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What does signing a Severance Card mean?
CAUSE linked to improper use of $2.4 Million in Release time.
Marty Morgenstern joins the Peace Officers of California (POC) team as chief negotiator for a new bargaining unit. He has made himself available to meet with members of the new union in Sacramento this Wednesday, April 9th. This will be at 6pm at the Senator Hotel Office Building (1121 L St., Sacramento 95814, across the street from the Capitol at 12th & L St.), main conference room, lobby floor. Along with your fellow bargaining unit employees who would make up POC, they will be able to answer any questions that you might have. This includes the process, viability, and even the need for a Peace Officer Only bargaining unit.
Mr. Morgenstern was twice Director of the Department of Personnel Administration (1999-2003, 1981-1982), has served as Chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education, Board member of the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) and Director of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations. Mr. Morgenstern is widely considered the most preeminent authority on collective bargaining in the state.
Mr. Morgenstern will head negotiations for POC and report directly to the affiliate board. Each board member shall have equal access to information and members shall have access to voting records (not currently provided for by CSLEA). All bargaining contracts will require approval by general membership vote. Marty was present at the birth of the collective bargaining process nearly 30 years ago and is confident that POC can establish a new union with better representation.
POC will be making Mr. Morgenstern available for membership meetings via conference calls or in person in the Sacramento, Bay Area, and possibly Los Angeles regions. As you may know, PERB is the governor's appointed body that regulates severance petitions. Marty is uniquely qualified, as a former PERB Board member and Director of DPA, to answer questions about the process and benefits of being in a sworn officer only union.
"I have no doubt that an all-sworn bargaining unit will achieve a better contract for Peace Officers than a unit mixing sworn and non-sworn employees", said Mr. Morgenstern. "I look forward to representing you and POC at the bargaining table."
POC is ready to bargain on behalf of the sworn employees. With the best possible representation at the bargaining table, open access to information, and a president elected by the membership, POC is the solution.
Please RSVP to info@peaceofficers.org in order for us to provide for adequate seating.
MEMORANDUM
TO: Bargaining Unit 7 Members
FROM: POC
DATE: January 18th, 2008
RE: SEVERANCE PETITION UPDATE
Today, PERB (Public Employees Relations Board) announced that we fell short of the Severance Cards needed to hold an election. But, have NO FEAR! POC will re-file the petition at the next available opportunity - July 1, 2008 with more than enough signatures to qualify the election!
If you have signed a Severance Card you do not have to fill out a new one – cards are valid for a period of 1-year. As you may know, a Severance Petition requires more than 50% of employees to sign, and in just two months we gathered nearly half, 1,200 signatures, from fellow BU7 Peace Officers – that is simply amazing! Make no mistake about it – this is going to happen. We have received another 50 Severance cards since November and we only need to gather another 100-150 to qualify the SEVERANCE in JULY!
Many interesting things have come to light in the brief period since the Severance Campaign started. For one, we now have documented evidence that the state has supported the creation of Peace Officers Only Union for the last 20-years. Perhaps more conspicuous is the absolute failure of CAUSE to deny any of POC’s assertions in the Severance Petition – like turning down pay increases for Peace Officers because the non-sworn wouldn’t get the same increases.
Contrary to CAUSE/CSLEA assertions, the Severance Campaign isn’t over - it’s just begun. The only thing that can stop us now will be a successful contract negotiation by CAUSE/CSLEA before July – and we all know how good their record is there.
There is a passage in the bible were the phrase “the writing is on the wall” originated – “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Peres”. Loosely translated it means – Your number is up, you’ve been weighed on the scales and found deficient, your kingdom will be divided.
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Peres, Alan Barcelona & CSLEA - the handwriting is on the wall July 1, 2008.
Please share this message with other state employees and urge them to view our website and sign a Severance Card. CAUSE/CSLEA has the opportunity to come up with a new contract offer prior to July 1 and stop the Severance Campaign – let’s see what they can do.
As you may know, the 2,500 Peace Officers in CAUSE/CSLEA make up only about 40% of BU7, the rest are non-sworn personnel and the vast majority are "license registration examiners" employees who administer the behind-the-wheel portion of the DMV driver's test. You may not realize it, but your pay is directly linked to the non-sworn employees in BU7.
