As requested by the membership, the SLOCEA Communications Committee is answering your questions each month in this column. Our Committee is composed of members from both the SLOCEA Board of Directors (BOD) and the general membership. Currently we meet on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Our goal is to help communicate what’s happening with SLOCEA, and we want to hear from you! Send your questions to news@slocea.org and we will answer them as quickly as possible. Communication is the key!

It’s been one year since the Communication Corner published its first article in the County Blade. The purpose of the Communication Corner was to provide more accountability, openness and transparency. Over the past year, the dedicated members of the Communication Committee faithfully met once a month to address a variety of questions and concerns. They worked diligently to provide clarity to many topics concerning SLOCEA members. Their dedication has not gone unnoticed and we are thankful for all their efforts on our behalf. The Communication Committee is currently comprised of Committee Chair Jim Mallon, Board Director Kermit Spears, Board Director Tracy Wanek, SLOCEA member Stacey King, SLOCEA member Gloria Becerra and SLOCEA staff liaison Theresa Schultz. Congratulations to the Communication Committee for a job well done!

A dedicated man once said very convincingly “Help me help you!!” In the spirit of that classic line, we sure could use your help in helping us as we continue our efforts in fine-tuning SLOCEA. Your opinion is vital to the ongoing success of SLOCEA and we need to hear from you! In January, you will be receiving your annual letter from the president, your 2012 membership card and SLOCEA discount book. Included with this mailing will be a survey asking your opinion regarding many topics, such as the County Blade, SLOCEA’s discount program, current/future SLOCEA benefits, our website and much more. We want to survey the issues that are important to you. If there is a topic or question you would like to see on the survey, please submit it to SLOCEA’s business office by December 16th for review by the Communication Committee.

We strongly encourage SLOCEA members to get involved. Come to a Board meeting, speak out, run for office, become a steward, join a committee, submit questions and concerns for the Communication Corner. Please, when you receive your survey, take a few moments to complete and return it in the provided postage-paid envelope. Your opinions are greatly appreciated and will go a long way in keeping SLOCEA the best it can be!

The question came up recently about how employees at the Los Osos Community Services District (LOCSD) and the Superior Court Supervisors came to be represented by SLOCEA. While workers in both organizations are not County employees, they still enjoy the benefits of SLOCEA representation. As you might expect, there’s a story behind this arrangement.

Until about 12 years ago, workers who monitored and maintained services in the Los Osos area were County employees. In 1998, the Los Osos Community Services District was formed through LAFCO (the Local Agency Formation Commission), and began operation on January 1, 1999. The new agency’s primary function was to build and operate the community’s wastewater treatment plant. The initial staff consisted of approximately six firefighters and two clerical staff members. When those employees were moved over to the LOCSD, they were no longer County employees, which meant they would also lose their affiliation with SLOCEA.

The employees did have the option of retaining SLOCEA, but such action first required a petition of the group and then an election. Following the LOCSD’s newly adopted Employee Relations Policy, an election was conducted and the employees voted to retain SLOCEA’s representation.

In 2005, the LOCSD decided to contract out its firefighting services to the California Department of Forestry (CDF), and so today there are no firefighters directly employed by the LOCSD (or represented by SLOCEA). The current composition of LOCSD employees operating under SLOCEA’s umbrella includes five Water Utility System Workers and six Administrative Support staff.

With regard to the Court Supervisory Unit, SLOCEA had represented the County Court system employees until about 1998, at which time the courts (Municipal and Superior) were combined into one “court system,” and employees became employed by the statewide Court System. Despite this change, SLOCEA’s representation of court employees continued without interruption until 2003, when the court “line staff” voted to switch their affiliation to the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Despite the loss of those members, the Court Supervisors stayed with SLOCEA and are still represented by our organization to this day.

We are proud to represent these two dedicated units and are very glad they are part of the SLOCEA family!

