Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "unions"

Start of fiscal year means end of jobs for some

2011-07-01T01:04:59Z

Friday marks the first day of the new fiscal year for the City of Sacramento – and the last day of work for more than 200 city employees, including 42 sworn police officers.

The final city budget, which passed on June 21, included deep cuts to parks, libraries and public safety agencies and filled a $39 million budget gap.

The budget did not pass without contention, however.

Council members Angelique Ashby and Steve Cohn and Mayor Kevin Johnson each went against the budget, calling the cuts to public safety “drastic” and creating a 6-3 split vote.

“These cuts to public safety are too big. They’re way too big,” Ashby said. “Why would we cut more than we have to?”

During the proceedings at the June 14 council meeting, Cohn proposed a motion to use nearly $4 million earmarked for other purposes (including shoring up the city’s anemic reserve fund), in return for matching concessions from police and fire unions to restore cut positions.

That proposal failed 3-6, with the only “aye” votes coming from Ashby, Cohn and Johnson.

Critics of the new budget, particularly the Sacramento Police Officers Association, (SPOA), have said that Cohn’s motion was an effort at showing good faith toward the labor unions and would have eased the way to talks between union and city representatives for alternatives to layoffs.

Ashby, Cohn and Johnson agreed.

“We found a way to save as many (positions) as possible,” Ashby said during the council meeting. “I don’t understand why this council would walk away from that opportunity.”

Johnson said he feels the city has done everything it can up to this point.

“We’ve cut $200 million from our general fund over the past four years, and we can’t keep cutting,” Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday.

Johnson encouraged police and fire unions to consider concession discussions and said that “if some of our (police) officers can be saved, we should look at (Cohn’s proposal).”

Cohn said he believed his proposal was “reasonable and necessary” to restore dangerous cuts to public safety without jeopardizing the city’s contingency reserve funds.

“(It) also called for shared sacrifice,” Cohn said, “by making these funds contingent on permanent, ongoing labor concessions.”

Cohn added that his proposal relied on “added savings” developed during the budget process including keeping management staff on furloughs to pay for the public safety restorations.

“Unfortunately, a majority of the council did not agree, so I was on the short end of (the) vote,” Cohn said.

“Our police department is comprised of intelligent, compassionate people. They know how much we value them,” Johnson said. “We’re reaching out to them to have real discussions going forward.”

Although Ashby, Cohn and Johnson were not supportive of the final budget, Johnson said at the press conference that, now that the budget is in place, “We are all committed to find solutions.”

The city faces some serious financial problems over the next few fiscal years, according to a city manager staff report, including a “structural deficit (that) will persist unless additional permanent corrective actions are implemented.”

A structural deficit is when the budget has more expenses than income.

2011-2012 will be the fifth year in a row that the city has faced a budget shortfall, despite major reductions in prior years to services and personnel.

Cohn, however, is trying to stay positive.

“I’m encouraged by possible talks with SPOA and local 522 (the firefighters union),” Cohn said. “Stay tuned.”

Szalay prepares to say good-bye to top county spot

2011-06-30T00:58:46Z

As Steve Szalay prepared to hand over the reins to the top spot in county government, he talked about his experiences as interim county executive and sent a message to his successor: “Don’t screw it up.”

Szalay came on board with the county in December of 2009 when County Executive Terry Schutten retired. It was a temporary assignment that would bring Szalay out of retirement just long enough to put the county back on track while the Board of Supervisors recruited a permanent county executive.

With more than 40 years’ experience in California government, including work in the administration of four counties and as executive director for the California State Association of Counties, Szalay was ready for new challenges.

“(Sacramento County) was in bad shape, and it needed to be ‘repositioned,’ ” Szalay said. “We’re not ‘recovering,’ we’re positioning in a different direction. This is what I enjoy most. I’m happiest when there are problems to solve.”

He wanted problems to solve, and he got them.

For starters, the county budget was in need of a serious overhaul.

Sacramento County has a budget of $3.5 billion, Szalay said, and the general fund makes up $2 billion of that amount.

When the county supervisors approved the 2009/2010 budget, it was balanced with $80.2 million of one-time resources and internal borrowing – which damaged the county’s credit rating.

“When I walked in the door, they’d had a budget in place for five months, and they already knew they were about $15 million out of balance,” Szalay said. “The consistent one-time fund use took (the county’s) credit rating from A-minus to triple B-plus.”

The previous year, the budget gap was smaller ($123.7 million), but the board used more one-time resources that year ($103 million) to plug the hole.

“They were in denial about the recession and getting further and further behind,” Szalay said.

In addition to a runaway budget problem, the county was working with labor contracts that created havoc with the balance sheet.

Szalay said Schutten and the board entered into five-year labor contracts in 2005/2006, when times were good – contracts that included cost-of-living increases and equity increases for every bargaining unit for every year.

“While revenues where going down, expenses were going up,” Szalay said. “What wizard decided that was a wonderful thing? I don’t know what they were smokin’ when they came up with the idea.”

Despite the continual downturn in the economy since 2006, the labor contracts stayed in place.

The first order of business as “ICE” (the acronym-turned-nickname was effective almost immediately, Szalay said) was to set up a plan focused on four key areas of improvement: budget/fiscal, labor, debt and efficiency.

“You want current revenue to pay for current services,” Szalay explained, “and then you want a small contingency to take care of unexpected things that happen in the year, and you want managers on top of things to make adjustments quickly when it’s needed.”

To solve fiscal challenges, Szalay said he worked with management and the board to make “reasonable and necessary” cuts and to reduce the amount of one-time funds used to fill budget shortfalls.

Through those efforts, county supervisors cut more than 1,000 positions, streamlined some services and reduced the budget gap by almost $130 million over two years.

“We’re now within $19 million of having current revenue pay for current services,” Szalay said. “That’s huge.”

Next, he worked to negotiate labor contracts that didn’t undermine the budget.

What the county ended up with were new labor contracts that had no increase the first year, no increase the second year, and the third year, “we’ll talk,” Szalay said.

