May 19, 2010
SROA - Offers of Employment: Another Example of Management Stupidity
To: State Board of Directors
From: Chuck Alexander, CCPOA Executive V.P.
As you may recall in May of 2009 a large number of letters went out to BU6 Correctional Officers indicating that they were affected by a potential Layoff. Officers who received the Layoff letter also received a CDCR “pre-filled out” scantron indicating that, if subject to a layoff, they would work anywhere in the state. The names of all those officers were put on an SROA list.
CCPOA went to the negotiations table regarding the Layoff. The end result was that no Correctional Officer was laid off. This should have eliminated the need for the SROA List. The State SROA Manual states that “SROA eligibility is initially granted for 120 calendar days.” It further states that DPA may extend the list only for an additional 120 days. In either case the list should not be in effect. However CDCR, in its now legendary infinite wisdom, chose not to eliminate the SROA List.
The California Correctional Center (CCC) needs to fill one Full Time Limited Term Correctional Officer position. Since State rules say that the SROA List has to be exhausted to hire the position, CDCR Headquarters informed CCC that they had to offer the position to all those on the SROA list. Therefore, CCC sent out over 1600 letters to those on the (un-needed and unnecessary) SROA List.
What a colossal waste of dollars. What a perfect example of the inept working of CDCR management.
If you receive an SROA offer from CCC for the Full Time Limited Term C/O position and you are not interested, just ignore it. You are not obligated to respond. Of course, if you are interested in the position, respond as directed in the letter. The SROA manual says that if you do not respond to an offer, your name will be eliminated from the list. Since the Department picks and chooses the rules it wants to follow, we are unsure if your name will be removed if you fail to respond. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that in the future you will not receive other letters offering positions in the state. Once again, you are not obligated to respond if you are not interested.
One additional note, a DPA representative informed CCPOA that by order of the Governor, the SROA List will not expire.
STUPIDER AND STUPIDER!!!
April 20, 2010
General Layoff Update
January 1, 2010
General Layoff Information
CCPOA is working hard to obtain all the information on the proposed CDCR layoff as it becomes available. We have created this section of the website to provide you with the latest information we have received, and more importantly attempted to confirm.
In addition to having our legal team reviewing the entire layoff program that has been proposed, CCPOA is also doing everything it can to provide the Legislature and Administration with concrete examples of the impact the layoffs will have on both employees and public safety as a whole. More importantly we have continued to provide real alternatives to layoffs that will bring about the needed cost savings. Some of those proposals were outlined in our "Cut the Fat - Not the Muscle" brochure which was delivered to the Legislature last week. You can see the brochure by clicking here. Chuck Alexander continues to meet with the Leadership from both parties to ensure our members' concerns are heard.
CCPOA has not yet been able to Meet and Confer with CDCR or DPA about the layoffs and the information being disseminated by the departments is very limited. Here is where we are at so far:
CCPOA received a list of individuals that were given layoff notices last Wednesday, May 20, 2009, five days after the notices went out. Because of the very limited information on the list (no middle initial, Last 4, or institution), the list was not as useful as we would have liked. We did however undertake to send everyone on the list an individual letter of which you can read an example [Adobe Acrobat .pdf file].
Because of the way the list from DPA was prepared we may have missed some officers, and sent letters to others who did not receive a layoff notice. We apologize and ask that if you did not receive a letter from us, but did receive a layoff notice or vice-a-versa, please contact us and let us know.
If you received a layoff notice since May 15, 2009, immediately contact a designated Field Representative and provide the information they ask you for. We are gathering information so that we may both have the data we need to make any challenge to the layoff and to be able to better communicate with the effected officers. The designated Field Representative contact information is:
Northern Region
Phil Auzins, phone (800) 821-6443 ext. 135, E-MAIL
Jo Anne Billhimer, phone (800) 821-6443 ext. 263, E-MAIL
Southern Region
Don Benegas, phone (800) 221-7397, E-MAIL
Steve Shadley, phone (800) 221-7397, E-MAIL
Here are the important points to remember:
1. If you called CCPOA during the week of May 18th regarding a layoff notice dated May 15th, please call back one of the designated Field Representatives so that they can gather further information.