SLOCEA is working on an exciting website redesign project! We are hoping to have our new-look webpage ready to “go live” by the first of the year. As part of that project, we are looking for a few volunteers from our membership to tell their personal stories on a front page “slideshow” that will include a photo and brief bio that will say something like: “My name is Penny Smith. I’ve been a nurse in the County Public Health Department for the past 16 years. In my free time, I coach youth soccer, teach piano and spend every minute I can with my three wonderful kids. I am SLOCEA.” If you or someone you know would like to be a part of this “Face of SLOCEA” project, please contact the SLOCEA office and they’ll forward your name and contact information to our web designers.

Lend Your Voice!
SLOCEA is a member-run organization. If you’d like to become more involved, a great way to do so is by lending your voice thru committee participation. Currently there are 10 committees open to general membership participation. Each committee consists of a SLOCEA member and at least one Board member, who acts as chair and liaison to the SLOCEA Board. Each committee affects change and makes recommendations relating to a specific area of the organization. SLOCEA committees meet as frequently as once a month or as little as 1 to 2 times per year. We encourage you to lend your voice and expertise (not a requirement!) to any of the committees listed below. We’d love to have your input and fresh ideas as we build this great organization. If you have an interest in participating in any of the following committees (except for Finance, Executive or Member Benefit which are comprised of sitting Board members only), or would like to give us your input, please contact the chair of the committee. We’d love to hear your voice!
Finance Committee – The Finance Committee oversees SLOCEA’s current finances and directs reserve fund investments. Committee members review the SLOCEA budget and annual audits, as well as its State and Federal taxes. The committee presents and recommends both short and long term financial goals to the Board of Directors for approval.
Committee Chair: Karen Vega, kvega@tcsn.net
Committee Members: Jim Mallon
Bylaws Committee – The Bylaws Committee reviews, updates and corrects SLOCEA’s existing Bylaws and presents recommended changes to the Board of Directors for approval.
Committee Chair: Ron Coleman, roncoleman1950@yahoo.com
Committee Members: Cathryn Sells, Diana McPartlan
Members Benefit Fund – The Members Benefit Fund Committee reviews and approves members’ requests for financial assistance due to unforeseen emergency situations. The committee also works to increase membership awareness of this program.
Committee Chair: Deborah Smith Cooke, dsmith.cooke@gmail.com
Committee Members: Ron Coleman, Dave Loden, Gina Pinto, Karen Vega
Academic Scholarship Committee – The Academic Scholarship Committee is responsible for announcing scholarship availability, reviewing applications and awarding scholarships to qualified recipients. This committee typically meets February thru April of each year.
Committee Chair: Sharon Beccacio, beccacio@aol.com
Committee Members: Deborah Smith Cooke, Brad Prior, Sonia Garcia, Joe Alves, Karen Vega
Summer Child Care Committee – The Summer Child Care Committee reviews and establishes reimbursements for members’ summer child care expenses. The committee is also responsible for the publicity and promotion of this program.
Committee Chair: Dan Qualey dan.dawn@charter.net
Committee Members: Joe Alves, Diana McPartlan
Communications Committee – The Communications Committee works to identify, educate, and inform members about the issues that matter to them. This committee also researches and recommends public relations and communications methods, tools and strategies.
Committee Chair: Jim Mallon, mallon_jim@yahoo.com
Committee Members: Kermit Spears, Tracy Wanek, Stacey King, Gloria Becerra
Political Action Committee – The Political Action Committee reviews ballot measures, candidates and political issues that could impact SLOCEA members in particular and public employees as a whole. The committee also serves as liaison to SLOCEA’s lobbyist in Sacramento.
Committee Chair: Dan Qualey dan.dawn@charter.net
Committee Members: Brad Prior
Recreation Committee – The Recreation Committee plans and organizes recreational functions and special events for the membership.
Committee Chair: Sonia Garcia sonchies64@aol.com
Committee Members: Dan Linhares, Dave Loden, Jeremiah Johnson
Stewards Committee – The Stewards Committee enhances harmonious labor relations, bridges communication between SLOCEA Staff and membership, and promotes effective representation and protection of employees’ rights in SLOCEA represented bargaining units. This committee can consist of up to 30 SLOCEA members.
Committee Members: See your most current Blade newsletter for current members
Negotiations Committee – Negotiations Committee members are elected by the members in their respective bargaining units. After proper consultation with membership, the committee has the authority to make important negotiation decisions.
2010 Big Unit Committee: Diane Calvillo, Cristina Colliver, Peggy Hernandez, Marydiane McClure, Barbara Bullock, Pat Blackwell, Diana McPartlan, Kathryn Sells, Joe Alves, Deborah Smith Cooke, Stacey King, Gina Pinto, Kim Romero, Tracy Wanek, Ron Coleman, Dan Qualey, Brenda Dye
2011 Trades & Crafts Committee: Dan Chapman, Dave Loden, Dan Linhares, Leanne Seibert, Tim Lazier, John Shimek, Andrew Sullivan