The new contracts also included lower-tier retirement for new employees and stopping heath care stipends previously given to retirees.

“All 26 unions agreed to the terms,” Szalay said. “That was a real accomplishment.”

Of everything he has worked on as interim county executive, though, the work that really ignited a fire in Szalay was what he calls “new efficiencies.”

“This is the fun stuff,” Szalay said. “This is where you get things done.”

The “new efficiencies” are composed in a list of 56 projects that Szalay and county management worked on for the past 21 months to save money, increase revenue and enhance services throughout the county.

Some projects changed policy to direct new revenue into the general reserve fund every year and not pull from the fund to fill budget gaps.

Other projects created new contracts with private nonprofit and corporate entities to take over services previously operated by county staff.

“This county has one service delivery policy: Hire a bunch of civil service workers and put ’em to work,” Szalay said. “What we need is a mix. We should (also) have some contracts with the private sector, some contracts with (the) nonprofit sector, some joint services with the city.”

Reorganization projects were also part of Szalay’s plans.

Szalay took the “three-legged stool model” of county services that includes municipal services, countywide services, and internal support operations, and looked for ways to combine operations or reorganize to eliminate redundancy.

Szalay estimated that the changes will save the county between $10 million and $13 million each year in operating costs.

When asked if he feels he’s accomplished what he set out to do for the county, Szalay was emphatic.

“Yes. Definitely.” he said. “We’ve adopted two budgets, gone through negotiations of labor contracts, worked on 56 efficiency plans and started working on marijuana permitting,” Szalay said.

“The time is good for a hand-off,” he added.

As Szalay returns to retired life, he said he and his wife, Diane Cummins, a special advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown, will spend time relaxing with family in the days to come, and they are planning a month-long trip to Italy in September.

After that, Szalay said, he will probably do some independent consulting work or focus on projects for the county on a contract basis.

The new county executive, Brad Hudson, is expected to take over on Aug. 14, and Szalay said he has every confidence in Hudson’s abilities.

Hudson’s background is in economic development, Szalay pointed out, so when the county experiences new growth – “and it will,” Szalay assured – Hudson will have plenty of opportunity to “show his stuff.”

“I’ve had the pleasure of being able to make some changes at the top of this organization, and there’s an excellent management team that I’m turning over to the new guy,” Szalay said.

Does he think Hudson can keep things going in the right direction?

“He’d better,” Szalay said. “He knows that, for the next few years, fiscal stability has to be the No. 1 goal.”

Szalay said he’ll have two days to brief Hudson about the position before stepping down, and he’ll have one last comment before handing over the keys to the office:

“Now, don’t screw it up! I’ll be watching you!”

New group of city employees unionizes

2011-06-02T01:17:03Z

A group of 103 city employees including workers’ compensation claims representatives and administrative analysts will likely be represented by a new union, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams and labor organizer Dee Contreras.

A majority of the group of workers, who had not previously been represented by a union, recently signed cards in favor of joining a new union, the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association, Williams said last week.

The signed cards were verified by California’s Mediation and Conciliation Service, according to Williams.

By unionizing, the analysts and other workers in the group will be able to negotiate with management on policies that affect them, according to Contreras, who is organizing city employees in the new union. She is the former labor relations director for the city.

“The reality is, those people want to help the city,” Contreras said. “The goal is to do as much as they can to help the city, but to get recognition and to participate in that decision-making process.”

Williams said the city plans to formally recognize the new union next month.

“By law, we support our employees’ right to organize for the purposes of collective bargaining,” Williams said. “A majority of a group of employees has authorized a union to represent them. The city will grant that right at the end of the 30-day notice period, which ends on June 20.”

During the 30-day period after the cards were verified, a competing union can apply to represent the group of city employees, Williams said. But according to Contreras, no other union has said it wants to represent the group of 103 employees.

Contreras formally told the city manager’s office about her plans to organize three groups totaling 677 employees, including the group of 103 staffers, in February.

She said she is currently negotiating with the city’s human resources and labor relations officials and the city attorney’s office over plans to unionize the other two groups of employees. One of the groups includes managers and the other group includes staff assistants.

If Contreras eventually organizes all three groups, the total will likely be less than 677 people. That’s because city officials and Contreras have been discussing whether some of the employees in those groups should not be part of the union, according to Contreras.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Big names draw a large crowd at education forum

2011-05-21T05:40:24Z

The Guild Theater in Oak Park was host to a forum attended by some of the biggest and most controversial names in education reform Friday evening.

The event was organized by Stand Up Sacramento, a non-profit group chaired by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, and featured speakers such as Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of public schools in Washington, DC, her boss in that position, former Washington DC mayor Adrian Fenty, and Richard Whitmire, former editorial writer at USA Today and author of “The Bee Eater,” a book which chronicles Rhee’s time as chancellor.

The speakers focused on the need to change teacher retention polices nationwide, and in particular the abolishment of the “LIFO,” or last-in-first-out practice of layoffs that most public school districts currently follow.

One after another, the speakers emphasized to the standing room only crowd that this policy does not encourage teacher retention based on student achievement, but rather it protects ineffective teachers with seniority from consequences and termination.

A brief video which preceded the speakers laid the tone for the discussion with its three main points.

Research shows that when teachers are laid off by seniority, some of the best teachers in the district are let go.

Because junior teachers are paid the least, more teachers have to be laid off to close budget deficits.

Low performing schools get hit the hardest, because typically they have the most junior teachers.

Dr. Kadhir Raja, a teacher at Grant High School, told the crowd that last year he was given a pick slip because he had only four years of experience. He recalled the success he was having with algebra students, and said that if replaced with an inefficient teacher with seniority, that would be tantamount to a crime.

“The greatest tragedy is when a great teacher who’s getting results is replaced by a bad teacher, a bad teacher who may be killing kids. Hiring and firing based on seniority is a crime. It’s homicide,” Raja said.

