The Calm before the storm.....

Please plan to attend our membership meeting.  WWSA leaders value your ideas, suggestions, knowledge, feedback and concerns.   

President                       Carolyn Holladay Vice President     Scott Mathews Chief Steward     Chris Nash   Treasurer         Judi Freedline   Secretary                  Karla Burgess    Why do we have a Union anyway? Unions are  important because companies are dedicated to their bottom line, regardless of the consequences for workers. The nature of work in America is changing. Employers are trying to shed responsibilities—for providing health insurance, good pension coverage, reasonable work hours and job safety protections, for example—while making workers' jobs and incomes less secure through downsizing, part-timing and contracting out. Working people need a voice at work. Labor unions are made up of working people working together to solve problems, build stronger workplaces and give working families a real voice. Unions give workers a voice on the job about safety, security, pay, benefits—and about the best ways to get the work done. Union workers earn 30 percent more each week than nonunion workers and are much more likely to have health and pension benefits. Unions give working people a voice in government. They represent working families before lawmakers, and make sure politicians never forget that working families voted them into office

 Negotiating Team  (as elected by membership)

Carolyn Holladay                     Nate Doney

Denise Easterling                      Joanne Marcius

Judi Freedline                   Chris Nash                         Kim Bauer

We now have AOL!

Our new e-mail address is wwsaweb@aol.com

OAPMRDD

PERS

OAPMRDD Conference  Mohican March 2, and March 3, 2007

Five members attended the Annual OAPMRDD Conference.  Pam Foster, Joanne Marcius, Donna Dunn, Sandra Dixson and Carolyn Holladay.

Topics of interest:

FThere is  new Legislation which requires Boards to report all disciplinary actions of staff who are certified to the Dept. of Education.

FMelissa Clark, MRDD liason for OEA reported that the CAFS funding is still being debated in hopes of providing necessary funding for MRDD programming.

FThere are 88 county Boards and they are all run differently.  Some counties still have K-12 school programs.

FFunding is an issue for all 88 counties. 

RUMOR MILL

A Director, at a staff meeting, suggested that if the layoffs occur sooner than planned, it will be due to WWSA leadership  "forcing their hands".   False   WWSA does not have the power to make personnel decisions. 

Management has assured Community Employment staff that their fears of "getting bumped" are unfounded.  False  The Production and Program Specialists who are slated for reduction have years of seniority.   Read your contract, know your seniority date and do the math. 

COMMUNICATION FROM WWSA

Today is Monday  May 28, 2007.    It is a beautiful day, the temperature is 68 degrees.  I Really enjoy my days off from work more than ever!  It is frustrating to see what Mr. Armstrong, with the support of the Board is doing to the agency. 

I have been very busy these last few months.  I feel that the communication between labor and management has slowed to a dribble.  However, I have felt that it was always a dribble.  WWSA hears about everything from other members not management.  Many decisions are being made that negatively affect current employees.  These decisions are made without any input from WWSA. 

Management continues to reassure that changes are discussed with members and their representatives.   In most cases, the communication comes after decisions are made.  For example:

·         The Cadet Program is being transitioned to Adult Services.  (4) Cadets have been granted permission to retire and then be rehired.  Managements answer to this is that they have the right to allow this on a "case by case" basis.  The Cadets have been renamed Jet Trainers which are exclusive to our unit.  I have filed a grievance.  I believe that they should be WWSA not WEA.  The new Jet Trainers that were Cadets will be paid less than the WWSA salary scale. (purpose is cheaper)

·         WWSA had (2) Mobility Trainers.  Lida Hendrickson is retiring and Kim Walker resigned. They were posted as WEA positions.  I filed a grievance.  I believe that it is a contract violation to abolish these positions from WWSA.

·         The Board has contracted with Weaver Industries, UDS/Twinsburg and will soon RFP the new Ellet Site.  The contract includes day habilitation and community employment.  UDS and Weaver Industries are now staffing work stations that were once staffed by Board employees.  The pay is $9.00/hr. with minimum benefits, vacation and no PERS.  I filed a grievance.  I believe these are public employees and that it is a contract violation to not recognize our bargaining unit.  Our Job Developers are getting some of the work sites and they are being given away to other private providers to staff. 

WWSA is on a "need to know" status which is a "relief" for those members who would rather not know till changes happen.