Executive Committee – The Executive Committee is comprised of the President, Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer from the SLOCEA Board of Directors, plus two additional SLOCEA Board Members. This committee has the authority to take action on day-to-day issues affecting SLOCEA and prepares recommendations to the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee may also review SLOCEA’s Bylaws and recommend changes. (As per the SLOCEA Bylaws, this committee is comprised of sitting Board members only.)
Committee Chair: Deborah Smith Cooke dsmith.cooke@gmail.com
Committee Members: Ron Coleman, Karen Vega, Dave Loden, Gina Pinto
As you can see, there are many opportunities to lend your voice for the betterment of SLOCEA. Another way of getting involved is to attend a SLOCEA Board meeting or the annual membership meeting. There is time allotted for public comment at the beginning of every SLOCEA meeting, which offers a great opportunity for you to speak out and be heard! Come share your thoughts and ideas with the Board and SLOCEA membership.

We recently received an inquiry from a SLOCEA member in Bargaining Unit 13, who had some questions regarding pension issues and the many pension reform bills currently pending in the state legislature or looming as possible statewide ballot initiatives. Specifically, our member wondered, “Is the legislation designed to affect all (current and future) public sector employees or only the newly-hired (future) public sector employees? Or could it be even more sweeping…affecting already-retired public sector employees?”There are a whole host of bills out there that could affect us all as public workers, including two-tier pension reforms (SB520 and SB526), rejection of collective bargaining (AB961), employer contribution caps, cuts in health benefits, a ban on pension “spiking” (SB27/AB340) and an increase in the retirement age.There are also several measures that actually seek to protect workers’ rights, including one to limit damage to pensions should a municipality declare bankruptcy (AB506); another requiring local governments to provide Social Security to workers not receiving a pension (AB1248); and a measure to reverse a ruling preventing the right of some teachers and transportation workers to unionize (AB501). There’s a bill granting unions the right to request mediation when contract negotiations reach an impasse (AB646) and another that would prohibit employers from hiring “union avoidance” consultants to deter employees from joining unions (SB931). Some of these measures (i.e. two-tier retirement, 401-k plans, increase in retirement age) target only new hires, while others (elimination of collective bargaining, employer contribution caps) could certainly affect us all. There’s a website called Calpensions [calpensions.com/] that’s a good resource for understanding all the proposed pension-related bills working their way through the legislature in Sacramento. You can also get more information at the CA State Legislature’s web site at http://www.legislature.ca.gov/ or check the SLOCEA website at www.slocea.org for a listing of pending pension legislation. With regard to the “effective dates” of any legislation that might pass into law, once a measure passes both houses of the legislature and is signed by the governor, it becomes effective the next January 1 (e.g. any measure that passes in 2011 becomes law January 1, 2012). There is a provision for what’s called an “urgency bill,” in which a sponsor says his or her bill is so important it should take effect immediately upon the governor’s signature. The catch is that such “urgency bills” require a two-thirds majority of the votes in both the Senate and the Assembly.As you can clearly see, there’s a lot at stake for California public employees. We hope this column has given you a little more information about what’s going on in Sacramento, and we thank you for taking an active interest in protecting your right to a secure retirement.