Mayor Johnson asked attendees to get evolved with Students First, a group founded by Rhee that seeks to change education policy by “protecting exceptional teachers, empowering parents with real information and quality school options, and insisting on effective governance in public school systems," according to the Stand Up website.

“There are many states that are farther along (with education reform) than we are. I’m not satisfied with that,” Johnson told the audience. “You guys know I’m competitive. We want to make Sacramento ground zero to real education reform.”

When stating her desires to change the system, Rhee pulled few punches.

“We need to recognize, value and reward the best teachers,“ she said. “We should do everything to keep them in the classroom. If you are not effective, we need to either quickly get you there, or you need to leave the profession. I have not met a parent who disagrees with that notion.”

She added, “I don’t think that teachers are the problem. I actually think that teachers are the solution to the problems that we have. Teachers are the most important factor that we can influence that determines whether or not children are successful.”

Former DC Mayor Fenty wasn’t shy in admitting that this method of education reform can be divisive. He repeatedly eluded that his efforts in DC with Rhee probably partially cost him his re-election.

“I swear the first thing Michelle said (when we first met) was ‘Mayor, you don’t want to hire me. I’m the type of person who causes politicians headaches,’” he said.

“I told her that as long as every decision you make is in the best interest of the kids in this city, I’m going to support you 100 percent.”

Nonetheless, Fenty expressed his continuing endorsement to Rhee’s style of reform and teacher evaluation. He listed statistics which he claimed proved what they had accomplished was effective, and pointed out that his successor was still using the policies his administration had put in place despite running a campaign which promised to dismantle them.

First grade teacher Chandra Irvine, who attended the forum, said afterwards that she left feeling “empowered and inspired.”

“I was laid off from Natomas via pink slip as a new teacher,” Irvine said. “There are a lot of first year, second year teachers that are being laid off due to last-in-first-out.”

“They are the innovative, dedicated, passionate teachers that are making a difference and helping our children succeed. Something is really wrong with the system and we all need to step up and do something about it or it’s never going to change and we’re going to keep failing our kids,” she added.

Even though this debate can be polarizing, Irvine stressed that it’s not a black or white issue.

“There are definitely veteran and senior teachers that are making a difference. It’s not about whether you’re teaching for one year or 20 years. It’s about ‘Are you getting producible results? Are you making a difference? Are you making children successful? Are you educating them?’ That’s the bottom line.”

For more information visit http://www.studentsfirst.org/

Panel to Explore California’s Political Gridlock

2011-04-27T20:15:07Z

On Wednesday, May 4th, the Center for Sacramento History, in association with the Sacramento History Foundation, will host a panel discussion with the authors of the recent book, Remaking California: Reclaiming the Public Good. The panel will delve into the causes of California’s governmental gridlock, the effects on its citizens and environment, and prospects for restoring a healthy democracy. The event, Remaking California: Breaking Political Gridlock, will be held at the Jean Runyon Little Theater in Memorial Auditorium (1515 J Street, Sacramento); doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. The event is open to the public; a $5.00 donation is requested at the door.

The panel includes: Dr. Jeffrey Lustig, emeritus professor of government, California State University, Sacramento; Dan Walters, political columnist for the Sacramento Bee; Lenny Goldberg, executive director of the California Tax Reform Association; and Osha Meserve, a Sacramento attorney specializing in environmental matters.

The speakers will examine the problems of how California is governed – from the constraints of the state’s current constitution and the implications of Proposition 13, to the ails of the Delta and the challenge of meeting the needs of a diverse population. The evening will shed light on why reforming California state governance is important; how it should be done, and why Sacramentans should care about these issues.

The authors will sign copies of the book, Remaking California, at the conclusion of the presentation. The book will be available for purchase that evening; cost is $15.00, cash or check only please.

This project was made possible by financial support from the Sacramento History Foundation and the Sacramento Convention Center. For more information please call (916) 808-7072 or visit www.centerforsacramentohistory.org.

CSH’s mission is to foster, stimulate, and promote the study and appreciation of Sacramento’s regional history. Since 1953, it has served the community by acquiring, preserving, exhibiting, and providing access to the documentary and material culture of the region. CSH is administered by the City of Sacramento and is jointly funded by the City and County of Sacramento.

Petition campaign opposes city union effort

2011-04-02T00:31:59Z

A campaign opposing an effort to unionize city employees is under way and will continue through the end of next week, according to Cindy Bates, the city employee leading the opposition campaign.

Bates, a program analyst in the city’s transportation department, is circulating a petition against a current effort to unionize nearly 700 city employees, including top managers and administrative staff.

Former city Labor Relations Director Dee Contreras is leading efforts to form the union, which would be called the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association.

Bates is one of the 677 employees who could be represented by the union if it forms.

“We don’t want to join,” Bates said in a recent interview.

She said Friday that she has so far gathered 45 signatures from employees opposing the union campaign. She is gathering the signatures at public areas, she said.

Bates acknowledged that her signature drive would not stop the unionizing effort. Rather, the petition clarifies that signers oppose the formation of the union.

Bates’ petition also would request a “decertification election” to verify if the union has an adequate number of employees supporting it. That election would only be possible if the union forms.

Bates contended it is unclear how union dues would be spent. Union supporters have provided “no road map on what they plan to do with that money,” she said.

She also said that supporters of the union effort have not provided a plan to address the city’s $35 million - 40 million budget shortfall.

In February, Contreras said city employees asked her to help them organize. “The city has not taken care of its unrepresented (non-union) employees,” Contreras said in February.

Contreras declined to comment on Bates’ petition drive Friday.

View the list of the jobs that would be represented by the union here. Read Bates’ petition here.

The Sacramento Press will continue to cover the unionizing effort when more information becomes available.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Union Busting: Opinion

2011-03-02T22:05:39Z

As the Wisconsin protests have continued and spread to Indiana and Ohio, with solidarity rallies held in Sacramento and elsewhere, the strategy of Republican Governors becomes clear: cripple public unions. If there was ever any doubt about this goal, it was dispelled by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s conversation with a newspaper editor (impersonating billionaire conservative campaign contributor David Koch) in which Walker discusses their anti-union strategy. This conservative effort has important implications for the Sacramento area.

