Chapter Furlough Ratification Numbers
Hi everyone!
I wanted to provide the campus furlough ratification numbers as promised last week. I apologize for the delay in getting these numbers out to our membership. It has been difficult trying to find the time, and more importantly an Internet connection, while I have been on vacation in the Midwest. Thanks in advance for your understanding.
Chapter Furlough Ratification Numbers
Over the week of July 13th, Chapter 324 held their ratification vote for the furlough agreement. A previous communication gave statewide ratification percentages by Unit. I wanted to provide the results for Chapter 324 for comparison. A total of 135 represented employees submitted their vote from Chapter 324.
Here are the results for Chapter 324:
Unit 2 – NO REPRESENTED EMPLOYEES AT CSU-CI
Unit 5 – YES – 92%; NO – 8%;
Unit 7 – YES – 92%; NO – 8%;
Unit 9 – YES – 95%; NO – 5%;
Here are the results statewide:
Unit 2 – YES – 86%; NO – 14%
Unit 5 – YES – 77%; NO – 23%
Unit 7 – YES – 81%; NO – 19%
Unit 9 – YES – 82%; NO – 18%
I am amazed at the near unanimous consent of our represented membership to approve the furlough agreement. I believe it speaks to the character of our employees that an overwhelming majority of us would be willing to sacrifice in order to preserve the jobs of the many. As previously stated, this does not mean that those who voted in favor of layoffs, or even those who voted for the furlough agreement, do not have legitimate concerns about this furlough agreement. Please keep sending your feedback so we can represent ALL our employees and their concerns.
In Union and Solidarity,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
Proposed Campus Furlough Plan Response
Hi everyone!
I wanted to provide a response to the proposed campus furlough plan put forth by the Academic Senate, CFA, and the administrators today.
Labor Management Meeting
Today, Santos Ortega represented Chapter 324 in a Labor-Management Meeting attended by Dr. Rush (President), Joanne Coville (VP of Finance & Administration), John Yudelson (Representing CFA), Tina Torres (Representing APC), Santos Ortega (Representing CSUEU), Mike Middleton (Representing SETC), and Shawn Bartlett (Representing UAPD). The proposed campus furlough plan was presented at the meeting to the Union representatives for initial comment. It was the first time that anyone from the Chapter 324 Executive Board had seen the proposed plan. A follow-up meeting will be scheduled later this week to continue discussions about the proposed campus furlough plan. We would like to see these meetings continue throughout this furlough period, and beyond, to help build relationships between the Unions and management.
Response to the Proposed Campus Furlough Plan
The proposed campus furlough plan is a mixed bag for Chapter 324. We endorse the decision to minimize the impact to students and the commitment to campus closures. We believe campus closures will minimize the impact to employees as well, and will allow CSU-CI to capitalize on energy savings throughout the campus. However, our membership has spoken out strongly against a “rolling” furlough plan as proposed by this furlough plan – due to the impact it will have on employees seeking secondary employment and for certain classifications, such as lab technicians, who will not have enough time to prepare labs for the following day (among others).
We are also concerned that CSUEU was not involved in the initial furlough planning sessions for a couple of reasons. First, CSUEU lead the way on negotiating furloughs to preserve as many jobs as possible across the state. Second, I had previously stated that we could not be involved in the discussions for legal reasons, and yet we see that CFA was included in the discussions for this proposed campus furlough plan. We have requested the legal rationale, particular since other campuses throughout the system, most notably Stanislaus, Chico, and Fresno, brought all the Unions in on the initial discussions. Finally, Chapter 324 has expressed a willingness to work with management through this difficult time, but were not included in the initial conversations and our comment period was relegated to the general comment period for the campus.
A formal response was sent to Joanne Coville about our position on this proposed campus furlough plan. I anonymously included all of the feedback submitted over the past week so management will understand our thoughts and concerns – both good and bad – with the furlough plans in general, and about rolling furloughs in particular. I want to encourage everyone to continue sending feedback to the executive board so we can send along our collective response to this plan. I also want to thank everyone who has submitted feedback to date to help us understand how our membership feels.
Budget Brown Bag Meeting
We encourage everyone to attend the Budget Brown Bag meeting scheduled for Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 12:00pm in Broome Library 1360 to speak out about this proposed campus furlough plan, both for and against. We believe it is important that our membership is heard during this time, not just by your duly elected Union officers, but also by everyone in the trenches. Never before has it been this important to have our voices heard, and this appears to be our only venue to do so to date.
