Hi everyone!
I have just returned from the Labor-Management Committee meeting held today at 10:30am in the Lindero Hall Conference Room. A separate communication will go out later this afternoon concerning other items discussed in the meeting. I wanted to send this communication specifically about the August furlough days.
Background
Our tentative furlough agreement requires a 21 day notice prior to the implementation of any campus furlough plan on campus for CSUEU. This notice was given to our represented employees on July 27th, 2009 with the initial campus furlough plan, and thus the clock was started and the plan initially changed. CSUEU asked each campus to submit whether the campus furlough plan met with the 21 days notice. Chapter 324 responded to the statewide office that notice had been met based on the then current plan. A letter was then sent to the campuses stating which campuses had met the 21 days notice and which chapters had waived the 21 day notice for their campuses. However, the campus furlough plan was then changed on July 31st, 2009 to allow employees to pick their own furlough days in August, which potentially violated the 21 day notice again.
Labor-Management Discussion
I raised the concern about the potential violation of the 21 day notice for requesting August furlough days, and proposed to produce waivers for this portion of the agreement if employees and managers both believed it was acceptable. Management believed they had already met the 21 day notice upon receipt of the letter from the Chancellor’s Office and did not feel there was an issue, nor a need for a waiver. CSUEU believes the contract language is clear, but we also acknowledged that getting this contract issue resolved first in order to talk about waivers would probably take longer than 21 days, which would render everything moot and place undue hardship on both the employees and management dealing with an already difficult time.
Resolution
CSUEU and management agreed that the only practical solution would be to continue allowing employees and managers to select any two furlough days in August within the current restrictions (no more than one furlough day per week, subject to operational need and seniority). We believe this is the best solution we have available to us for our represented employees. No grievance will be filed on the matter. We hope you find this resolution acceptable. We appreciate all the feedback (good and bad) on the issue, and encourage you to continue letting us know your thoughts and feelings. We are here to represent you on campus and uphold the contract, including the furlough agreement.
In Union,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President