Date:                June 25, 2010

 

 

To:                   YCEA Members

 

From:               Robin Timoszyk, President

By:                   Gary Stucky, Executive Director

 

 

Subject:            Tentative Agreement on Contract Amendment and Notice of Membership Meeting/Voting Times and Locations

 

During the last several weeks through discussions with the County, we have been working to secure the best possible conditions for a contract addendum that provides continued protection to your rights and benefits under the contract. No one is pleased with the fact that the County is asking us to restructure our contract in order to reduce the anticipated expenditures for next year.

 

Your staff and leadership have also been working to assist our members who have received layoff notices with unresolved concerns and/or issues and to lessen the impact to them during this difficult time. It is clear that without further reducing the County's expenses for next year; employees will experience more layoffs. This is not intended to create fear amongst our members; it is simply the reality.  We understand this has been a difficult time for all concerned and we greatly appreciate your patience and trust in the fact that your leadership is acting in the majority’s best interest.

 

We have not opened the contract. The decision on whether to open the contract will be made by a majority vote of the membership.  We are calling a membership meeting for Wednesday, June 30, 2010, at 5:15 PM to be held at the Government Center in the Board of Supervisors’ Chambers. The purpose of this meeting will be to answer questions regarding the attached tentative agreement and to allow our members to begin casting their vote on whether to open the contract for the exclusive purpose of making the modifications and additions covered by the tentative agreement. Listed below are additional locations and times when members may cast their vote.

 

The following represents the complete terms and conditions included in the tentative agreement.  The YCEA Board of Directors met on Wednesday, June 23, 2010 to review this matter and is recommending that the membership approve this tentative agreement.

 

Tentative Agreement

Between the

County of Yuba and the Yuba County Employees Association, Local #1

MLA Addendum

 

After good-faith discussions intended to preserve services to the public and mitigate the necessity for layoffs, the County of Yuba (County) and Yuba County Employees Association, Local #1 (YCEA) have agreed to extend the terms and conditions of the existing Master Labor Agreement (MLA) from July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2014.  The County and YCEA (hereinafter Parties) have agreed to open the MLA for the exclusive purpose of modifying and adding the following terms and conditions of the MLA.  It is understood that unless otherwise modified by this Addendum the terms and conditions will remain the same.

 

  1. Effective upon ratification of the MLA Addendum, Article 19, Retirement, Section 19.03, PERS Employee Contribution (EPMC), which provides that the County would begin to pay the employee contribution of 7% to PERS effective July 1, 2009 for the miscellaneous and safety category employees represented by YCEA will be eliminated.

 

  1. YCEA agrees to extend the terms and conditions of the Voluntary Furlough Program (VTO) during the term of the Addendum.

 

  1. Effective July 1, 2010, Article 9 Section 9.11 of the Rules Governing Coverage and Compensation, Benefits and Working Conditions of Employees of the County of Yuba, Resolution 2005-113 is suspended for the term of the MLA Addendum for all employees represented by YCEA and thereby, eliminate the ability for employees to transfer vacation accruals in excess of eighty (80) hours to deferred compensation for the term of the MLA Addendum.

 

  1. Effective July 1, 2010, Article 20, Section 20.07, is amended for the term of the MLA Addendum to increase the maximum vacation accrual limits to 350 hours for all employees represented by YCEA with a current maximum of 240 hours.

 

  1. Effective July 1, 2013, the County will implement a 5% salary increase for employees represented by YCEA. The 5% increase will be calculated and added to the base "A" salary step consistent with past practice.  It is understood that actual adjustments to the Longevity/Merit Index steps may vary slightly due to applying percentages.

 

  1. Effective July 1, 2013, a new Merit/Longevity Pay Schedule will be implemented for employees hired on or after July 1, 2013. The new Merit/Longevity Pay Schedule will consist of seven steps with approximately 5% in between each step. Progression from Step 1 to Step 7 will be based upon receiving a satisfactory performance evaluation. The new Merit/Longevity Pay Schedule will include a longevity salary increase of 5% based upon completion of 15 years of service with the County.

 

  1. Employees hired on or before June 30, 2013, will continue for the duration of the MLA Addendum to receive salary adjustments based upon the Longevity/Merit Step Increase currently in place at the time the parties agree to the MLA Addendum.

 

  1. Equal Treatment:  The County agrees that, if during the term of the MLA Addendum any other County employees receive a general salary increase or compensation intended to be in lieu of a general salary increase, the employees represented by the Association will be treated equally.  Reinstatement of previously awarded salary adjustments that have been temporarily reduced by the County for one (1) year or longer are excluded from this provision.

 

 

YCEA Voting and Balloting Schedule

 

6/30/10 -          Membership Meeting at Government Center at 5:15 PM

                        Voting during/after the meeting until approximately 7:30 PM

 

7/1/10 -            Voting at Government Center –12:00 PM - 3:00 PM

                        Conference Room 1

                         

7/2/10 -            Voting at Packard Building - 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM

                        Dean Sellers' Library

             

7/6/10 -            Voting at Courthouse -10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

                        Conference Room off the Main Lobby 

 

7/6/10 -            Voting at One-Stop - 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM

Beckwourth Conference Room (2nd Floor)

 

Ballots to be counted immediately following the close of voting at One-Stop

 

Proxy Voting: Additionally, in accordance with the YCEA Board policy members may cast a proxy vote by empowering another member to vote on his/her behalf if the member issuing a proxy is unable to vote due to work hours or being absent due to an authorized leave of absence. The authority to cast a proxy vote must be in writing, clearly state who is empowered, and include a statement explaining why the member was not able to cast the vote him or herself.  Authorization must be in writing, be signed, and dated by the member issuing the proxy. Such proxy shall be for voting on a single matter.

 

The ballot question will be framed in the following manner:

 

I approve reopening the YCEA contract for the exclusive purpose of modifying the terms and conditions as outlined in the tentative agreement presented to the membership for consideration  and reviewed with the membership on June 30, 2010.

 

I do not approve opening the YCEA contract and respectfully direct that the current terms and conditions be implemented in accordance with the contract.

 

Members Affected by Layoff:  The YCEA Board has decided that since our members will be employed on June 30, when the voting begins that members affected by layoff should be allowed to vote.