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CCPOA - 5150 Hotline from Lance CorcoranWelcome to the new-and-improved 5150 hotline now available to listen to online OR save it to your wireless devices and MP3-enabled smart phones! MP3 Audio - Tuesday, April 18, 2008
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Can't view the Flash Audio Player (above) in your browser? CLICK HERE to play in your computer's default audio player. If you have any problems downloading or listening to the audio-version of the 5150 Hotline, please contact the webmaster direct via webmaster@ccpoa.org. Text Version - Tuesday, April 18, 2008Hello and thanks for calling the CCPOA 5150 Hotline - today is Friday, April 18, 2008, and here is the latest news from Sacramento. In contract news: as many members are aware, in December 2007, the Public Employment Relations Board issued a complaint letter saying that the state had gone too far in trying to implement a "last, best and final offer" (LBFO) for three years. According to the PERB complaint, the state could not implement the terms of its LBFO for three years and could only apply the terms for one year. CCPOA believed that, according to the Ralph C. Dills Act (which in 1977 established collective bargaining rights for state employees), this ruling required our return to the negotiating table. Since December 2007 we have been sending letters to DPA requesting and even demanding that we get back to the table and get busy with the hard work of securing a new contract. The dates originally set for the full PERB hearing regarding the December 2007 complaint were April 16 and 17, 2008. True to form, in late March DPA filed a motion with PERB for a stay of the hearing. The motion asked for PERB to delay the full hearing until there was resolution of the CCPOA appeal to PERB on the issues CCPOA raised in our original complaint following the state's implementation of the LBFO in September of 2007. At issue in the CCPOA appeal is that the December 2007 PERB complaint had not included the bad faith bargaining committed by the state prior to the implementation of the LBFO. On April 9, 2008, a PERB Administrative Law Judge granted the stay. The most frustrating part of this legal odyssey is that PERB has no enforceable deadlines for hearing and we have been forced into a sort of administrative law limbo. Since PERB has shown no urgency towards CCPOA attempts at resolution, on April 16, 2008, CCPOA filed a Writ of Mandate with Sacramento Superior Court claiming that the lack of action by PERB since late September of 2007 is depriving CCPOA of our right to bargain for a contract ahead of the June 15th deadline for a state budget. Since PERB has chosen to punt, we are claiming that they no longer have exclusive jurisdiction over our complaints and that we have exhausted our administrative remedies. We now wait for resolution through the court. Ironically, on Wednesday, April 16, 2008, the same day that CCPOA filed for our writ of mandate, PERB issued two complaint rulings stating that 1: the state was engaging in unfair practices by refusing to return to the table and 2: that by not honoring Activist Release Time and failing and refusing to meet and confer in good faith the state was in violation of Government Code. And, although the PERB has affirmed our position we are not going to withdraw our request for a writ of mandate. In other news - this week CDCR Agency Secretary Jim Tilton announced his resignation from the department due to health reasons. We wish the best for Mr. Tilton in retirement. Matt Cate, formerly the Inspector General has been named as Agency Secretary. For over 3000 members CCPOA was able to put together a conference call on Thursday April 17th. The topics discussed focused on the contract and all of the litigation going on between the state and CCPOA. If you would like to be included in future conference calls, please make sure that the phone number we have for you at CCPOA is accurate. You can do that by calling CCPOA Headquarters and asking for Rob Harvey in our membership division. You can also provide updates to Rob by e-mail. Rob's e-mail address is rob.harvey@ccpoa.org. This conference call was a great success and we plan to do more of this type of direct communication in the future. This period of uncertainty has proved intolerable for some of our members. A deal at any cost seems to be their mindset. Just like the friend or family member who always questions the deal you negotiated on something like buying a new car, these members would've done it another way. Or they know someone who could've gotten us a deal. Some of them even believed DPA's Dave Gilb when he assured in an open letter to CCPOA members dated Sept. 18, 2008, that "the state will immediately introduce enabling legislation to implement all of the . . . increases to compensation." Plain and simple, DPA was well aware of the state's fiscal woes in September 2007. The Legislature had adjourned and would not be back until January, and things were not projected to get any better by then. The "raises" were a bait-and-switch tactic from the day they were offered. Caveat emptor is a Latin phrase often used by well-meaning friends when someone heads out to buy a car. It means Let the Buyer Beware. Just as no one would accept the terms of a shady car deal and its shadier salesperson, CCPOA will not allow its members to become the victims of what many would describe as despicable and deceitful business tactics by the state of California. Overcoming these tactics has not proven to be easy - perseverance in the face of difficulty seldom is. Unlike the "lemon" laws that protect consumers from shady car salesmen, the Ralph C. Dills Act, as it currently exists, is decidedly weighted in favor of the state. As has been our history, CCPOA is not afraid to break free of conventional wisdom and is attempting to provide a level of balance in employer/employee relations in California that will benefit not only Unit 6, but all state employees. That's it for now - be sure to take a look at our website www.ccpoa.org where you can get copies of the latest PERB complaints and copies of our request for writ of mandate. At the top of the page simply click on the button that says LBFO Watch and you can check out what's going on around the state by clicking on California Pens, that's the section where assaults and incidents are listed. For now take care and have a safe shift.  |
