More on that terrible SEIU contract

Ok, so I've already gone over the terrible job SEIU did on behalf of its members who are not covered under the Governor's furlough executive order, such as me. The proposed contract now subjects me to one day a month furlough to which that I was not otherwise subject. It has now come to our attention that not only are we now subject to the furlough, but it's retro-active to February 1, which means that since we weren't subject to the furlough, but for SEIU's crack negotiating strategy, we will have to give back 4.6% of our pay to cover those months where we were exempted. Please, please, please, someone explain to me how on earth SEIU adequately represented our issues?

SEIU blames the Department of Personnel Administration, who negotiates on behalf of the Governor's office. DPA says SEIU didn't bring it up- SEIU said that DPA was going to take care of it. What it boils down to is that SEIU, along with DPA, included a batch of employees that should have remained exempt from these provisions on the furlough- that SEIU failed to strongly advocate for a part of its membership is unsurprising. SEIU routinely fails to be a strong advocate for us in negotiating sessions with the Governor's office.

So, to sum up- the Governor ordered 2 days a month furloughs and layoffs for state employees at agencies under his direct control, but was forced to exempt state employees at certain agencies that were not under his direct control, i.e., those agencies that are created via the State Constitution (which is where I work). The Governor also ordered that layoffs would take place, with the same exemptions. The budget as passed by the legislature did not include layoffs or furloughs. SEIU reached an agreement with the Governor's office that would reduce furloughs to 1 day a month and not call for layoffs. This agreement, however, failed to maintain the exemption as included in the Governor's executive order. So, unless a complaint is lodged somewhere, we have had our exemption negotiated away by SEIU, without so much as a whisper as to our concerns, and will be forced to pay the state back for days we already worked. Yeah, that's some good negotiatin'.

Oh how I long for the day where state employees are not required to be represented by a union.