BCEA, Local #1 CONTRACT RATIFICATION VOTE!

CHICO POLL – INFORMATIONAL MEETING
Date: Monday, December 20, 2004
5:30 p.m.
Candi’s Deli, 2625 Aztec., Hegan Ln., Chico

OROVILLE POLL – INFORMATIONAL MEETING
Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2004
5:30 p.m.
BCEA Local 1 Office, 2210 5th Ave., Oroville
All BCEA Local 1 members in good standing are allowed to vote.
Voting can be done via U.S. Mail or the County Courier. All ballots must be in the BCEA Local 1 Office, 2210 5th Ave., Oroville, CA 95965, by Tuesday, December 21, 2004 5:30 p.m. or brought to one of the above meetings. Ballots will be counted at the Tuesday, December 21, 2004 meeting in Oroville.

If you have any questions, please call the BCEA Local 1 office at (530) 533-8003 or email us at bcea-gcea@onemain.com. Duplicate ballots can be requested at the BCEA Local 1 office, call for information.

BCEA, LOCAL #1 SETTLEMENT PROPOSALS!

Below is the BCEA, Local 1 Settlement Proposals reached in negotiations on December 6, 2004 with the County, by your BCEA Negotiations Team. While the Team felt that this was the best offer they could obtain this year, they do not have a recommendation for or against ratification. Information regarding the ratification meetings is on the reverse side of this page. Detailed voting instructions are included on the ballot sheet. The Team would like to thank everyone who provided their input and support throughout this process. Happy Holidays.

1. Three-year contract with reopeners each year on Health Insurance, Salary and any five items of the parties choosing.
2. County to increase their cost of the Health Insurance premium for the following: Employee only by $63.71; Employee Plus one by $143.63; Family by $191.95; and cash back by $63.71. This covers the entire increase in the Health, Dental, and Vision premiums.
3. 1% COLA beginning December 18, 2004.
4. Tentative agreements on representative of Auditors Office on Benefits Committee, advanced step hire without Board of Supervisor’s approval, ability to get two or more merit increases at one time, Domestic Partners included for sick leave use and health insurance premiums.
5. Continue to discuss the new Sexual Harassment and Violence in the Workplace Policy, other Personnel Rules changes, 8 non-economic items of BCEA’s choosing, increasing the boot allowance and the County to pay for safety prescription eye glasses.
6. One time Holidays for 2004, December 23rd and December 30th
7. No retroactivity on Class/Comp Study; any salary increases as a result of the benchmark comparisons will begin after October 1, 2005.

The current BCEA contract will expire September 30, 2004.

Your BCEA negotiators consist of seven members. They are: Carole Kloss, Employment & Social Services; Dan Wilson, Public Works; Pat Stevens, Public Health; Fran Harding, Child Support Services; Jennifer Honea, Sheriff;Leslie Roberts, Environmental Health; and Gary Jenkins, Public Works. Tiffany Gerbing of Public Health is the Alternate. Executive Director Rudy Jenkins is heading the negotiating team.

In what sounds like a broken record, the County’s negotiator Bill Avery continues to stall in negotiations to implement the Class/Comp Study. In our meeting of September 23rd Mr. Avery again came totally unprepared and could not offer any responses to our proposals or offer any of his own. As Mr. Avery did not just fall off the apple cart we believe that his behavior is one of design and it is the County’s latest attempt to forever stall the implementation of the study. When questioned about what was happening to fix the benchmarks he stated that the County was just now going out to bid to find another company (more stalling). This stalling by the County is denying over one hundred BCEA members their rightful pay increase as they have been reclassified to a higher classification and doing the work of that higher classification.

The county is represented by Bill Avery and Assistant Personnel Director Jeanne Davis.

THE RATIFICATION VOTE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2003 WAS WON! THERE WERE 217 VOTES TO RATIFY THE CONTRACT AND ONLY 7 VOTES AGAINST. THANKS TO ALL THAT VOTED!