What an Election!...now what?

With the passing of Measure 76 and newly elected Governor Kitzhaber, it looks like a major step forward in the right direction for Parks, right? Keep in mind unemployment is still high, the state's big budget shortfall, the public's negative perception of state workers and our upcoming contract bargaining. Speaking of state worker/public percerption, check out the Statesmans Journal Article from October 26 on Stateworker Compensation.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201010260312/NEWS/10260329

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