Over the past few months the Board of Directors has been working hard on a new Strategic Plan for the future direction of SLOCEA. This visionary document will provide a framework for our organization as we move forward. As you can imagine, a good deal of the discussion in our strategic planning meetings focused on how to share SLOCEA’s goals and objectives with the membership, the public, County admin, and other parties interested in the outlook of our Association.
To that end, much of the responsibility for sharing SLOCEA’s vision fell squarely on communications. We recognize that a key factor in SLOCEA’s success is its ability to communicate what the organization is all about. We would like for members to fully understand what it is that SLOCEA does and why it does it; we need the public to realize that our members are their friends and neighbors; and we need Admin to know that SLOCEA is genuinely interested in joint negotiations that offer the best outcome for both the County and its employees.
With these goals in mind, SLOCEA is taking steps to make itself more visible to members, employers, administrators and the community as a whole. We’re considering various outreach programs that will help convey the good that our organization does, in member representation, community involvement and good faith negotiations with the County.
We plan to explore new means of sharing our message with the public, through the web, through the media and through greater community outreach. We hope these efforts will inspire greater member involvement. Remember that this organization works for you, with your best interests in mind. Of course, the best way to ensure SLOCEA is moving in the direction you’d like it to go is to get involved. Become a steward, join a committee, run for the Board of Directors. Each of these activities can help improve your understanding of SLOCEA, and your input is valuable and important.
We also believe a better outreach plan will help educate the public on the contributions government employees make to the communities in which they work, live and play. We’d like to remind people that our members are part of the community at-large. Yes, we make sure the water’s safe, the roads are clear, the parks are clean and the flu shots are delivered on time. But we also shop at the same supermarket down the street, coach youth soccer teams, run in charity 10Ks and maybe even teach piano lessons and volunteer at the food bank in our spare time.
The Strategic Plan is an ambitious document that took the volunteers on your Board many hours of hard work to complete. We hope to have a finalized document ready for viewing very soon. The goal is to use the Strategic Plan as a guideline for the future and a barometer of our progress in making SLOCEA a more open and vibrant participant in the community. We would encourage every member to help us along toward that goal, and the best way to do that is for you to get involved.
We’d like to hear from you soon!

“United we negotiate, divided we beg.” – Poster seen at recent labor rally.
With all the recent controversy surrounding the clash between Wisconsin public employees and their governor, not to mention labor issues at the forefront right here at home, we thought this month might offer an opportunity to examine two key phrases cropping up in the current labor-relations debate. You may have heard that the single most contentious issue in Wisconsin is the governor’s desire to strip state workers of their collective bargaining rights. Meanwhile, here in San Luis Obispo, the SLO City Council recently voted to put binding arbitration back on the ballot.
Both of these terms -- collective bargaining and binding arbitration -- fall under the general heading of labor-relations, but it’s worth noting that each has a specific and independent meaning and purpose separate from the other.
Collective bargaining is a hard-fought and long-held cornerstone of organized labor. The practice dates back to the 19th-century, but was written into law by the US Congress with the Labor Relations Act of 1935. The term “collective bargaining” refers the process by which a group of workers come together as a unit to negotiate with management on issues such as wages, hours, benefits, working conditions and employee protections. Once employee representatives and management have agreed on a contract, it is put to a vote of the entire union membership and if approved, the resulting contract is referred to as a “collective bargaining agreement.” It is thanks to collective bargaining that most workers today – even those not in a union – enjoy such perks as the 8-hour workday, the 40-hour workweek, sick leave, paid holidays, vacation time and perhaps most importantly, protections from discrimination, an unsafe workplace and wrongful termination.
Binding arbitration is the practice by which two parties, in this case management and employees, agree to allow an independent, third-party mediator to resolve their differences. This method of resolving deadlocked contract disputes was originally approved by voters in the city of San Luis Obispo in the year 2000. In 2008, after negotiations reached an impasse, an arbiter awarded police officers in the city a 30% raise. Without commenting on the merits of the ruling itself, it should be noted that the decision was entirely legal and permissible under the provisions of the voter-approved binding arbitration law. That some may have disagreed with the ruling gets to the very heart of binding arbitration. It also bears remembering that the ruling came about just as the economy went into a serious tailspin, or the financial impact of the decision might not have been as dramatic or pronounced. At any rate, binding arbitration is not the same thing as collective bargaining (a distinction that needs to be made clear at every opportunity) and County workers represented by SLOCEA do not have binding arbitration rights.
With politicians in places as far flung as Sacramento and Wisconsin aiming to chip away at the rights of organized workers to bargain collectively and have a voice in their future, SLOCEA members would do well to remember: our strength is in our unity and our numbers. Organized labor and union representation are what gave America the middle class, and organized labor and union representation will surely play a role in preserving the middle class in the future.We get email!
(The comments below were submitted via email from a public sector employee represented by a different Employees’ Association in response to SLOCEA’s notice to the Big Unit membership regarding the cost of saving jobs. )

