Quick Notes: SCEA LOCAL #1 SITE REPRESENTATIVE MEETING

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Local #1 Crab Feed: Public Employees Union Local #1 is holding their 10th annual Crab Feed. The event will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at the union hall in Martinez. SCEA has purchased 12 tickets to this event. These tickets are first being made available to Board Members and Site Representatives, but if members are interested they should contact the SYCEA office. Carpooling from Yuba City office to the event will be coordinated.

Bulletin Board Contest: It was announced in December that SYCEA would be conducting a Bulletin Board Decoration Contest during the first two weeks in January 2012. We've had several work locations express interest and indicate their intent to participate. Site Reps and/or participating members at each location will have a $20 budget for decorations. The themes for SCEA are "The Union's Role in the Workplace" or "The History of Unions". Participants were asked to take pictures of their bulletin board and to provide these pictures to the Association Office no later than Friday, January 20. Representatives from the YCEA Board of Directors will judge the SCEA bulletin boards and vice a versa. The winners in each county will be awarded a $100 prize.

SCEA Membership Appreciation Day: A membership appreciation day has been scheduled for Thursday, March 22, 2012. The event this year will be held at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Yuba City. The event theme and menu the will be Italian. Please mark this date on your calendar and plan to attend.

Public Employee Pensions: 2012 will be a very busy year monitoring efforts to reform public employee retirement benefits. The Governor's proposed reforms have been discussed and debated before a Joint Conference Committee of the legislature. It seems apparent that major reforms will occur this year and will most likely be partly included in the annual budget process and also by separate initiatives placed on the November 2012 election ballot by Legislatures. There are also two initiatives that have been cleared by the Secretary of State and Atty. Gen.'s office for circulation. These initiatives are much more detrimental to public employees, both current and future. The proponents of these initiatives are currently conducting polling to determine which of the two has the greatest chance of success. Please be cautious about what you sign by signature gatherers circulating petitions in front of retail stores.

Retiree Seat Created by SCEA Board Decision: The SCEA Board of Directors has decided to create a nonvoting seat on the Board of Directors to be filled by a retiree from Sutter County. The purpose of this position is to allow a retiree to have input and provide suggestions regarding the retirement benefits of current and future retirees. The position will also help monitor developments that could affect retirement benefits. Recent retiree and past SCEA Director Terry Barber has been appointed to this position. The Board of Directors decided not to set a specific term of office for this position. If other retirees express interest in serving in this capacity, the Board will consider other applicants and have the authority to change this appointment at any time.

County Public Awareness Project: Staff was informed that the County has initiated a project to ensure the general public is informed about the services provided by County employees and how the general public benefits from these services. Individual departments may be discussing this with their employees to seek volunteers willing to be videoed for short snippets about public services.

S:\work\SCEA\SCEA Site Reps\Quick Notes\2012\Quick Notes 010512.doc