Not coincidentally, the effort follows a long decline of unions. In 1945, according to the Department of Labor, unions represented 34% of private employees, 10% of workers in the public sector. This is now reversed: 7% of private, 36% of public workers – the overall number of union workers declining from one in every three in 1945 to one in every eight today. Crippling public employee unions, in the guise of balancing state government budgets, could well put the finishing touches on unions.

How is this important to Sacramento? Our area is currently more unionized than the rest of California, far more than the nation as a whole. According to data compiled by Hirsch and Macpherson (2011) from the Current Population Survey, 26% of Sacramento area (Sacramento, Arden, Arcade and Roseville) workers are covered by collective bargaining, compared to 19% across California and 13% nationwide. And of the 828,000 workers in the Sacramento area, 196,000 are public employees, three-fifths of whom are union members. An attack on public unions is an attack on a group of workers that comprises a vital segment of the local economy.

Shouldn’t public employees have the right to organize and bargain just as do those in the private sector? President Roosevelt in 1937 argued that public workers have the right to fair pay and working conditions, but nonetheless being “public servants” should not collectively bargain or strike. Some today contend that public unions have undue political influence over their employers, public policymakers. But that argument is now irrelevant after several court decisions, not least Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) which enables anyone, anywhere – unions, business, BP, the Koch brothers, Carlyle Group, Americans for Prosperity, Carl Rove, etc. – to influence political activity without disclosing contributions to the taxpaying public.

The cause of unions’ decline? Multiple factors, not just as some experts allege, the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act or Ronald Reagan’s firing of federal air traffic controllers in 1981. Many conservatives argue that unions have lost their public support. The fallacy of this argument was revealed in a recent New York Times/CBS News poll showing that Americans support bargaining rights for public employees by nearly 2 to 1. Moreover, 61 percent of respondents to this poll feel that salaries and benefits of public employees are either "about right" or "too low" for their work.

Current media accounts tie unions and bargaining rights to excesses in public pensions and benefits. Truth is, the most outrageous of these pension excesses have been perpetuated by elected officials and management, not public workers. The very most egregious - like, for instance, the city of Bell scandal or the City Council of Citrus Heights voting itself retirement benefits as the economy declined and the city's liabilities were increasing or the local Congressman whose retirement benefits from his State's Attorney General position were coincidentally increased by over $10,000 annually - are the result of poor legislation or management decisions, officials violating their public trust.

In any case, over the past three decades unions have lost many rights to organize, employers finding ways to ignore the 1935 Wagner Act. The result: flat median hourly wages (the bottom one-fifth declining) while, astonishingly, worker output per hour nearly doubled and (equally astonishingly) executive salaries rose by five times. At the same time, big employers found ways, through “reorganizations” (aka bankruptcies) to unload their health, severance and pension obligations to workers. With flat or lost wages and disappearing “fringes,” workers traded their union cards for credit cards.

The results of these events are evident in current federal and state reports. Of every 30 American adults:

one is in prison, jail, on parole or probation
two are “officially” unemployed
two have quit “looking” for employment or can’t find full-time employment
two are under-employed, working at near-minimum wage, mostly without benefits
two work two or more jobs just to get by

Thus, nearly one out of every three American adults has lost out on the “American Dream.” Incredible numbers for “the most-wealthy nation on earth.”

Sacramentans certainly know this pain – struggling housing and construction, anchor public services problematic what with the State budget crisis, this area one of California’s leading communities in unemployment and foreclosures. According to Realty/Trac, one of every 151 homes in greater Sacramento received a foreclosure filing in January. Local real estate prices driven down by absentee owners buying lucrative short sales and foreclosures. Just coincidentally, Harper’s March edition features “Homeless in Sacramento.”

More numbers: one percent of Americans account for 25% of the nation’s income, the worst wealth inequality in modern history. (Fifty years ago, the top 1% accounted for 10%.) Of every five homeowners, one is now “under water” (a mortgage greater than the home’s value) and 100,000 homes are foreclosed every month. Or: one in every four (yes, an incredible ¼ of) U.S. children live in poverty. And, despite healthcare reform, many Americans will continue to lack health insurance, joining long queues at the nearest ER for urgent health care, nevermind needed preventive care.

While today’s unions, including those in Sacramento and California, as well as Wisconsin, have and are willing to negotiate and compromise, Governor Walker refuses, arguing that they must give up collective bargaining rights. (Ironically, it was Wisconsin a half-century ago where non-federal public employees first got the right to organize and collectively bargain.) New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie divisively plays “divide and conquer,” by pitting a property tax reduction for seniors against the public unions. The news media typically portray the current protests as “public unions versus taxpayers.” Aren’t public employees, many of whom are teachers (public safety workers seem exempt from the discussion), also taxpayers?

What’s next? Privatizing social security and other safety-net programs? Class warfare? Perhaps that’s not an accurate description of this scenario. What is clear, however, is who is getting the short end of the stick - in Sacramento as well as across the country. Loss of unions would exacerbate Sacramento's and America's on-going redistribution of wealth from poor to rich. As Mohandas Gandhi said, “The earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”

Chuck McIntyre
Sacramento economist, writer, and small-business owner.

City eyes employee pay cuts

2011-03-02T06:39:06Z

The City Council is allowing the city manager’s office to explore new ways of closing the city’s $35 million - 40 million budget gap, including employee pay cuts and benefit rate hikes.

The strategies include a 5-10 percent pay cut for all city employees.

The City Council unanimously decided on Tuesday to allow city staff to consider a range of ideas for closing the budget shortfall.

Councilman Steve Cohn said that examining several options for budget cuts does not mean that he supports them.

“I’m fine with looking at a whole potpourri of different ideas,” Cohn said. “I don’t want that to be mistook for supporting any particular strategy at this point.”