To: news@slocea.org
That is wonderful news. You are doing an amazing job! My husband Steve is a SLOCEA member and I am a member of CSEA at Atascadero Unified. I am very impressed with how hard you are working for the employees!!
Keep it up!!!
Denise

By Jim Mallon, SLOCEA Communications Committee ChairmanThe hot topic lately is public employee pensions and their affect on the County’s budget. From what we’ve read, there appears to be a lot of confusion about just how our pensions are funded and how the money kept in reserve is managed.
It’s our feeling that reporting on this controversial issue should help to enlighten the public, not to further confuse it. A recent story in the local media reported that the County spends "$45-million per year on pension payouts." The simplistic calculation used to arrive at that figure revealed a fundamental misunderstanding of the pension system. In fact, the County does not pay pension benefits out of general operating revenues, but rather contributes to an investment trust (the Pension Trust), the same one to which all County employees also contribute during all the years they work. That fund, through good management, wise investment and continuing contributions, currently has a net asset value of about $765-million! Yes, the reserve account protecting your retirement benefits is secure and fully-funded for many years to come. In fact, thanks to wise investment strategies and prudent management by the Pension Trust Board, the fund actually made $144.5-million in 2009 alone.
Adding to the confusion, when a reporter says "the County is spending nearly $45-million a year on pension payouts," the figure is flat wrong. The actual dollar amounts are readily available at the Pension Trust website, which clearly indicates that, in 2009 the County's contribution to employee pensions was $31.4-million. For their part, employee contributions totaled $24.1-million, and those contributions are and were part of a fully-negotiated collective bargaining agreement. The County makes its contributions based on the current pay of current employees. Those already collecting retirement pay draw their money from the Pension Trust reserve. And while it is true that the average annual benefit for all retirees is about $24,000 a year, the median benefit (the value at which half the retirees take home a higher benefit and half take home something less) is just $15,750.
Anyone looking for more information on how this program works is encouraged to call Pension Trust directly at 805-781-5465 or check their website at: http://www.slocounty.ca.gov/PensionTrust.htm
The way we see it, while the County most certainly has its fiscal woes to deal with, the implication that County employee pensions are a major driver in the struggle for solvency paints a misleading picture at best and results in a harsh light falling on a valuable and important part of the community. The fact is, retirees from County employment spend their retirement dollars right here in our county, and that helps fuel the local economy.
So yes, County employees are a big part of the community. You perform valuable services, ranging from acute care nurses and water quality mangers to animal services officers and software engineers. You’re well-educated, well-trained professionals. Most of you actually make less money than you could in the private sector. You should be proud of what you do. And you deserve the respect and gratitude of the community for getting the job done.

Welcome to the Communication Corner! As always, the Communications Committee is pleased to answer your questions and share with you what’s been happening at SLOCEA. At our November Communications meeting, members of the Committee were on hand to help SLOCEA staff prepare the ballots and stuff the envelopes for the voting on the Big Unit’s newest Memorandum of Understanding.
As you are aware, the MOU was approved overwhelmingly by the membership. 531 ballots were cast, a 43% return rate that’s one of the highest ever for any SLOCEA election. The final tally was a resounding 466-63 in favor. There was some question about the short turnaround time allotted for the balloting. The goal of the quick voting period was to get an approval in time to put the MOU on the Board of Supervisors’ December agenda, trying to ensure that the retro-pay dollars make it into your paycheck before the Christmas holiday. So thanks for taking the time to get your ballots in quickly. All ballots are stored at the SLOCEA office if you have an interest in seeing them for yourself.