In Union and Solidarity,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
Furlough Ratification Results
Hi everyone!
I wanted to provide the results for the furlough ratification vote and some information about how we move forward from here. I want to thank everyone for their questions and their participation in this most important vote. I encourage you to continue sending your feedback and ideas to our executive board. It will take every one of us working together to navigate the next year at Channel Islands.
Statewide Furlough Ratification Results
The CSUEU Board of Directors held a closed session teleconference on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 4:00pm to discuss the results of the furlough ratification. The ratification vote took place by Unit and the results were tabulated statewide over the past week as each chapter finished up their voting process.
The statewide results were as follows:
* Unit 2 – 86% YES; 14% NO
* Unit 5 – 77% YES; 23% NO
* Unit 7 – 81% YES; 19% NO
* Unit 9 – 82% YES; 18% NO
The furlough agreement has officially been ratified by all bargaining units. This agreement will go into effect on August 1, 2009 and will last until June 30, 2010. It has been a hard month as the statewide Union pulled together to consider a decision between bad and worse. Overwhelmingly the membership have spoken and have chosen furloughs as the “better” option over layoffs. By no means should we celebrate this ratification, nor be happy with the state of affairs in the State of California or the California State University system.
The official press release can be found here:
http://www.csueu.org/Home/tabid/53/ctl/Details/mid/424/ItemID/455/Default.aspx
Chapter Furlough Ratification Results
Representatives of Chapter 324 met on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 5:00pm to tally our chapter votes. The votes were tallied by Rosario Cuevas (Ex-Officio), Joseph Dobzynski, Jr. (President), and Santos Ortega (Vice-President). The chapter results will be posted once the votes have been validated at the CSUEU home office.
Channel Islands is a unique chapter as the youngest campus within the system. Larger campuses have a wider breadth of seniority based on when the campuses were established, but we at Channel Islands have all been here about the same amount of time. It is heartwarming to see that we are overwhelmingly willing to sacrifice a little for the good of the group.
However, this does not mean that those who voted in favor of layoffs, or even those who voted for the furlough agreement, do not have legitimate concerns about this furlough agreement. I encourage anyone who has concerns about the furlough agreement to keep sending us feedback so we can continue to work with management to ensure our employees are represented to the best of our ability and to the letter of our collective bargaining agreement and our newly ratified furlough agreement.
Moving Forward
Our next steps will be to enact this furlough agreement and get our final questions answered by the Chancellor’s Office, including a full list of exempted classifications. A statewide labor management committee concerning workload also needs to be established to protect all represented employees from being assigned more work than they should be expected to perform for the duration of this furlough agreement. Chapter 324 is still committed to working with management to keep the lines of communication open and to establish a campus-level labor management committee to work with management and other Unions to make sure our voices are heard. We believe now that ratification has completed that we should be able to sit at the table and discuss furloughs for our campus. Your feedback to date has been very helpful for shaping the conversation at our campus.
In Union,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
Ratification Vote Follow-Up / Alternative Work Schedules
I wanted to provide an update on the ratification vote for Chapter 324 and provide you with more information on the alternative work schedule message distributed yesterday. Please pay special attention to the update on alternative work schedules and a personal request to work with them on terminating your alternative work schedules early if you are willing and able.
Ratification Vote Update
Yesterday, Chapter 324 gathered at 12:00pm and again at 8:00pm for the ratification vote. I want to extend my sincere thanks to the executive board for pulling it together again on short notice, and to Brenda Brown and Michael Brandt for attending and answering questions from their distinct and informative perspectives. Ratification officially ends for Chapter 324 on Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 4:00pm. The results will be reported to the CSUEU Board of Directors on Monday, July 20th, 2009 by 2:00pm. The total results will be tallied and reported back to the Chapters. I will get that information to you as soon as it is available and cleared for distribution. The presentation used in yesterday’s meetings has been uploaded for your reference.
Provisional Balloting
For anyone who has yet to vote and is listed as a member in good standing, we have two options for provisional balloting. All provisional ballots are due by Friday, July 17th, 2009 at 4:00pm with no restrictions.
Option 1 – Provisional Ballot
A provisional ballot has been prepared by CSUEU for taking votes outside the ratification meetings. If you want to exercise this option, I can meet with you to discuss any questions you may have and provide you with the ballot for voting. This vote will be counted along with all the others as appropriate.