The city would need to reach an agreement with its unions on pay cuts, according to a March 1 report prepared by Assistant City Manager Patti Bisharat.

City unions would also need to sign off on other possible strategies, which include hiking employees’ costs to maintain their health and retirement benefits, according to Bisharat’s report.

Interim City Manager Gus Vina said that the ability to assess numerous ideas for budget cuts would help the budget process. Under the city’s charter, the city manager crafts the city’s proposed budget.

“These items before you today give us maximum flexibility as we build a proposed budget for you that’s coming before you May 1,” Vina said. “This is not a proposed budget. There are no layoffs associated with our report tonight.”

A new effort to organize about 700 city employees who are not members of unions could add a wrinkle to some of the budget-cutting strategies.

Bisharat’s report assumes that there will be non-unionized employees. If some of the strategies are adopted, those employees could face pay cuts and see their contributions for benefits rise without negotiating with city officials.

However, if the unrepresented employees decide to unionize, the city would have to negotiate with the new union, according to Dee Contreras, who is organizing the effort to form the union.

Many of the city’s managers and supervisors would be represented by the union, the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association, if it is formed.

In an interview before the City Council meeting, Bisharat said that her report was written with non-union employees in mind because no new union has been formed.

“I think the process to get a contract with the unrepresented (non-union employees) would be a pretty lengthy process,” Bisharat said.

If the unrepresented employees unionize, the city would work with the new union at that time, Bisharat added.

Read the city staff report on budget strategies here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Solidarity Candlelight Vigil

2011-02-24T22:42:41Z

Sacramento’s State Capitol West Steps was the gathering spot for over two thousand supporters of the striking collective bargaining Wisconsin workers. A “We Are One” solidarity candlelight vigil brought more supporters to the capitol than was expected.

As tens of thousands of people continue their protest in Wisconsin they begin their second week of demonstrations. In Sacramento and other cities in California supporters plan to show their solidarity with Wisconsin collective bargaining state workers.

Chants of “You take on one of us, you take on all of us! We are one!” and others rang out at various times throughout the vigil. Solidarity was the theme for the night and similar events are being planned through major cities in California, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and the wave keeps going from one state to another.

Representatives for collective bargaining groups gathered in front of the capitol building while opponents of the solidarity demonstration stood on the other side of 10th Street. Both sides were civil to each other and police officers were stationed on each side of the street.

A podium was set up in front of the capitol and speakers came to the microphone to address the issue in Wisconsin and to show their support for those workers. Francisco Herrera provided music and Bill Camp from the Sacramento Labor Council welcomed the crowd. An opening prayer by Vernon Holmes, a Lutheran Minister from Sacramento, started off a series of speeches by different workers and union representatives.

Many of the speeches were in support of collective bargaining in Wisconsin and also to steer support for the rights of nurses, teachers, bus drivers and other public workers in California. Several politicians were on hand to support the demonstration and stood side by side with teachers, ironworkers, janitors, Teamsters and others.

Printed and hand-made signs were carried with messages such as “Collective Bargaining is a form of Democracy”, “We Stand with Wisconsin Workers”, “We are the Working Middle Classes! We are America” and “Unions Created the American Dream”.

Some of the speeches were very energetic and inspiring. To show further solidarity many signed a banner that said “We Stand With Wisconsin Workers”. The banner was going to be delivered to the protestors at the State House in Wisconsin. Similar solidarity assemblies throughout the U.S. are being put together and supporters are planning to send representatives to Wisconsin.

No matter what the outcome in Wisconsin it looks like collective bargaining will be put to the test there and in other states in the near future. These types of demonstrations for and against collective bargaining continue to bring Americans to a confrontation. Thus far the demonstrations have been, for the most part, peaceful. As we gather on one side or the other in such peaceful means we can proudly say “Only in America”.

New union courts nearly 700 city workers

2011-02-18T02:21:49Z

The leader of a new effort to unionize city employees took issue with Interim City Manager Gus Vina’s recent decision to raise three managers’ salaries and lower the salary of a fourth manager.

Dee Contreras, the former labor relations director for the city, is spearheading a campaign to unionize 677 city workers, including top managers and administrative staff. She retired in December but is once again involved in local labor issues – this time on the other side.

Contreras said in an interview with The Sacramento Press on Wednesday that she will serve as the staffer for the emerging group, which is known as the Sacramento City Exempt Employees Association.

“I will be working for them and representing them in their struggle,” Contreras said. “I don’t know whether the city will fight this or not.”

Contreras, who used to work for city management, criticized Vina’s decisions during the public comment section of Tuesday night’s City Council meeting.

City spokesman Maurice Chaney confirmed in a Thursday e-mail to The Sacramento Press that Vina recently made salary changes for four top managers – three raises and one decrease in pay.

Contreras claimed at the council meeting that Vina’s salary changes “raise the spectre of an unfair labor practice charge.”

She said that changes to employees’ salaries should not be made while a union organizing effort is in process.

“In general, an employee cannot give or take away from the employees while you’re in an organizing mode,” she said Wednesday.

But Vina disagrees. In response to Contreras’ claims about unfairness with the salary changes, Chaney, speaking on behalf of Vina, wrote, “Those comments are unfounded.”

The city is facing an estimated $35 million - $40 million budget gap for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Chaney commented on Vina’s raises for Finance Director Leyne Milstein, Human Resources Director Geri Hamby, Community Development Director Max Fernandez and a salary decrease for Utilities Director Marty Hanneman.

Hamby’s salary was raised from $151,402 to $162,000. Fernandez’ salary jumped from $164,445 to $172,667.

“Two of the three salary changes (Community Development director and the HR director) were envisioned as the next planned step of last fiscal year's consolidation process, which occurred last July and resulted in a cost savings of more than $4 million,” Chaney wrote. “Salary adjustments specific to these positions were considered because of the associated increases in departmental duties that resulted with these mergers.”

