A supervisor disregards workers’ rights. SEIU members turned to their union. The response they got was no response at all.

The following report was given to CPPEA by a California state employee who turned to SEIU for help when a supervisor overstepped his authority. Unfortunately, SEIU never provided any assistance to their members, despite repeated requests.

CPPEA has removed names and certain details to protect the employees confidentiality

This supervisor literally handed out blank Job Description forms, and told his staff to fill in what duties they performed and at what percentage.

Now, Job Descriptions are set by DPA, they can not be unilaterally changed by management, or the State; either (or both) must meet with the Union to modify the Job Description in a “meet-and-confer”.

Since the previous supervisor had our official Job Descriptions somewhere on file (years before, we had been promoted in place under the previous supervisor), and our upper management was openly considering demoting this group of 30 State Workers, and downgrading the position requirements,  there were obvious issues with this group of people filling in their own Job Descriptions.

For example:

• If this group of 30 didn’t all fill in the exact same description as the official one filed by our previous supervisor years before, then there would be a controversy created over what these positions’ actual needs really were,
• Or management could say the group was not fulfilling their job requirements,
• Or management could change the group’s job description by compiling a new job description unilaterally without DPA, or the union’s input (no “meet-and-confer”).

I contacted SEIU and brought this to their attention.  I sent the SEIU representative our management’s email requesting we fill out a Job Description, and the fact that this effected 30+ people was readily apparent due to the address’s on the email.

The SEIU representative agreed with my assessment that this required a “meet-and-confer” with DPA and the Union, and it was only 1-2 days after management’s request, so we were timely with reporting it to SEIU.   This rep took my info, and contacted one other person in this group, that person faxed their copy of the email to this same SEIU representative’s office, and then… nothing!

Neither one of us heard from SEIU again, even though we emailed and called and left messages for this rep several times afterwards!

Neither one of us ever submitted our job description and management never asked again, which in itself seems suspicious, but I did ask SEIU about this on a subsequent visit to the SEIU office, and the person I spoke to had no explanation as to what had happened.   He did admit that he was the SEIU rep I had talked to about the Job Descriptions and the need for a “Meet-and-Confer”. (Hard to deny it, since I was standing right there, and I recognized his name.)

This very obviously required Union involvement, and could have cost our group their hard-fought upgraded positions, yet SEIU dropped the ball in putting Management on the defensive and making us look strong.  This only emboldened management into feeling they had nothing to fear from SEIU.

We are paying the price on a daily basis for SEIU’s lack of representation.

You can Share Your Story with CPPEA today, and join other California state employees who are demanding honest, effective and accountable Union Representation.

The following report was given to CPPEA by a California state employee who turned to SEIU for help responding to flimsy charges in an Adverse Action.

When the union sent an attorney to defend him, SEIU’s expert actually undermined his case instead.

CPPEA has removed names and certain details to protect the worker’s confidentiality.

This AA was very slim, and everyone who knew the details with was sure that it wouldn’t go anywhere.

The evidence against me was very vague (two emails that contained no inappropriate material, no discriminatory or defamatory content against anyone at all, including management).

Yet management was somehow motivated to dig up these emails by remotely accessing my computer and going into my email archives as far back as six months in order to find two emails that they could spin a thin story around.

SEIU did show up at my Skelly Hearing, but they didn’t question Management’s claims against me, or the timeliness of management’s case (six month old emails), or object to the methods of obtaining the evidence, or the event that precipitated their searching through my email archives. In other words, they never even asked what did I do that required managements investigation?  Many pertinent questions could have (and should have) been raised, but none of them were asked by my representative.

I was found “Guilty”, but there was a question as to what punishment I would be dealt.

At this point, SEIU had turned over my case to one of their “Attorneys” …a real Loser! Without exaggeration I could have represented myself much better than he did.

My pay was docked, and there was also the question about how long to keep the record of all this in my Personnel file. Management wanted to keep it for 3 years, and I wanted it out in 1 year. I knew that management wanted me gone, and I told my attorney to tell management that it would be easier for me to leave if I didn’t have the note in my file.

My attorney asked me if I really was planning on leaving. I explained I was not planning on it at that time, but if the opportunity presented itself, I would—but I specifically told him NOT to reveal that to Management!  He turned right around and revealed my plans to management. During further negotiations, when I confided in my less-than-capable attorney, he again revealed my strategy to management—even after I had expressly told him not to do so! How do I know this? Because he told me he did!

SEIU failed me by:

1. Failing to ask obvious questions like:

What happened that would precipitate Management’s remotely accessing, and searching my email archives as far back as 6 months for evidence of a current issue?

How do these emails validate Management’s claims against me?

What accounts for the outdated nature of the charges against me?

Why are you harassing our Union Member?

…And many other obvious questions that would have weakened management’s very thin case against me.

2. By not maintaining the basic “Attorney\Client” privilege.

SEIU’s failed representation was not only inadequate, it was negligent!

You can Share Your Story with CPPEA today, and join other California state employees who are demanding honest, effective and accountable Union Representation.