CHAPTER 7 JANUARY 19, 2010 MINUTES
MINUTES
Chapter 7 Minutes
1-19-2010
Chairman’s Report – Cheryl Little reported that we are looking at different dates to meet with Representative Hanna. We are also looking to have a Legislative Night to meet with our area Legislators. We need to mobilize early to prepare for anticipated budget issues. We need our membership to be more involved with contract mobilization. Motion to accept report –Joanna Johnson, seconded by Colleen McLaughlin . Motion passed to accept report.
Treasurers Report (Pat Barnes) – We have $8077.00 in our account. Mileage reimbursement has been reduced to 46 cents per mile. Motion to accept report – Dave Burns, seconded by Lois Brown-Velkoff. Motion passed to accept report.
Decision on Lobby Day – This was tabled until we find out about contract mobilization needs and available funds. Motion to accept report – Dave Burns, seconded by Carlene Gaither. Motion passed to accept report.
CAO Report (Cheryl Little) We are trying to find out what will be required with financial disclosures. There will be no more “ Payless Paydays”, due to the recent State Supreme court decision. Motion to accept Report- Pat Barnes, seconded by Joyce Johns. Motion passed.
MR Committee (Pat Barnes and Steve Gilson) Pat and Steve recently met at Ebensburg to discuss issues there and determine who would be the Chapter Representative on the MR Committee. They also discussed the current work environment at Selinsgrove Center and the increase in grievances there. Steve has been appointed to a new committee in Harrisburg to help preserve jobs for Commonwealth employees in the future of MH / MR services. We are concerned about several anticipated retirements in the near future. Many of these folks are extremely good people and will not be easily replaced. We are planning on conducting a survey related to job satisfaction, with the results to be given directly to ODP Administration. Motion to accept Report – Lois Brown-Velkoff, seconded by Dave Burns. Motion passed.
Corrections report (Lois Brown-Velkoff) Lois said that they lost the Pay Grade 8 Upgrade decision for Counselors. It’s felt that psychologists, due to the Masters Degree requirement, may have a better chance to be upgraded. Motion to accept Report – Pat Barnes, seconded by Carlene Gaither. Motion passed to accept report.
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OES Report- (Carlene Gaither) They were told that they will be doing Work Keys testing in the future. They asked Management about dates for new Trade Act Training. This is related to people who lost jobs or who are laid off due to foreign imports. Will soon be meeting with management about excessive grievances. There are questions about people who were wrongly paid or not paid during past Budget Impasse. There are also questions relating to payroll funding and who is paid through what funding sources. Many system problems noted with CWDS. Management is requiring bargaining units to attend training on what services are available through the OES. OES members feel they are being trained to do the work of other jobs. PSSU is asking for names of people working out of class and working Overtime. Motion to accept Report – Dave Burns, seconded by Joyce Johns. Motion Passed.
Agency on Aging Report – (Colleen Mc Laughlin) Their Management is trying to combine Aging with Long Term Living. Incompetence and political hires are noted at high levels of the organization. Caseworkers are being pulled into other work responsibilities, while their work remains uncompleted. Much difficulty has been noted with getting new hires. Management has begun to hire private contractors. Motion to accept Report – Pat Barnes, seconded by Dave Burns. Motion Passed.
BA Report (Allie Samsel) - Northumberland County is raising healthcare premiums for employees significantly. Allie feels we may see large numbers of young people getting involved in our Union. We need to reach out to them and help them get involved. Allie has also been working with Selinsgrove to get a better work schedule for QMRP’s. We need to educate people about what the role of our union is and why we need to be involved. A big Thank You goes out to our BA’s from the Chapter 7 Officers. Allie reports that a bargaining session is scheduled with Northumberland County.
The BA Report from Judy Miller was also shared with all in attendance. Its contents include: Shop visits were made to Adraxas-Marienville, YFC Camp 3-Huntington, Clinton, Tioga CAO, Quehanna Boot Camp, Danville YDC, Lycoming CAO , Center County Prison, Danville YDC, and Center County CAO. The specific report for each facility is below:
At Abraxas : Things seem pretty calm with Abraxas right now. They are busy with hiring more employees. They have some new programs that they would like to start in 2010 which require more staff.
At Center County Prison: We had filed and won a grievance on what the County was considering on-call employees. These employees were not covered under the Contract. We argued that since these employees were working every week and being
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scheduled to come into work that they were not “on-call” but part time employees which are covered under our contract. Now these 24 people are eligible for prorated benefits along with all the other part time employees that have been employed by the prison all along. They have 7 Lt’s that requested to join the Union, and all 7 have signed cards. Our organizing department has filed for a petition for these folks.
At YFC #3 Huntington: We created a local agreement for vacation selection. We have turned down the employer’s local agreement on allowing one staff member off per weekend.
At Elk County: The ED created her own vacation selection period. I have let her know that she can not do that. I have met with the members and they have decided that they would like to have a selection period. We are in the process of creating a local agreement at this time.
At Tioga CAO: We have a Supervisor that was terminated. We are at step four n the grievance process with this case. The Supervisor opened a case and it was calculated incorrectly. The State is trying to say that she did this intentionally.
At Clinton CAO: We have a member that was terminated. He was accused of going to a client’s home at 10:30 at night. The client has filed a complaint. The member says he did not do this and has a statement from his wife that he was home all evening. This grievance is at step 4.
At Danville YDC We have had several PDC’s at the YDC in Danville in the past months. We had one member given a written warning for leaving work an hour early and not marking it on his time sheet. The rest were just investigations with no disciplines.
Quehanna Boot Camp – We have some work load issues here. They keep getting more inmates with not enough staff to cover all the work. Management is trying to get the authorization to hire more staff.
Judy has attended State Wide Health and Safety meetings for DPW and L&I in the month of December. It seems that the State has a problem with HVAC systems all over the State and they are trying to get these problems fixed. We also requested and received copies of leases that we did not have.
Respectfully Submitted,
Gregory Kovalick, Chapter 7 Secretary