Chaney also provided Vina’s rationale for raising Milstein’s salary from $131,270 to $150,304.

“The finance director has played a crucial role during the last four years in assisting with a budget deficit that has affected all city employees,” Chaney said. “As we enter another year in dealing with yet another deficit, Leyne Milstein's expertise, institutional knowledge of our city budget and fiscal experience was critical to retain as we navigate through this budget process. Therefore, a pay adjustment was made.”

Chaney further commented on Vina’s reasoning for lowering Hanneman’s salary from $186,101 to $167,491.

“The Utilities director, who transitioned from an assistant city manager to a department head, retained his previous position salary,” Chaney said. “After an across-the-board examination of city director’s compensation, a salary adjustment was made to parity salaries of other department heads.”

But Contreras, who aims to represent a group that includes managers, disputes Vina’s view of Hanneman’s salary decrease. Vina is reducing Hanneman’s salary to a rate that is below the salaries of other department heads, Contreras claimed.

Contreras sent a Feb. 4 letter to Vina about her organizing a campaign, which can be read here.

The number of people Contreras is attempting to organize represents a large slice of the city’s 5,001 employees, according to statistics provided by Chaney.

If the organizing effort runs quickly, the union may be formed in three or four months, Contreras said.

“The city has not taken care of its unrepresented (non-union) employees,” Contreras said.

Contreras retired from a special projects position with the city’s Labor Relations division in December. The Labor Relations Department became a division of the Human Resources Department when the city consolidated departments last year to save money. Before the consolidation, Contreras was the director of the Labor Relations Department.

While she represented the city as Labor Relations director, Contreras noted that she has worked for unions in the past, including the Service Employees International Union.

The people Contreras wants to organize include high-profile managers, such as assistant city managers and the city attorney. Other job descriptions for people being recruited include the titles of investigator, administrative analyst and staff aide. Read a list of the jobs that Contreras wants to include in the union here.

Contreras said she is now working to organize the campaign because city employees approached her to help them unionize.

“After numerous discussions and approaches, I agreed to assist them,” Contreras said.

City Councilwoman Sandy Sheedy commented on Contreras’ new role as a city labor organizer. “Dee is very effective,” Sheedy said. “She no longer works for the city, but she understands the city.”

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Members of Local 39 call for action

2010-07-28T06:57:06Z

“Chop at the top!”

That was the chant echoed by approximately 150 employees of the City of Sacramento, all members of Local 39, as they picketed outside City Hall Plaza.

“Our members are very, very upset,” said Joan Bryant, Director of Public Employees for Local 39. “This is the fifth round of layoffs we’ve had in our bargaining units. We had about 121 of our members who recently received layoff notices, and our members are upset about it."

“I’m here to show my support,” said David Worlds, an employee with the Department of Transportation, recently transferred from the Department of Parks and Recreation. “I think it’s important that we show up and if nothing else let people know that it is important to us.”

In terms of concessions, the City is proposing:

A three year contract covering June 19, 2010 to June 2013
A 4% reduction in salaries effective June 19, 2010
A 5% increase in salaries effective June 30, 2012
One furlough day per month for the term of the contract
Salary step increases suspended until June 29, 2013, upon which salary steps will be advanced to the step that they would have been had the salary step increases not been suspended.

A statement passed out by Local 39 at today’s event addressed the concessions saying the City of Sacramento is top heavy with management. According to the statement, there is one management position for every six workers who provide front line services to the public.

The statement also alleged the City Manager is proposing to lay off workers in special funded departments, such water treatment plant operators and sanitation works in the Department of Utilities, even though they have an approved balanced budget.

Local 39 also took concern with the percentage of general funds spent on public safety, saying the City of Sacramento has for the first time surpassed the 80% figure for public safety expenditures.

Bryant indicated talks have been moving along between the City and Local 39. “I kind of characterize it as the very early stages of bargaining,” said Bryant. “We’ve had nine sessions with our large bargaining unit, and we were at the table today with our plant operations, and tomorrow we will have another session.”

Yet not everyone feels Local 39’s Leadership has put their best foot forward regarding concessions.

“I haven’t heard anything from anybody,” said Worlds. “There’s more questions right now than answers, and I think that’s probably a big part of it.”

“I think if there was more communication, it would help.”

An online petition has been started urging Local 39 Leadership to agree to the City’s proposal.

“I know we have some members who believe we should just come and vote on whatever they want to vote on, and we have a process to follow,” said Bryant. “I know there are some disgruntled members because they thought last year they should have had a vote on something. Last year we met with the City hoping we could arrive at some kind of amicable solution to help with the budget deficit, but the City walked away from the $7 million dollars we offered in concessions.”

“I don’t think they (the members) understand the bargaining process that you should just come and vote. That is not the feeling of the majority of them”.

When asked what he would like to see as a result of the demonstration, Worlds hoped for one thing:

“An agreement”

City budget, strong mayor debate at Tuesday meetings

2010-06-22T04:50:09Z

With the city budget and Mayor Kevin Johnson’s updated strong mayor proposal on the City Council’s agenda, the public is likely to see political fireworks at two meetings Tuesday.

During the first meeting, at 915 I St. at 2 p.m. the City Council will discuss key issues related to the city’s budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The city must settle a $43 million budget gap.

Council members will consider whether to scale back proposed cuts to the city’s fire, parks and police departments. Read the report on some of the planned budget cuts here.

Another issue on the council’s afternoon agenda is the Utilities Department budget. Find information on that budget here.

The City Council will also decide whether to extend city management’s negotiations with three unions for 30 days. The unions are Stationary Engineers, Local 39; Auto, Marine & Specialty Painters, Local 1176; and Plumbers & Pipefitters, Local 447. A document from the interim city manager’s office on the issue can be readhere.

In addition, council members will discuss their views on a possible ballot measure which would tax local medical marijuana dispensaries. Learn more about that discussion here.

At the evening meeting, to be held at 915 I St. at 6 p.m., the City Council will make a final decision on the budget and then discuss Johnson’s new strong mayor plan.