Option 2 – Ratification by Email
Ratification may also be sent via email to me directly at this address (joseph.dobzynski@csuci.edu). Your vote must come from your CSUCI email address and by exercising this option you waive the right to a secret ballot. I promise to keep your vote in the strictest confidence and will fill out an unmarked provisional ballot for you. Please send along any final questions you might have, and I will do my best to get you answers.
Furlough Proposals
I have confirmed with Renny Christopher that Academic Affairs is putting together a few proposals for how to enact furloughs at Channel Islands, including the “rolling furlough” idea that was raised in our general meeting. Dr. Rush has identified that our primary concern should be serving the students, in accordance with our tentative furlough agreement. I have also been advised that until we ratify our tentative furlough agreement that legally we cannot discuss furloughs as the Union with the campus, so as not to have an undue influence on our ratification. I want to caution everyone that we still do not have all Unions on board with furloughs, nor do we have a finalized budget cut. However, I would appreciate everyone submitting to me their thoughts and concerns about the “rolling furlough” proposal or any other thoughts and concerns you might have. I will compile this feedback and pass it along to Renny for consideration and incorporation to find a furlough day program that is a good compromise to meet multiple needs. Your feedback will be kept anonymous to prevent any potential retaliation. I cannot guarantee we will get everything we want, but we have to work together with everyone on campus for this to work.
Alternative Work Schedules
I have heard back from Human Resources, and they are revising their request for alternative work schedule terminations to provide the required 21 day notice. This notice must come from your administrator directly to you, and the 21 days begins upon receipt of that message. The 21 day notice was placed into the contract to allow adequate time for day care adjustments, secondary employment adjustments, and other scheduling changes that need to be accommodated. I am happy to say we have resolved this potential grievance at the informal level.
Management does hold the exclusive right to implement and terminate alternative work schedules based upon operational needs, and given the undue burden we would place on our fellow represented employees in Human Resources, and the potential complication of any furlough program – I believe this certainly qualifies.
However, if you are willing or able to terminate your alternative work schedule earlier than 21 days, Human Resources would greatly appreciate it! I encourage anyone who is able to do this to please step up and meet with your administrator. I cannot stress enough that working together, especially in this capacity, is the kind of relationship our Union wishes to have with management as we weather this budget crisis.
In Union,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
Furlough Ratification Meeting Information
Hi everyone!
I wanted to provide more information about next week’s vote. A meeting request should have gone out to everyone about the meeting next Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 @ 12:00pm in Broome Library 1320. Please note the location change. The larger rooms are currently unavailable or not big enough to hold everyone. A second meeting will be held that night for the night shift employees.
Time Made Available for Ratification
Our campus has granted a request to allow extra time for all represented employee to attend this ratification vote. Chapter 324 appreciate the flexibility by our division heads for this important vote. We will do our best to finish in an hour, but I am pleased with these gracious adjustments.
Food and Drink Available for EVERYONE
We have adjusted our food and water orders to accommodate everyone. We are requesting that everyone please be considerate when you get there for the first round of food so that everyone can get at least a first round. Once everyone is seated, feel free to take what you want from what is left over. We’ll have foil for leftovers for lunches later in the week.
CSUEU Representatives Available for Questions
CSUEU will have statewide representation available to answer your questions about the tentative furlough agreement. Please send any questions ahead of time so we can get them answered. Also, please keep in mind that some questions we will be unable to answer since they involve individual campus decisions.
Ratification Process
Ratification of the tentative furlough agreement will be by members only. If you are not listed as a member at the time of voting, you will need to fill out a membership application. I apologize in advance for anyone who did submit a membership application in the last round of voting. Some applications may not have been processed prior to the ratification vote.
Our agenda will include an overview of the tentative furlough agreement, a question and answer period to answer the questions we can, and finally the ratification vote. Voting will be done by Unit, which means it is possible that some units will ratify the agreement and some will not. We will have four tables setup to expedite check-in – one for each Unit (5, 7, and 9) and one for non-members. Ballots will only be given to registered members and non-members who sign up for the Union at the meeting.
