October 8, 2008, 5:00p.m.

SCEA, Local 1 Site Rep and Membership Meeting

Ag Department Building

Minutes

 

1)      Call to Order by President Gary Bengs at 5:00 p.m.

 

2)      COLA increases during the contract are based upon the percentage increase for the all item Consumer Price Index of the Cost of Living Index published by the Department of Labor, Bureau of Statistics for the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose index of the All Urban Consumers category of the California Consumers Price Index (CCPI) for the month of October 2008 and October 2009. The contract provides for 100% of the CPI between the minimum salary increase of 3% and a maximum salary increase of 5%.  Executive Director Gary Stucky explained that the rough estimate of the October CPI may be 4.5% to 5%.  It may decline due to the cost of oil taking a downturn. 

 

3)      The negotiated Work Cessation Agreement between the Union and the County has been completed and copies of these MOU’s are present tonight to be distributed.  Staff explained that there are separate MOU’s for the General, Professional, and Supervisorial Units; the content is the same within all three.

 

4)      The negotiated Job Sharing Agreement between the Union and the County has been completed and this information is included in the Work Cessation Agreement MOU as described above.  This job sharing agreement is a benefit for parents of small children and for annuitants who wish to work only part time to supplement their income.  The health benefits can be split if agreed upon, but then the share of cost would also be split, or only the primary county worker could be the one who receives the entire health benefit package.  The total cost to the County cannot exceed the normal cost of one employee.

 

5)      Staff explained that the requests for classification studies are due by January 31st of each year.  An employee must first submit their request through their department and if the department declines the request, then the employee can ask the Union to submit the request to Personnel on their behalf. The County has not been completing these reviews in a timely manner.  SCEA may suggest that the County conduct these reviews on an ongoing basis.

 

6)      The Union has endorsed Larry Montna for re-election to the seat of Sutter County Board of Supervisor, District 1.  Larry is in the run-off election and his opponent is Vice President of the Tax Payer’s Association.  If you live in Larry’s district and are willing to put up a yard sign or do precinct walking, please notify the Union office.

 

7)      Other matters that the members present wanted to discuss were if the PERS retirement system will be hurt by the current Wall Street problems?  Staff explained that we have not had time to do an in-depth study on this, but it is likely that PERS will take a hit. The employer who pays into PERS will feel the hit in two years.  PERS is a defined benefit that is guaranteed.  The County pays for the employee share of 8% of their salary, which is a set amount.  The County portion of PERS contribution goes up and down and is not a set amount.  This County was smart and put money aside for this fluctuation and did not spend it at the time when they did not have to pay into PERS.  The economy probably won’t be better until at least a year from now.

 

Staff reported that we meet with the County tomorrow on the issue of Pay for Service with Distinction.  At that time we can remind Mr. Combs of the Classification Study and that some requests are still outstanding.  It should be noted that the Board of Supervisors have the ultimate say on the outcome of a classification request.  The Union has prevailed in the past on this issue on behalf of our members.

 

Staff reported that there was no TSIC health insurance cost increases this year.  Some have a $600.00 per year deductible.  Yuba City has a health insurance policy that is strictly for teachers.  The Union is hopeful that someday Kaiser will put in a health clinic in Gridley or some other area in Yuba and or Sutter County.

 

8)      Adjournment at 6:00 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C:\Documents and Settings\Marie Clark\My Documents\Sutter County\SCEA Minutes\10-8-08 SCEA Site Rep Member Minutes.doc