The City Council is discussing, but not voting on, Johnson’s plan. Johnson aims to ask council members to vote in mid-July to put the plan on the November ballot. Read a report on the issue from Johnson’s office here.

City Council meetings are open to the public.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Center to Host Exhibition and Lecture on Sacramento Communist Trial

2009-11-13T16:51:43Z

Sacramento, CA – On Friday, December 4, 2009, the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) will unveil a new photographic exhibition, Red Menace! The Sacramento Conspiracy Trial of 1935. The exhibition documents Communist farm labor organizers on trial in Sacramento for attempting to “overthrow the government.” The evening will include an address about the trial by Dr. Kathryn Olmstead, a professor in the History Department at the University of California, Davis. The exhibition reception with light refreshments begins at 6:00 p.m., while the lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. at CSH (551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento). Tickets are $10.00 a person and must be purchased in advance at CSH or by calling (916) 264-7072.

The evening event will also include three behind the scenes tours of the CSH vault or storage area. The storage area is normally closed to the public, however CSH staff will give a guided tour to event ticket holders on a first-come-first served basis. Those wishing to take the tour should indicate this when purchasing tickets.

In 1935, in the midst of the Great Depression, seventeen farm labor organizers appeared in a Sacramento courtroom accused of Criminal Syndicalism – the attempt to overthrow the government by violent means. Red Menace! The Sacramento Conspiracy Trial of 1935 depicts the proceedings through Sacramento Bee images, original police arrest photographs, courtroom documents, and Communist literature. The trial captivated Americans from Sacramento to Washington D.C. as it exposed a perceived threat to the American way of life.

Dr. Olmstead is an expert on 20th century U.S. cultural and political history and the author of, Real Enemies: Conspiracy Theories and American Democracy, World War I to 9/11 by Oxford University Press. She has written two previous books on secrecy in the U.S. government. Her lecture that evening is entitled, “Blood and Sunshine: Farm workers, Unions, and the Great Sacramento Conspiracy Trial of 1935.” Dr. Olmstead will sign copies of her book, Real Enemies, which will be available for purchase that evening.

For more information please visit www.centerforsacramentohistory.org, or call (916) 264-7072.

CSH’s mission is to foster, stimulate, and promote the study and appreciation of Sacramento’s regional history. Since 1953, it has served the community by acquiring, preserving, exhibiting, and enabling access to the documentary and material culture of the region. CSH is administered by the City of Sacramento and is jointly funded by the City and County of Sacramento.

Friction at county meeting reveals union divide

2009-11-02T03:14:38Z

Communications sent to several Sacramento County supervisors during an Oct. 20 meeting reveal a significant disconnect between some union members and their leadership regarding furloughs. More than 20 e-mails were sent to Supervisors Susan Peters and Jimmie Yee during the meeting, the vast majority of which supported furloughs over firings.

"I was never asked by my union rep if I would prefer furloughs over layoff. I was never notified of any meetings," wrote one woman. "Of course I would rather be furloughed than laid off!"

"The meetings that I have gone to seem to be rallies with incomplete information and a slant toward the union's position," wrote one social worker.

John Lewis, Stationary Engineers Local 39 representative, explained his union's opposition to furloughs at the meeting. "We find [layoffs] distasteful, but probably a better choice."

Supervisor Peters appeared dumbfounded by his statement.

"I've spent my whole life in the private sector, as an employee and employer, and all those years it was very clear that people would rather have everyone take a little bit of a hair cut rather than have people [be] laid off ... Explain to me why your members would rather have layoffs ... Our whole staff is furloughed 20 percent," Peters said.

"Did you actually go to your membership to vote on whether they preferred furloughs?" interjected Supervisor Yee.

"We kept our membership informed," Lewis replied. "Over the past couple of months, we've had many, many meetings ... by and large, we feel like we know what they want and need."

"But, I've received a lot of e-mails from employees saying that they prefer furloughs as opposed to layoffs," Yee said.

"Had our discussions gone just a tiny bit differently, we may be on the list [of unions that struck furlough agreements with the county]," Lewis said.

"But you did poll your membership?" Yee asked.

"Yes we did."

"And what were the results? Can you make that public?"

"How do you mean?" Lewis responded.

"How did they vote?" Yee and Peters asked in tandem.

"We did not [vote]," Lewis said.

"I would encourage you to do polling because as we're sitting here, in this moment, we are getting e-mails saying that the consensus of employees is that they would rather be furloughed," Peters said.

"I would gladly move to take a reduction in hours to save my job," wrote one Local 39 member. "As a junior member, I will be thrown under the bus by my own membership."

Local 39's labor agreement with the county states that a "layoff shall be based on seniority." Junior members will be laid off first and senior members last, regardless of job performance, salary, or any other metric. Other county labor agreements mirror this stipulation.

The messages sent to the supervisors represent the viewpoints of a small number of the 6,200 nonfurloughed county workers. They illustrate, however, conflicting agendas within the unions. During the summer, contractually-obligated cost of living increases were issued to union employees while the county eliminated 700 positions and furloughed nonunionized management personnel. Additionally, scheduled salary increases threaten more county jobs next year.

Unable to issue furloughs without union approval, county officials proposed a .908 work reduction plan, which would have reduced employee hours by about 10 percent. Unions were opposed and the .908 plan was not approved at the Oct. 20 supervisors meeting.

Some unions, however, did reach furlough and other cost-saving agreements with the county. According to county labor negotiator Steve Keil, agreements with the Service Employees International Union have saved five positions.

Many labor unions, however, failed to reach agreement with the county.

"Parts of the county workforce have gotten step [pay] increases, cost of living increases, and have not participated in sharing the significant financial problems of the county," said County Executive Terry Schutten.

Photocredit: anthonybento.com

Budget Update: City layoffs to occur in about two weeks

2009-06-17T20:59:59Z

The City Council has changed its original plan to lay off 168 workers Friday, and now layoffs are expected to take place in about two weeks, according to acting city spokeswoman Wendy Klock-Johnson.