Provisional Balloting / Special Accommodations
In the event you are unable to attend the ratification vote, a provisional ballot may be filed by special appointments with the Chapter president (me). I can be contacted by either email (joseph.dobzynski@csuci.edu) or by phone (805.437.3279). However, we have made great efforts to provide enough time for all represented employees to attend this meeting. Reasons should be compelling for someone unable to attend the meeting, including vacations and medical needs.
If you cannot meet with the chapter president to file a provisional ballot, you may contact the chapter president directly from your CSUCI email address to cast your vote. Compelling reasons should be provided and members who choose to use this method will waive their right to a secret ballot. I promise to keep your vote in confidence, and will include your vote with the others in the ballot box without markings.
Looking Forward
All ratification vote results will be provided to CSUEU on Monday, July 20th, 2009 by 1:00pm. A special teleconference will be held by the CSUEU Board of Directors to hear the results of the ratification and to determine the next steps for moving forward based upon the vote. I will attend the teleconference as your duly elected president and will send out a message afterward. I will be on vacation that week, so please be patient while I find a working Internet connection in the middle of Northern Illinois. J
Dr. Rush has responded to my request for a Channel Islands Budget Cuts Committee. He is waiting for more information to come in about the overall cut to the CSU Budget (and for our campus), and the possibility of furloughs for CFA and SETC. Chapter 324 believes it is imperative that we provide input from our membership on workload concerns, campus furlough days/weeks, and other campus-specific concerns. I will keep you all informed on the progress of this request as we move forward.
President’s Message
These are troubling times, but it is good to see our Union coming together to discuss and respond to this crisis. I want to thank our executive board for their immense efforts on such serious issues and under tight deadlines. I am also encouraged by the collegial interactions with our administrators while we seek solutions for this budget crisis. I believe this makes Channel Islands somewhere worth working, where we not only find new ways to operate as a University, but also have Unions working together and with management to represent our employees. It is a privilege and an honor to serve you. If you see a member of the executive board, or a long-time Union activist, around campus, let them know how you feel and be sure to thank them for their activism.
In Union,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
Furlough Agreement Ratification Vote
I wanted to provide more updates on the status of the furlough bargaining.
Tentative Agreement Posted
The tentative agreement on furloughs is now available and attached. We apologize for the delay in releasing the information, but our CSUEU Bargaining Team has been hard at work not only in negotiations, but also on the attached FAQ regarding the furlough agreement. This FAQ is really good for those of you who have difficultly reading contract language. Any question you feel is NOT answered by this FAQ should be forwarded to our executive board. We will send those questions to CSUEU for clarification and answers, assuming we are able to answer them right now. Keep in mind that although the agreement is “signed”, it has not yet been ratified by our members!
Furlough Agreement Ratification Vote
On Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 we will hold two meetings for member ratification. The first will be held from 12:00pm to 1:00pm, and will be held in Malibu 100. The second will be held that evening for the night shift. We are anticipating a huge crowd for this important, members only vote. Membership applications will be on hand for those who have yet to complete one, or for applications that were sent in too late for processing. We also hope to have representatives from our CSUEU Bargaining Team on hand to answer your questions. And most importantly to some of you, we will make sure to have enough food and water this time around! The meeting request will go out shortly after this email.
This member ratification vote will determine the following:
- A YES vote means you approve of the tentative furlough agreement as bargained.
- A NO vote means you do not approve of the tentative furlough agreement as bargained.
Keep in mind the previous advisory vote was to ensure pursuing furloughs was an option worth exploring with the CSU. This is the official ratification of the agreement, and each member will need to decide if they accept or reject the tentative agreement. If you need special accommodations for this important vote, let me know immediately!
Channel Islands Budget Cuts
The tentative agreement provides a great deal of flexibility for utilizing your furlough days, and for each campus president the possibility to establish furlough days throughout the year. Many questions remain unanswered, including what the final budget cut to the CSU will be; if other unions (besides APC) will accept furloughs; and how things will progress at each campus. I am still waiting for a response from Dr. Rush concerning my proposed budget cuts committee with senior administrators and union leaders to ensure we are making the best decisions we can. Many decisions need to be made concerning furlough days, workload management, and if layoffs will still be necessary. We sincerely hope these decisions at our campus are not made in a vacuum, and that we can continue the good relations between represented employees and management at our campus – especially if we are sacrificing so much for ourselves and the CSU over the next year. It is going to be a bumpy ride, and an open dialogue will go great lengths to ensure good relations throughout the campus.
