Thanks to our union strength, three of the committees established in our new contract have met with the District to find solutions to some of our most important workplace issues. Here’s a summary of the work of these member-led committees so far:
Hours and Work Years Committee to begin talks on regular status for restricted employees, increasing access to vacation days, and transportation subcontracting
This committee is charged with determining ways to increase hours for interested members, increasing the number of 8-hour positions, restoring the work year bases for existing unit members who experienced shortened work years, reviewing opportunities for seniority-based assignment changes in Unit B and Unit C, memorializing a process to notify and move restricted employees into regular status, reducing the amount of vacation blackout days, determining attendance incentives, and developing quarterly reports to assist the committee. This Committee met with the District on November 19. Due to the extensive charge of this committee, our initial proposal to the District was a request for information necessary to move our work forward, including a list of all Local 99 members whose permanent hours and/or work year were reduced in any way during the last seven academic years, a complete list of vacation blackout dates, and a regular quarterly report showing District seniority by job classifications. For the full language of our proposal please go to www.seiu99.org. Our next meeting with the District is scheduled on December 18, 2014. We have agreed to tackle the following issues during this meeting: moving restricted employees into regular status, reducing the number of vacation blackout days, and contracted out transportation services.
Training & Career Path Committee seeks summer training, expansion of career ladder, career advancement fair
The Training and Job Advancement Committee met with the District on October 29. Our Team presented the District with our proposal for a new and upgraded career advancement program, including: a Career Advancement Fair to ensure all members are informed about the opportunities available in the District; a summer bridge training program for bargaining unit members that strengthens employee skills in their job class and creates an in-house pool of highly qualified candidates for higher class positions within LAUSD; and an expansion of the existing Career Ladder program so that it is open and available to all members wishing to promote to jobs within the District. For the full language of our proposal visit www.seiu99.org. The District was open and receptive to our proposal. They agreed to meet as often as necessary to get the program off the ground. Our next meeting is scheduled for February 4, 2015.
Safety & Materials Committee proposes solutions to workplace violence
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The Safety and Materials Committee presented our initial proposal to the District on November 13 concerning bullying by administrators. We described bullying scenarios that Local 99 members experience every day and presented our proposal with solutions on how to stop this workplace violence. We also asked the District to provide us with information on the materials, tools, equipment, training and policies currently provided by the District to help Local 99 members safety perform their duties. And we asked LAUSD to give us information on how it ensures the safety of employees working swing shift assignments or working in neighborhoods with high crime rates. The District said that they are “on board” with our proposals. They agreed that there is a need for consistency on how policies are communicated and implemented by administrators and departments throughout the district. Our next meeting with the District is on December 11. We expect the District to report back on their progress on reaching out to the different departments and administrators needed to address bullying
If you feel you are the victim of bullying or any type of workplace violence, please call SEIU Local 99’s Member Resource Center for assistance at (213) 637-0296.