WWSA VS. BOARD           

The "restructuring" plan is designed to provide the best quality, cost effective care for the individuals we serve.  BOARD

·        The "restructuring" plan is a financial decision based primarily on the loss of CAFS funding and other reimbursements. The decision will adversely affect direct care staff.   WWSA

Filling vacancies of Program and Production Specialists with two Floater Assistants increases quality and provides more direct care staff.  BOARD

·        This plan will increase direct care staff but at what cost? Replacing Program and Production staff with Floater Assistants is a "two for one"  plan to reduce salaries.  Lower paid staff with no "career ladder"  makes  retaining and recruiting qualified direct care staff  difficult. WWSA

Reducing direct care staff and programs will allow us to serve more individuals, more efficiently, BOARD

·        Reducing Program Specialists, Production Specialists and eliminating the Cadet program, will free up dollars to spend on current and newly created Directors, Managers, corporate lawyers for negotiations, radio commercials, full page advertisements in the local paper and SSA's, (which is the current "cash cow" for reimbursements)  WWSA

Individuals have the choice of providers and in order to stay competitive in the field and reduce waiting lists we must contract with other providers who provide "equal quality services" at a lower cost. BOARD

·        CSBMR/DD staff are highly qualified based on experience, training, education and their career choice (desire) to work with our population  far outweighs the dollars saved.    (Private providers offer lower wages, minimum or no health insurance, less vacation time, sick time, no union representation, etc. which equals lower cost.) WWSA

We are working with staff to make sure everyone "lands on their feet".   BOARD

·        Members that do not have the contractual right to lateral will be forced to bump into a lower classification which will result in a reduction of salary. (a loose interpretation of "landing on your feet".)  WWSA

Roles of Program Specialist and Floater Assistants.doc                                               

December 2006 Program Design.doc

Communication Committee

What happened to the Parking Lot issues?  During our Quest training there were a lot of issues that were placed in a Parking Lot.  After reviewing those issues it was determined that the majority of the issues were communication problems.  A committee has been formed to analyze and possibly resolve some of our Agency communication issues.  Member of the committee are:

You will be receiving a short survey from the Communication Committee soon.  This survey will help us identify what areas we need to improve and also what are we doing right as an agency when it comes to effective communication.  We ask that you all participate.

Would you like to see a current seniority list?

BiWeekly 2006 Pay Periods 

Know Your Rights

• If you are called to a meeting with a supervisor/manager which you think may turn into an accusatory proceeding, be certain to have with you an OEA and/or Union Representative.

• If you find yourself in a meeting which you did not expect to be accusatory, but which results in accusations against you or another person, ask for an adjournment of the meeting, make no comments on the issue at hand, and immediately consult with your OEA and/or Union representative to discuss the steps you should take.

• In any case, to ensure the best possible OEA and/or Union assistance, you should stand firmly by the following advice:

• Contact your OEA and/or Union representative immediately.

• Do not discuss the issue with a supervisor or attempt to defend yourself alone.

• Do no make spontaneous replies to any charges.

• Cooperate with your OEA and/or Union advocates regarding written statements involved in accusatory actions.

• Do not accept any proposals offered by the supervisor/manager without full discussion with your OEA and/or Union advocate.

• Under no circumstances accept an opportunity to resign without first conferring with the OEA Representative, Union Representative or an attorney.

• Make absolutely no public statements about the matter.

Remember - your potential defense could be weakened or destroyed if you fail to follow the above rules in the first stage of the problem.

Executive Board Members:

OEA Negotiation Training

Saturday November 11, 2006

 Eleven members of WWSA attended a crisis bargaining/negotiation training held at the Hilton Hotel in Twinsburg, Ohio.

• Carolyn Holladay
• Chris Nash
• Pam Foster
• Donna Dunn
• Aliah Rucker
• Darlene Rose
• Janet Nash
• Lawrence Latson
• Jennie Scott
• Joanne Marcius
• Judi Freedline

Due to continuing problems with the web hosting service provided by OEA, we are looking into other services that may support Front Page software more adequately.  We will keep you updated.........  The forms in this website are still not working!!!! 

Any questions, updates or ideas for the website?  You can contact the Webmaster at: Wwsaweb@aol.com

Grievance Committee:

Grievance Report:

We received an unfavorable decision through the arbitration process concerning sick leave as it relates to FMLA

To view the decision click here.

As the year 2007 is fast approaching it is important to prepare for upcoming negotiations.  As a member of the last negotiating team, I know this will not be an easy task.  The hot issues most certainly will be sick leave and attendance policies.  If you have any suggestions for improved contract language, feel free to e-mail me or contact the President.  As you can see from these Arbitration decisions (in the Contract page of this website), the placement of a word  or punctuation mark, is crucial in the interpretation of the Agreement!

We will hold elections for the 2007 Negotiating team in the Summer of 2007.  If you would like to sit on that team, I encourage you to run for election...

 Our OEA LRC is:

Kent Williams.  He is located in the Hudson Field Office at 591 Boston Mills Road, Suite 100 Hudson, Ohio 44236-1112. You can contact him at 330/650-9200 or 800/654-4034 .

LRC = Labor Relations Consultant

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