined in Section 1 of article 58, which would be the 4th. So if you worked on the weekend and your day off started on Monday the 5th, then you would recieve your holiday pay on the 4th (not the 5th).

Thanks to Peggy Rinck (President of Local 733) for catching this and motivating HR to take corective action. Below is an excerpt from an email from Tasha Peterson (HR) that describes what they will do next, so stay tuned!

1. We are conducting a payroll audit on July time. The audit will be looking for the following:If folks worked both the 4th and 5th - we will make sure that HP was only paid on one of these days. This is past practice. Overpayment resulting from being paid HP on BOTH days will be collected via payroll.If folks worked on the 4th and not the 5th - they will be paid HO and HP on the 4th.If folks worked on the 5th and not the 4th - they will paid HO and HP on the 5th.Anyone shorted will be adjusted and paid.
2. Please DO NOT change any July time sheets. Payroll will make all the adjustments (that is why they want the paper time sheets sent in.)
3. After the audit is complete, we will change the designation of those employees who should be paid on the actual holiday. We will provide the notification to them and you (in additional to it appearing in the position description currently). We will update the Special Working Conditions Form to communicate to employees who will receive holiday pay on actual holidays (rather than observed).And finally, thank you for your continued patience with me.