Q: Just how hard was it to hammer out the Big Unit’s latest contract with the County?

Q: What is a “Bargaining Unit” and why do we have four of them? Wouldn’t it be easier to negotiate one contract for the entire membership?

This has been quite a year at SLOCEA. There’s been a lot of turmoil, but we have stayed united, and the Board of Directors thanks you for your continued support as we move forward. The battle to keep Trades and Crafts in the fold demanded an incredible amount of time, energy and financial resources on the part of SLOCEA and the volunteers who make up the Board of Directors and its various committees. We ask that you remember the dedication and spirit of your SLOCEA representatives in holding this Association together. We are working harder than ever to be more accountable, open and transparent, and we encourage you to get involved. Come to the meetings, speak out, run for office, become a steward, join a committee…all these options are always open to you as a member of SLOCEA.

With the Decertification Election behind us, SLOCEA is turning its attention to important upcoming issues of concern to our membership. Negotiations on the Big Unit’s new contract are approaching the finish line, and you’re sure to hear more about that in the near future. Suffice to say, SLOCEA staff and your elected Negotiating Committee have devoted hours upon hours of time to secure the fairest and most equitable deal for our membership.
Some questions have come up regarding a recent article in the Tribune that suggested the County is changing the way it addresses both employee retirement benefits and its interpretation of the prevailing wage ordinance. In the first case, County Administration is looking to implement a two-tiered retirement system that would offer a diminished retirement package to new employees, while keeping in place the existing arrangement for current employees. In the second instance, County officials would like to tweak the prevailing wage ordinance so that the number of entities to which SLOCEA employees’ wages are compared is increased significantly, rather than the five that were previously negotiated and are already the standard in the rest of the County.
SLOCEA has not agreed to either of these proposals. In the first case it remains our position that all County hires should be treated equally when it comes to retirement. In the second, the proposed change is expected to hold down wages for most job classes. We plan to keep fighting to preserve these hard-won benefits.
On a side note, I’d like to share a recent conversation I had with a couple friends of mine, under- and unemployed private sector working class guys who are just trying to get by. We were talking about work, and how they were struggling to find it and when they did they were poorly paid and barely respected. I told them how much I like working for the County. I enjoy my job, I’m well compensated and I have security: a retirement plan, benefits, vacation, sick time and health care. “I hate unions,” one of my friends said, with a twinkle in his eye, “but I sure wish I was in one.”
“That’s the problem right there,” I said. “Rather than saying you ‘hate unions,’ what you should be saying is ‘I love unions, and I sure wish I was in one.” In the big picture, unions fight for the rights and benefits of all workers, because if it weren’t for the gains and protections achieved through organizations such as ours, the truth is that such gains and protections would not exist at all.
Be proud of what you do, be proud of your public service, and be proud of your union. We work for you. You’ve earned the right to a living wage and a decent retirement, and we’re going to do everything we can to make sure you get to keep them.

Q: An issue was raised recently concerning SLOCEA's contribution to the 401k retirement accounts of SLOCEA staff. Could you clarify what that contribution is and how it compares to the County employees' retirement fund?

A: SLOCEA contributes 20.73% of base pay to each SLOCEA staff member's 401K retirement account. By way of comparison, the County contributes 27.74% of base pay to each member of the Big Unit's retirement plan, and 31.02% to each member of Trades and Crafts. In real dollars, if you make $20-an-hour in the Big Unit, the County is contributing $11,500 annually to your retirement. If you're in Trades, that number increases to almost $13,000. By comparison, a SLOCEA staff member making $20-an-hour receives an $8,600 contribution. It's also worth noting that the SLOCEA 401K is a defined contribution plan, as opposed to the County's defined benefit plan. This means, of course, that while County employees can count on a set monthly return at retirement (defined benefit), SLOCEA staff are subject to the whims of the market (defined contribution). Come retirement, their nest-egg could be worth far less than they've put in, as so many people learned in the recent financial meltdown.

