On July 1, 2016 our contract with the State of California expires and therefore we are preparing to negotiate a new agreement.
We have started the process by distributing bargaining surveys at the worksites and through email blasts. If you did not receive a survey from the email blasts it’s because we don’t have your personal email address yet. If you want to stay informed on what’s happening, please email us at unit13@local501.org and we will keep you up to date on contract negotiations.
As we compile the results from the surveys we will then put together our demands and proposals based upon the priorities indicated in the surveys. We expect to start negotiations in mid-March.
As you have probably already heard, the Governor is seeking an employee contribution to fund retiree health care for each of the bargaining units. For bargaining unit 09 it is 2%; unit 10, 2.8%; unit 06, 4%; and unit 12, 4.6% of employees’ pay.
Since our last round of negotiations, recruitment and retention problems for Unit 13 classifications have considerably worsened. There are over 200 vacancies statewide in the classifications of Water and Wastewater Operators and Stationary Engineers. The joint labor management committees (Article 16.9 and 16.10 of our agreement) for these classifications have been meeting since October 2015 and will be preparing a joint economic proposal for a successor MOU soon.
In Solidarity,
Your Unit 13 Bargaining Team