2. Military Service Credits are taken into account when computing seniority scores. Further, active military status is a factor when issuing layoffs. Information on this topic is available at the Reserve Officers Association (ROA) website: see section 1.1.2.3, and the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) website: see the FAQ to USERRA subsection 1002.210.
3. CCPOA is preparing to file legal actions due to the State's failure to formally notice; provide a layoff plan; or meet and confer with CCPOA regarding layoffs and plans to mitigate layoffs. The State is failing to follow its own procedures as set out in their Layoff Manual.
4. Please notice your Field Representative if you receive any new information in addition to Secretary Cates' May 15th letter regarding layoffs at your institution.
5. Every member subject to a layoff will have a file opened for them after he or she contacts CCPOA. If you receive additional documents by mail, please contact your Field Representative to update your file.
August 25, 2009
NEW LAYOFF NOTICES
On August 21, CCPOA received a notice from the Department of Personnel Administration informing us that they would be sending out approximately 1200 Surplus Notices to BU6 DJJ staff. Although all CDCR staff received a memo dated August 24, titled "Layoff/State Restriction of Appointment Notice Update," the notice sent to CCPOA did not include any CDCR Adult institutional staff. DPA generally sends out three times as many Surplus Notices as positions it intends to abolish. Further, the numbers may fluctuate with the number of vacancies, adjustments to the ward populations, staff retirements, etc. According to the notice, any layoffs would be effective December 31, 2009. Final layoff notices have to be sent at least 30 days prior to that date. CCPOA will soon be meeting with the state and will do everything it can to mitigate the impact of the "downsizing of the DJJ."
August 24, 2009
Layoffs/Seniority/Military Information
In the event of a layoff, you may be entitled to up to one year credit of seniority if you served recognized military service prior to your state employment. (CA Gov. Code 19997.6) Recognized military service is defined as "full-time service by a person in the armed forces during the national emergency or a state military emergency." (CA Gov. Code 18540.3)...
June 15, 2009
Appeal From Layoffs Response
Attached is the response CCPOA received to the "layoff" appeals that were filed on behalf of numerous members. As you can read from the response, since there were no "specific" dates for layoff, appeals are premature. Were this response from anyone other than DPA, it would be good information. Unfortunately, the response is from DPA, the very agency that sent CCPOA the notice of the intended implementation date of July 1...
June 8, 2009
State Board Memo from Acting President Chuck Alexander
Last week CCPOA received the attached notice from DPA regarding the proposed layoffs. We have attached the entire notice and "plan" that CCPOA received. As you can read, there is NO "plan" attached to the official noticed. Please share this "plan" with your members. Upon receiving any information we will forward it to you immediately...
June 8, 2009
State Board Memo from Acting President Chuck Alexander
Last week CCPOA received the attached notice from DPA regarding the proposed layoffs. We have attached the entire notice and "plan" that CCPOA received. As you can read, there is NO "plan" attached to the official noticed. Please share this "plan" with your members. Upon receiving any information we will forward it to you immediately...
June 5, 2009
State Service Listing 30 Day Challenge Period
On Friday May 29, 2009, CDCR posted, at each institution/facility, the State Service listing of all Unit 6 employees who received a Layoff/SROA Notice. If you received a layoff Notice, please review your service score as soon as possible. If you do not agree with CDCR's calculation of your state service score, you have 30 days from May 29, 2009, to file a challenge.
Your challenge must be submitted on a State Service Discrepancy Form (Below: PDF file via CDCR website) and mailed to the:
Seniority and Placement
515 “S” Street, 556 N
Sacramento, CA 95811
Or faxed to (916) 324-3033
May 29, 2009
Cut the Fat - The POLL
CCPOA recently commissioned a statewide poll of California voters on how to solve the state’s budget problem. We especially wanted to learn how voters feel about cuts to the Department of Corrections. While some recent polls have found initial support for cuts, our poll probed deeper to learn that voters want to cut the fat, not the muscle...