A: There is much more about this elsewhere in the Blade (and on the SLOCEA website), but the long story short is that that ballots will be mailed out by State Mediation on September 13, 2010. They will come with a postage paid return envelope and your completed ballot must be received by State Mediation by October 1, 2010. As a member of the Trades & Crafts Unit, casting your vote in favor of SLOCEA is absolutely critical! Your representation will be determined by which group receives the majority of the votes cast.

Q: I’m confused on the money that is owed to us from last year. How much are we going to get? Is this the 1.88% I’ve been reading/hearing about?
(This question refers to the “Big Unit”; Clerical, Public Services and Supervisory Units only)

A: Some of you may have seen an email that went out talking about the 2.28% deferral from the 2009/2010 FY COLA. Of that 2.28%, .4% has been deferred again for this FY 2010/2011 in the interest of saving 14 employees. How does this affect you? If you make $20 per hour this equates to .08 cents per hour that employees are deferring to saving those jobs.

The remaining balance of 1.88% from the 2009/2010 deferred COLA is still owed to the employees. The dispersal of this 1.88% is currently being negotiated. Keep in mind the Negotiations Committee is using the most recent SLOCEA priority survey as guidance for how it will be dispersed.

Q: Why aren’t the results of the “Negotiations Priority Surveys” published in the Blade or otherwise shared with the membership?

A: Once the surveys are tabulated, the results are treated as confidential information during the negotiations period. As you might expect in complex negotiations, it is in the best interest of the membership to keep the specifics of the bargaining priorities confidential until the process is complete. That said, the survey cards are retained in the SLOCEA office and can be reviewed by members after negotiations come to a close. In addition, the survey results are posted on the SLOCEA website.

A: SLOCEA staff does not have a VEBA (Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association) plan and the members did not LOSE their VEBA. It was frozen for six months and you should now see the benefit resumed in your paycheck by the time this issue of the Blade is published. Look at your paystub for $50 on line item PEHP (Post Employment Health Plan).

1. Why doesn't the BOD answer questions presented by members during member comment at the BOD meetings each month?

SLOCEA follows its bylaws, which require that it conduct meetings according to Robert’s Rules of Order. Unfortunately, this does not allow for a question and answer session. The member comment period is used for just that…member comment. The BOD does want to answer your questions, that’s why the Communications Committee is here. Based on the number of questions we’ve received, we are looking at other communication avenues as well.

2. While I have attended BOD meetings I have noticed that if a member makes a statement or asks questions that Board or General Manager does not agree with, the BOD wants a copy of what was said or asked. Why is it that if someone gets up and gives praise to the BOD or General Manager they never ask for a copy? What is the difference?

With the increase in attendance at the BOD meetings, more members are exercising their right to speak up during member comment. The Board has a responsibility to provide a record of what is said at the meetings. In order to accurately include a member’s comment or questions into the minutes, the BOD is asking more often to get a copy of the member’s statement. In many cases members have already prepared a written statement. For the future, the BOD is trying to consistently request copies of all statements for the minutes.

3. Can a member be on a committee? Why are all the BOD chairing committees and not the membership?

Yes, members can serve on SLOCEA committees. In fact, your participation is encouraged and SLOCEA would love to have you on board. Two of the five members of the Communications Committee are members from the general membership. Fourteen of the twenty people on the Negotiations Committee are members from the general membership. However, as stated in SLOCEA’s Bylaws, Article VIII, Section 3, only a Director can chair a standing committee.

You do! At the beginning of every negotiations term, the SLOCEA office sends out a “Survey” and “Committee Ballot” to all full members (fair share fee-payers do not have a vote in the survey). This survey is the official document the Negotiations Committee uses to track members’ priorities. The survey results are tabulated then double and triple checked. This past year, the Survey and Ballot were titled “2010 SLOCEA Contract Negotiation Input.” The form noted: “This is your ‘vote’ on your priorities for the negotiations committee to pursue.” There were nine questions that members answered which became SLOCEA’s priorities for negotiations. Members elected 17 representatives who now make up the Negotiating Committee. The Negotiating Team is made up of six members of the bargaining units. This Team is currently at the table with the County.