The number of layoffs is in flux and may soon change depending on negotiations with five city unions.

On Tuesday, the city adopted its 2009/2010 fiscal year budget and closed out a gap of more than $43 million. The budget that was approved comes with major cuts to city services. Changes to the budget will be amendments because the budget has been adopted.

City officials continued to say Tuesday that many cuts and layoffs could be averted if the unions make concessions.

Negotiations between city managers and Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 continue to be controversial. The City Council did not approve the latest agreement with the firefighters’ union, Klock-Johnson said.

The layoff dates are being extended to allow the city more time to come to concessions with unions, she said. The city is lengthening the deadline for layoffs to all 168 workers, including those who are not represented by unions.

New health care union grows in Sacramento

2009-04-12T14:36:51Z

April 12, 2009
New health care union grows in Sacramento
By Seth Sandronsky

Employees at nursing homes in Sacramento, Woodland and Pacifica, operated by North American Health Care, Inc., left the Service Employees International Union to join the new National Union of Healthcare Workers on March 17.

“The new union tells us the truth about our contract negotiations with the employer,” said Ulette Bloomer, a cook and union steward on the night shift at Valley Skilled Nursing Home, by Sacramento’s UCD Medical Center. “SEIU was not honest about that and kept giving us the runaround.”

The former SEIU employees, 350 in all, are the first-ever members of NUHW. They will remain covered by the current collective bargaining agreement with North American Health Care, Inc. Meanwhile, the NUHW’s elected bargaining team will negotiate a new agreement with the for-profit employer.

To choose NUHW, the previously SEIU-represented employees signed petitions in a majority sign-up, a National Labor Relations Board-approved process. Shirley Campbell of the State Mediation and Conciliation Service, a neutral third party, validated the signatures of the employees who have joined the new health care union.

NUHW formed on January 28, a day after SEIU placed its United Healthcare Workers-West local of 150,000 Northern California members into a trusteeship, a legal move to seize financial and political control of the affiliate. SEIU President Andy Stern, not the rank-and-file, propelled the maneuver. The trusteeship merged three California affiliates of caregivers into a single local statewide under Stern’s appointed leaders.

Because of the trusteeship, all UHW’s elected leaders, beginning with Sal Rosselli, its former president, were removed. Rosselli, in a drawn-out conflict with Stern over health-care reform and union growth in California, was accused of misusing members’ money. He disputes the charges of financial mismanagement.

Rosselli is the current president of NUHW. Other UHW officials such as John Borsos from Sacramento, also ousted in the SEIU trusteeship, join Rosselli in leading NUHW.

“NUHW is a splinter group led by the disgraced and ousted former leaders of UHW,” said Michelle Ringuette, SEIU spokeswoman. SEIU, with 2 million members, is the biggest union in the Change to Win partnership. CTW’s six million members in seven unions departed the AFL-CIO in 2005.

Over 95,000 SEIU workers in and out of health care statewide have petitioned the NLRB to join NUHW, according to Sadie Crabtree, spokeswoman for the fledgling union. The most recent SEIU-represented petitioners range from health care workers to childcare, public safety and sanitation employees in Monterey County (Salinas), she said.

Seth Sandronsky lives and writes in Sacramento ssandronsky@yahoo.com

Hundreds of construction workers protest budget impasse

2009-02-10T20:58:35Z

Several hundred hardhats gathered at the southwest corner of the Capitol grounds this morning to protest the budget deadlock that has thrown hundreds of labor brothers out of work.

In fact, said Jarad Donabedin, a member of Laborers Local 185, “Everyone here is out of work. This is real life.”

Called by the California Alliance for Jobs, speakers from operating engineers, carpenters and laborers locals spoke in a highly-charged atmosphere to repeated cheers from those gathered.

The most common chant was “What do we want?” “A budget!” “When do we want it?” “Now!” chanted as the protesters circled around the area, holding picket signs reading “LEGISLATORS DO YOUR JOB SO WE DON’T LOSE OURS!”

Carl Goff, the vice president of the Operating Engineers Local 3, noted that “CalTrans has announced they’re shutting down 140 road projects in the state of California,” and one speaker later added that work on the Lincoln Bypass project was stopping.

Goff also noted that construction workers and engineers were suffering a double whammy in this dire economy, saying that his local had an 18 percent unemployment rate, more than double the statewide average. The drop off in jobs from the slowing of new housing construction had made things bad, but the evaporation of infrastructure jobs due to the tied-up budget made the financial hurt much worse.

Jim Earp, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs confirmed that, saying, “Our industry is already on the rocks - the only game in town now is public works projects.”

The biggest construction projects in Sacramento’s central city the new Bank of the West office tower at 5th and N Street, and the new central plant for heating and cooling many of the state buildings downtown. The latter was still under construction as of yesterday, but workers there are unsure how long the project, due to finish in May, will continue. And Donabedin said that many at the Bank of the West project have been let go.

Donabedin also said that CalTrans work on the Sheldon Road bypass in Elk Grove had stopped for lack of funds, and that he and his friends were feeling the pain.

“My wife has a state job, and she’s been furloughed,” he said. “But at least she still has a job, and benefits. I don’t, and I have 30 friends in construction who are sitting home with no work. It’s bad.”

Donabedin also noted that he had looked on craigslist at job listings for construction, and while few were listed for Sacramento, Tennessee had lots of jobs listed, he said, “And you can buy a house there for $130,000. People are going to start leaving Sacramento if this continues.”

“Just last month, we had 800 people out of work,” he added. “People have to support their families. This is bad times.”

A member of Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's office distributed a statement saying in part, "We are on your side and we will not let another week go by without action from the legislature. I am committed to bringing a vote to the floor this week."

Meanwhile, Governor Schwarzenegger's office announced just before 1 this afternoon that he would have to lay off more than 20,000 state workers this Friday if the legislature failed to reach an agreement on the budget.