In Union,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
Chapter 324 Updates – Conceptual Furloughs Proposal Reached
I have some important news relating to the CSU budget situation and the furlough bargaining.
Conceptual Proposal Reached
The following statement was posted to the CSUEU website:
“After three full days of bargaining, the CSU Employees Union (CSUEU) reached a conceptual agreement which will provide workload protections, significant layoff mitigation and 24 furlough days during the period August 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010. The team believes this agreement will address the concerns presented to us by our members. Once the final language has been written and agreed to, we will post the full text for our members to review.
Within the next few days, we will begin the process of ratification; CSUEU members will have the opportunity to vote on the tentative agreement at their Chapter. You will receive a notice of the time and place for balloting via e-mail.”
CSU Board of Trustees Meeting
The following was included in the last CSU Employee Update:
“The CSU Board of Trustees will meet tomorrow to discuss plans to address a proposed $584 million cut to its 2009-10 budget. The Committee on Collective Bargaining will begin in closed session at 10 a.m., and the Committee of the Whole will convene at 12:30 p.m. at the Chancellor’s Office in Long Beach.
Trustees will discuss several measures ranging from enrollment reductions to furloughs that seek to address an unprecedented reduction to the CSU’s budget, the largest in its history. The reduction is part of the state’s attempt to close an estimated $26.3 billion budget gap.”
Emergency General Meeting
The Chapter 324 Executive Board will begin planning another emergency general meeting, tentatively for Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 at 12:00pm and 8:00pm. We anticipate a lot more individuals this time around, so we will make sure to have enough food and drink for everyone (including our brothers and sisters on the night shift)! During this emergency meeting we will review the proposal, answer questions, and have a members only vote whether to accept or reject the proposal. A subsequent email will follow when the proposal has been posted to the CSUEU web site and with details on the location and time for the members only vote. Additional meetings will be scheduled to capture all members votes possible within the timeline approved at the last CSUEU Board of Directors Meeting. If you feel you will need alternative means to vote this time around, please contact me for accommodations.
Important Links
Please reference the following links in the meantime for important updates:
- Chapter 324 Website – http://www.csuci324.org
- CSUEU Website – http://www.csueu.org
- CSUEU Budget Central – http://www.csueu.org/Home/StateandCSUBudgetCentral/tabid/902/Default.aspx
- CSUEU Furloughs FAQ – http://www.csueu.org/Home/StateandCSUBudgetCentral/FurloughsFAQ/tabid/928/Default.aspx
Chapter 324 Updates – Budgets, Furloughs, and Elections
I wanted to provide the membership with updates on a number of key issues, both at the statewide and chapter level.
California and CSU Budget
The State of California is not any closer to a budget for Fiscal Year 2009-2010, which officially began today. Rumors of IOUs to be distributed to state employees have been circulating. Please keep in mind that Education workers have their salaries protected under Title V, so while our brothers and sisters throughout the state may be subject to more harsh attacks and reductions by the Governor, we will still receive our paychecks. Each day of delay by the legislature and the Governor to resolve the budget crisis will cost California state programs further budget cuts. On a personal note, this high speed game of chicken between the Governor and the California Legislature is not helping us figure out where we have to go to survive this budget crisis. The biggest difficulty we have for resolving the CSU Budget crisis is getting our questions answered.
Here’s a link to the CSUEU Budget Central website:
http://www.csueu.org/Home/StateandCSUBudgetCentral/tabid/902/Default.aspx
Furlough Bargaining and Voting
The CSUEU and CSU have officially entered bargaining for furloughs as an option to mitigate layoffs. The newly elected bargaining team took the advisory vote to heart and are exploring this option with the CSU. I have forwarded all your questions to CSUEU. These excellent questions and ideas will be used as part of the bargaining process. I am proud to say that the CSUEU Board of Directors voted this weekend to require any side letter generated by this furlough bargaining effort to be ratified by our membership using a special process. This special process will require us to hold a meeting for discussion and voting within a week of an agreement being reached, similar to the previous advisory vote. We will make sure to have more food for this important meeting.
CSUEU received some criticism from other groups and our own membership on “rushing” to choose furloughs. The magnitude of the budget cuts have fluctuated from three to six percent in January 2009 to an astounding 14% after the May 19th Special Election. Chapter 324 believes we have had the best possible reaction to a desperate situation. We have ensured that the members were as informed as possible throughout the process and that our members will have the right to vote on anything bargained by the CSU and CSUEU to help close the budget gaps. Remember, members will be able to vote the proposal either up or down before anything is agreed to between the CSUEU and CSU.