The truth is CAUSE/CSLEA has turned down blanket pay increases for peace officers, since Pete Wilson was Governor, because the non-sworn members were not offered the same pay increases. That is why many of your fellow BU7 Peace Officers have joined in a campaign to sever the PEACE OFFICERS’ relationship with the majority non-sworn members of BU7. This is not an attempt by one union to decertify another union. This is a Severance, a process that will create two unions from one, a sworn unit and a non-sworn unit.
Government Code Section 3521.7
3521.7. The board [PERB] may, in accordance with reasonable standards, designate positions or classes of positions which have duties consisting primarily of the enforcement of state laws. Employees so designated shall not be denied the right to be in a unit composed solely of such employees.
Between now and November, Peace Officers in Bargaining Unit will have a historic opportunity to ask PERB, the Public Employees Relations Board, to use their authority to split current Bargaining Unit 7 (CSLEA/CAUSE) into a Peace Officer Unit and a Non-Sworn Unit. All you have to do is complete a request for Severance Card.
Peace Officers of California (POC) was formed by current Unit 7 Peace Officers, including several past and current CAUSE/CSLEA affiliate presidents. POC IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY OTHER UNION. POC is simply the legal entity that will allow PERB to move forward with the Unit Severance.CAUSE/CSLEA will say many things to try to convince you that this is a bad decision. We would counter that by stating that this campaign is the only tool you have to actually see what is really going on with CAUSE. If POC is successful in gathering signature cards from approximately half of all the PEACE OFFICERS in BU7, we will be able to Petition PERB for Severance. During that process, CAUSE will have the opportunity to make statements rebutting anything that POC asserts in its petition – including the fact that CAUSE/CSLEA has turned down raises for sworn employees. PERB has the power to compel witnesses to testify, under penalty of perjury, regarding the points of the POC petition. Witnesses can include CAUSE/CSLEA members, as well as staff from DPA (Department of Personnel Administration). If POC is really misleading you, CAUSE/CSLEA will have the opportunity to prove that we are perjurers. However, we think the shoe will likely be on the other foot.
Not only will the union have a chance to respond to our petition, but the Governor will have the opportunity to express his opinion. We know that the Schwarzenegger administration supports peace officers. Asking for PERB to give us an election will allow the state (Governor) to voice support for the Severance.
By filling out the included card you are only requesting that PERB call for an election. If PERB decides that it is appropriate to split the unit (after they have input from the Governor and CAUSE/CSLEA), then they will call for an election within a 2-month time period and only Peace Officers may vote. Only then will the Severance be final. Your signed card is valid for a period of one year. However, POC must file the severance petition with PERB by November so we must collect signed signature cards as soon as possible.
Signing a Severance Card does not jeopardize any of the services, like the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), that are provided to Peace Officers by CAUSE/CSLEA. The information is confidential and only POC and PERB will know who has completed a card. There will be a seamless transition between the old and the new bargaining unit. POC will contract with PORAC to provide LDF services (we have to go as a whole unit not as individuals, before PORAC will accept us).
One reason that there are very few names of POC members listed anywhere on our website, or other information, is that CAUSE/CSLEA has rewritten their constitution and standing rules specifically to punish individuals who openly support a severance from their union (you can find a copy of their rules on our website www.PeaceOfficers.Org). Your information, or the fact that you have signed a card, will remain confidential.
The new Bargaining Unit will be similar to CAUSE/CSLEA in the sense that POC will maintain the affiliate structure that is currently in place so all the same officers would remain in place, if majorities of the members have signed the petition from the affiliate.
There will be some changes in the new unit. For starters, the President and the POC officers will have to be elected by the general membership. The new President will not receive any compensation for performing their duties, nor will they be eligible to have full release time. In fact, all the release time and money will be divided up evenly amongst the affiliates, except for what funds are needed to pay for LDF and any staff will be contractors that report to the entire Board, not one President.
