Re: Anonymous Recently Asked Questions (You're Welcome to Submit Yours)

... Still allot of problems in our Department. Jack Ward has already changed our whole departments schedules. We haven't changed yet. Was suppose to change December 28, 2008 but now I heard not until January. He has taken it on his own and revised a new schedule. He is having ALL of the clinic worker being pulled from the clinic two days out of the week to work the hospital two weekends a month and having people at the hospital fill in at the clinic when the clinic workers are at the hospital. Doesn't make any sense to us. I have asked one of our Supervisor, Christina twice now what was the purpose of the new changes. First time the answer was that the people that were working weekend were tired and thought that it wasn't fair that clinic workers were off all weekend. (Which isn't that what SENIORITY is partly about?) The second time the answer was that our department is short on worker. More areas and not enough people to work them. (Doesn't make any sense once again. How is that going to change if you are just swapping out worker for worker.) We don't know which days we will be pulled and we don't know where we will be working or if we ever worked that type of job. So, so much for SENIORITY. What? will we be back at DAY 1, having to keep checking a schedule board again to see where we will be working and then getting in trouble because they changed it somewhere in between when we were at the hospital working and then back at the clinic. We have applied for the jobs that we have to work around our family's and some people have part time jobs on the week ends just to be able to make house payments. Clinic's are night workers and from what I can remember their are allot more EVS workers in the day at the Hospital and if we are put in a day position how is that going to upset a Clinic worker. .... Anyways is this something that Jack Ward can do on his own without getting some kind of higher approval. That rules for our department are different then other departments. At least they have seemed like they are lately. I don't understand why all this stuff is happening in our department now. January I will have 19 years at Kaiser and never before did we ever have so much trouble. I could go on and on but I better send this... Remember we are night workers and our time schedule doesn't change on weekends or vacation in fact. If you have or get any information I would appreciate if you would let me know too.... Sorry for not writing a more professional e-mail but this is just getting to be so irritating its ridicules.

Yes, Managment is supposed to negotiate work changes with the Union, however, I'm sure that Management will state that it already has when we negotiated our contract. They could point to articles like Articles 5 and 12, Section 6 and explain how they are in compliance with it. There are several 'grey areas' within article 12 but you'll notice at, paragraph 1225, that "...the final right to arrange working schedules rests with the Employer...".

On a lighter note, I do know that the Union does not agree with weekend rotation/ Zion rotation and is supposedly filing a grievance in regards to these issues. Perhaps the Union will remind Management about 'LMP', hold hands and sing coombiyah and get lucky on this one. But, according to our contract, Management is within it's rights.

If (when) OPEIU, Local 30 fails to change Management's decision, I encourage all of the Workers in EVS to file a grievance each time Management makes an error on the schedule. - If Management is going to make the Worker's lives miserable with the schedule, the least the Workers can do is to do the same to Management. - But good luck trying to get the Union to sign and file the grievances. My impression is that they are trying to stay away from filing grievances (even when all else has failed and the Workers are still getting screwed).

Fraternally,

Dustin