We have provided links to other Union responses for comparison here:
CFA – http://www.calfac.org/allpdf/newsreleas/2009_pressrel/PR_063009_FurloughResponse.pdf
SETC – http://www.setc-united.org/CSUHome.htm#Layoffs
Here is a link to the CSUEU Furloughs FAQ:
http://www.csueu.org/Home/StateandCSUBudgetCentral/FurloughsFAQ/tabid/928/Default.aspx
Channel Islands Budget Cuts
We are still not sure what will become the overall cuts to the Channel Islands budget. In order to begin addressing individual campus cuts, the final cuts to the California budget must be determined and each Union needs to negotiate any furlough options as they see fit. Once completed, the CSU Board of Trustees will need to approve any plans to complete this process. I suspect the CSU Presidents will reconvene to discuss the overall cut once we have a firm number and options (furloughs and/or layoffs) on the table.
To this end, I have requested to Dr. Rush that a special committee is formed at Channel Islands to address the budget cuts. This committee would be comprised of the CSUCI senior-level management and union leadership. Everyone should be working together so we are reviewing the same information and making the right decisions. We feel our union should have a seat at the table during these times to represent the interest of the employees as well as the interest of the University.
CSUEU Board of Directors Meeting
The CSUEU Board of Directors met this past weekend for our quarterly in-person meeting and biannual election of statewide officers. The Board voted unanimously to cut member dues by a corresponding percentage if furloughs are bargained and ratified by the membership. The board felt it was important to show solidarity with all represented members should furloughs become a reality.
Members from across the state expressed their frustrations with our budget situation. It is amazing to work within an organization that recognizes dissent among its members and works to understand and include alternate perspectives. The frustrations stem from the lack of knowledge that everyone seems to have about the budget crisis. And while it was hard to be criticized after all the work we had done on a short timeline, I believe these concerns only highlight the frustration we all feel.
I also wanted to highlight that our own Roy Park, Unit 9 Representative, was elected to serve as a Member At-Large on the statewide Bargaining Unit 9 Council. He will be picking up where I left off and will advise the Bargaining Team on issues relating to Unit 9 employees. If you see him around campus, be sure to congratulate him on his election and thank him for serving our chapter and our union at the statewide level.
Unit 7 Representative
Nick Fuentes was recently reclassified into Unit 9, which required him to abdicate his position as Unit 7 Representative. While we congratulate him on his well-deserved reclassification, we are now missing a Unit 7 Representative for our chapter. If anyone in Unit 7 is interested in stepping up during these uncertain times, we would greatly appreciate it. I will send a separate email to Unit 7 personnel with a second request for volunteers. We can only do this if we all work together.
Chapter Website
Tom Emens has made strides in re-launching our chapter website. If you have any suggestions for content or features for the website, please forward that feedback to Ana Rosa Durán, our Communications Chair at ana.duran@csuci.edu. We want this website to serve you and your needs.
Questions / Feedback
If you have any questions or feedback concerning this update or our chapter, do not hesitate to contact me using the details below. We want to hear your feedback, both good and bad, so we can continue to better serve and support you, especially now.
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
a: Broome Library, Room 2470
p: 805.437.3279
c: 805.453.3244
Furlough Voting Results
I wanted to provide you with some information about furlough voting among the chapters.
CSUEU Board of Directors Teleconference
Yesterday afternoon, the CSUEU Board of Directors met in closed session to discuss furloughs as an option to meet the cuts to the CSU budget. The meeting lasted from 2:00pm to 4:00pm, during which time we reviewed the results of the phone polling, the web survey, and each chapter vote. I am pleased to announce that the CSUEU Board of Directors voted unanimously to pursue furloughs as an option to close the CSU Budget. More information is available in the link below. Feel free to cross-post this email and the notice below.
Link: http://www.csueu.org/Home/tabid/53/ctl/Details/mid/424/ItemID/432/Default.aspx
CSUEU Chapter 324 Furlough Vote
The final results of our chapter vote were 128 to 10 in favor of furloughs as an option to mitigate layoffs. Almost 93% of our chapter membership voted to take on a portion of this budget crisis to preserve as many positions as possible. It speaks to the special relationship that Channel Islands has among its employees and to our willingness to work together within our chapter, within our university, and throughout the Union to come together during this crisis. I also believe it marks a turning point in the American labor movement, where we would come together rather than protect ourselves. It is amazing the sense of community and cooperation validated by this vote. I am honored to serve you all.
