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T E AT i m e sDecember 21 2011Topics
1. No December Monthly meeting On account of the holiday tradition that empties out most of King Street Center... 2. Bargaining updates Wastewater Contracts The last bargaining session was on September 19. We are currently reviewing salary information and the next bargaining session is on December 15 or 16. Transit Contract Update The Public Employees Regulatory Commission (PERC) certified the TEA Transit Staff bargaining unit for arbitration on September 29th and since that time we have been working closely with the County to set select an arbitrator, select partisans, and select dates. It has been a long process but we are pleased to be able to finally share the outcome and some details with you. Mr. Michael H. Beck has been selected as the arbitrator for this contract. He was the arbitrator that ruled on our last contract and after some discussions with the County it was determined he would be a good choice for this contract as well. It is our hope that his familiarity with our contract and the issues will help the arbitration itself will move quickly. Once we selected Mr. Beck we worked with him to select dates. Initially he offered weeks in late June 2012 but the County had a conflict and we were hoping for earlier dates. After numerous emails and conference calls we have settled on the following dates:
May 21-24, 2012 The decision was made to secure all of these dates so that if the case runs long we already time reserved. The case will be presented by Mr. Howard Pripas for the County and Mr. Jim Cline for TEA. Mr. Jim Meith will serve as the County's partisan and Elizabeth Wright will serve as TEA's partisan. The location has not been set but as usual it will be public and we will let you know so that you may observe. Of course the "big" question is when we might anticipate financial settlement. Mr. Beck has advised the parties he is on vacation in August but has said he will write his decision in the later part of September. At this time we can not anticipate how detailed that decision may be but it is likely that Transit TEA members would receive checks in November or December 2012. As we have more information we will continue to provide you updates. As always if you have questions on any bargaining issue please do not hesitate to contact one of the board members or you may email to 3. Leave Requests Yolanda Geyen and Andrew Braegar would appreciate your excess leave donations. 4. Performance Evaluation Records Release We recognize that you were notified by the County (email from Randy Witt) that evaluation records were being released to TEA and we want to explain the purpose of that release. Our labor contract contains language that requires the employer to maintain certain standards, including fair and consistent treatment of employees, in the granting of merit pay. Over the last two years Transit Design and Construction has been attempting to change the past practice as it relates to performance evaluations. The impact of these changes has been a trend of lower scores and consequently fewer members have been receiving above top step merit pay. To halt these unfair labor practices and to maintain the status quo, TEA has filed two ULPs. The request for performance evaluation will provide evidence that supports TEA's position. Please know that the TEA Board respects your privacy and we will use the utmost discretion with the performance evaluations and that these evaluation documents will be held confidential and reviewed only on a "need to know" basis... If you have further questions regarding these records or our enforcement of your right to merit pay, please don't hesitate to contact one of your TEA representatives. TEA Board
Adé Franklin, President |