While the specific amount of the dues will be determined by the new board, but we anticipate that they will be at least $5 less, per month, than you currently pay with CAUSE/CSLA. In order to ensure that everyone gets a fair amount of money to run their affiliate, half of the dues revenue will be divided up equally amongst the affiliates, with the remaining 50% distributed equally to all affiliates based on their share of the total membership. Affiliates will have the ability and the funds to hire any PR consultant, lobbyist, or other contract for other services as they please.
The people who helped start POC are committed to a fair distribution of release time, dues money, and authority to each of the affiliate groups, including:
AMVIC – Association of Motor Vehicle Investigators of California
ASA-DOJ – Association of Special Agents
CACI – California Association of Consumer Investigators
CAFDI – California Association of Food & Drug Investigators
CASI – California Association of State Investigators
CDOI – California Dept. of Insurance Investigatos
CFGWA – California Fish & Game Wardens Association
HPAC – Hospital Police Association of California
SPPOAC – State Park Peace Officers Association of California
SEFFA/FMESA – Firefighters / Fire Marshals / OES (we will support these firefighter affiliates moving to be represented by CDFA is they so choose when the affiliate is complete.)
Some employees from the above mentioned CAUSE/CSLEA affiliates have non-sworn members. Those employees will remain with CAUSE/CSLEA in the non-sworn unit.
currently in the midst of making the rounds to some work places to answer any of your questions. If you would like us to contact you, or come to your workplace to speak to your members, please e-mail us at Info@PeaceOfficers.Org and we will get back to you quickly. We are also available to provide telephone conference services if it is more convenient for anyone who is interested.
We have included a postcard that REQUIRES POSTAGE for you to fill out and mail to us showing your support. We have included a couple of them because we would ask that if you support the Severance that you ask a coworker to signup as well. We are funded completely by voluntary contributions/donations from BU7 members. Because it is expensive to send out mail, we ask that you frequently check our website for updated information and e-mail us if you have any questions.
Also on our website will be a copy of our full draft petition to PERB for Severance as well as supporting cases that set the precedent for creating a Peace Officer Only unit.
Something similar to this was attempted almost 20 years ago but it failed, and for 3 reasons:
- The petition didn’t have a solid “community of interest.” In other words, they tried to create a separate bargaining unit, but didn’t try to take all the peace officers – We are including all Peace Officers in our Severance.
- PERB stated that at the time the bargaining unit had never been without a contract – We’ve been without a contract for half the time since then.
- The petition wasn’t filed on time – We are in the window period now and must file in November because another chance for Severance will not arise until July 2008.
We can make this happen and, what’s more, all the decision makers in this process support the Severance. Let PERB have a hearing where CAUSE President Alan Barcelona and others will have to defend their words and deeds, where they can be held accountable, and let’s see what comes out. If you don’t like the answers then you can always vote NO for the Severance.
It is time that each affiliate take responsibility for their members’ pay and benefit increase. We have to go to the Capitol and make the case for pay increases job classification by job classification and we can only do that if we have the time and money that is currently being squandered by CAUSE/CSLEA.
Please talk to your fellow employees about this issue and forward our website to anyone that you can – Its time to get pay-parity with other California Peace Officers. We can make this happen together.
While POC will be comprised solely of Peace Officers from Unit 7 there will be some NEW RULES:
- The President, and all other POC officers, will need majority support of the general membership in order to hold office. Any member may run for office.
- Each Affiliate from CAUSE/CSLEA will be eligible to exist under POC, new affiliates may be accommodated on a case by case basis.
- POC dues will be divided up evenly amongst affiliates except for pooled expenses like LDF. POC will contract with PORAC as soon as the Severance is complete (PORAC will not take individuals, they must have the entire bargaining unit in order to provide services).
- Release time (approximately four months per affiliate at current CAUSE/CSLEA consumption) will be divided up evenly amongst the affiliates, for affiliates to use at their own discretion.
- Each Affiliate will be responsible for making their case at the State Capitol and in Public and each affiliate will receive the resources to make it happen.
- Every Affiliate will be allowed at the bargaining table and to make their own agreement as the state allows with DPA.
- Every Affiliate will be free to use their own resources and affiliate name in any manner they deem fit, provided it does not claim the backing of the larger entity -- POC.
- If you'd like us to consider a "NEW RULE" or have a question, just let us know info@peaceofficers.org
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