Next Steps
The CSUEU Board of Directors will meet in person this weekend, beginning Friday, June 26th, 2009 and lasting until Sunday, June 28th, 2009. I will be attending as president for Chapter 324, but I will be accompanied by Santos Ortega (vice-president), Michelle Willinsky (treasurer), Evelyn Taylor (secretary), and Roy Park (Unit 9 Representative) to vote for the statewide Union positions. We will also be discussing the next steps and bargaining considerations for furloughs as an option. I will report back next Monday with any information we pick up.
In Union,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
CSUEU General Meeting Follow-Up
Hi everyone!
First and foremost, it was great to see so many people attend. It is an honor and a privilege to serve you during these uncertain times. I apologize for the lack of food and water towards the end – we will make adjustments for future meetings as we weather this crisis. CSUEU and Chapter 324 are committed to seeing as many as possible through this crisis.
General Meeting Presentation
Click here to download the presentation given at today’s meeting. I apologize for running over. We had very good questions and I hope I gave adequate answers. We still have more questions than answers and way too many contingencies. If you have further questions, please let me know! I am including my notes from the end of the presentation below.
Voting Timeline
The results of the vote will be tabulated on Friday, June 19th, 2009 @ 5:00pm. No interim vote counts will be given until everyone has a chance to vote. It would be unfair to influence anyone’s decision on this important matter. I will send an email after the tabulation and we will work with our Communications Chair to ensure everyone receives the official count. I am committed to voting at the CSUEU Board of Directors meeting on Monday based on a simple majority (50% + 1) of this vote.
Employee Assistance
Chapter 324 has started discussions with the University and other campus Unions to find ways to support employees in the coming year, regardless of how this turns out. We are open to any ideas you might have to save money during these times. Every dollar is going to count as we move forward.
The ideas include:
- State Employee Discounts – Negotiating discounts with local businesses and organizations on basic items. Some programs exist, but we want to focus on what people need.
- Purchasing Power – Leveraging bulk purchases from local businesses for distribution, including agreements with local farms and grocery stores.
- Potlucks – Holding regular potlucks throughout the year to keep everyone informed and to feed as many as possible.
- Bulletin Boards – Creating ways to post “Need It / Got It” lists to make use of items sitting in our garages or storage closets. You can bust clutter in your home and help a fellow employee.
- Carpooling – Identifying ways to carpool to save on gasoline and parking costs.
- Tips to Save Money – Shut off your lights, turn off your power strips, take shorter showers… whatever we can put together to make better use of what we got at home and at work.
Things to Report
We also discussed a number of practices that we would like to hear about in these uncertain times.
These include:
- Informal Volunteering – No one should be asked or required (that’s “volun-telling”) to volunteer their time for the good of the University. If you hear about these practices, please notify a member of our executive board immediately. You should not be penalized for not volunteering on campus. You should also not receive preferential treatment for donating your time either.
- Workaholics Anonymous – As a recovering workaholic (with occasional lapses!), I know the mental burden we place on ourselves to do the best job we can. Many times we do this to ourselves. Sometimes we need to talk to an administrator to adjust and prioritize the workload.
- Exempt Employee Abuse – Exempt employees will be targeted to ‘put in the extra effort’. This is understandable in emergency conditions, but if it consistently happens to someone on campus, we want to hear about it. We will prevent this abuse in both the furlough and layoff options.
- Working Out of Classification – Many of you were promised re-classifications for duties assigned outside of your classification, if only the budget would agree. We now know the full extent of the budget cuts. If you feel you are working outside of your classification, please let an executive board member know. The contract is clear that one of two things need to happen: (1) you should be reclassified with the appropriate salary increase into the higher classification; or (2) you should have the duties outside your classification removed from your workload. We can’t help you through this if you don’t let us know. We are not paid to do work outside our classification, nor should we be expected to without due compensation.
More information will follow as the votes come in. I want to thank you all again for attending today. We will hold other meetings throughout this week to give everyone a chance to vote.
In Union,
Joseph Dobzynski, Jr.
CSUEU Chapter 324 – President
CSUEU Bargaining Unit 9 – Member At-Large