EA Voice January 2017

Message from the President Happy New Year everyone! 2017 is here and there is no shortage of work that needs to be done.  Contract negotiations have started on a positive note and we are optimistic that we will finish before the current contract expires.   There have been some technical issues with sending emails to the Air District servers, so we are sending this to personal emails in order to prevent these messages from arriving in your junk mail.     An issue was recently brought to our attention that deserves immediate response.  The issue is in regards to the class study that was conducted on the Administrative Analysts, Inspectors, and Engineers.  The membership will need to take a vote to accept the classification study on Administrative Analysts, Inspectors and Engineering classes.  The vote will be to either accept or not-accept the proposed revisions to the class specifications.  These revisions are based on recommendations from the Study performed by Koff and Associates and jointly commissioned by the EA and Air District.  Generally speaking, this should have been done prior to going to the Air District Board of Directors. It was noticed that on the Engineering class specifications, that the Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA) designation was changed from non-except to except.  FLSA was put into place in regards to overtime and minimum wages.  Being exempt from  FLSA potentially means being denied overtime pay when working over 40 hours per week.  However, our MOU supersedes exemption (see section 9.04 below) and this was confirmed with consultation with our attorney.  It is common practice that professional classes are exempt from FLSA requirement.  The Air District has stated overtime has never been an issue and if members have been denied overtime based on except designation, then contact your steward or the EA Grievance Committee as this is a violation of the MOU.  To find out more about FLSA,  check out the following fact link here.  This designation does not impact salary and/or benefits as described in the MOU A special membership meeting has been scheduled on January 31st to discuss and clarity the new FLSA exception designation for the Air District Engineers and to explain the reason for the designation and the implication.   This will be a 30-minute meeting from 12:30 to 1pm in the Yerba Buena room in the 1st floor.    We will be conducting an online Survey Monkey vote starting January 31st and closing February 6th.  Please contact me if you do not get this email (eapresident2015@gmail.com).   Finally, we will be having our next General Membership meeting March 6th.   I'd like to thank our members who have been vigilant and letting us know when an issue arises.  It is our duty to serve and a privilege to represent you.  Thank you. — Chris Coelho, EA President      eapresident2015@gmail.com

Special Membership Meeting for Professional ClassJanuary 31st In response to the current FLSA issue, we will be hosting an informational special membership meeting on January 31st in the Yerba Buena from 12:30 to 1pm.  Light refreshments will be provided.  We will be simulcasting this meeting for those not able to attend.     Classification Study Vote January 31st-February 6th We will be conducting an online vote on the Koff and Associates classification study of Engineers, Inspectors and Administrative Analyst Series.  This is a change to the MOU and will require a general membership vote to approve.  The classification series can be found on our website here.  The vote will take place online from January 31st to February 6th.  Please look for an email from Survey Monkey on January 31st.  The EA Board unanimously recommends supporting these classification updates.       General Membership Meeting March 6th Our next EA general membership meeting will take place Monday March 6th at noon in the Yerba Buena and Ohlone rooms.  We will update members on current board activities.  Lunch will be provided and the meeting will be simulcast for field staff and members who cannot attend.  Social Committee 2017 On January 19th, the Social Committee had their first planning meeting for 2017.  Progress was made and most of the events for the year have already been planned for the year.  We are working on this years baseball game, summer picnic and children's party.  We are also trying out on some new ideas.  We will be hosting a happy hour in February and looking into putting together a recreation league team.  We look forward to another year of activities and bringing members and their families together.     Happy Hour The EA is hosting a Happy Hour on Thursday, February 16th from 5pm-7pm at Hidive. Light appetizers will be provided by the EA and drinks will be available for purchase at your own expense. This is a great opportunity for Air District employees to meet and collaborate. Please RSVP here so we can have a head count.   Where: Hidive 28 Pier, San Francisco, CA 94105 When: Thursday, February 16th from 5pm-7pm   2017 Baseball Games This year the EA will be going to the A's vs. Giants exhibition game.  There are 100 tickets available.  In addition, if you sign up for the A's game on Saturday April 1st, 2017, you will receive a ticket to the second game on Friday June 2nd, 2017.     EA Recreational League Calling all Air District employees! Interested in joining a co-ed recreational league that delivers the best mix of sports, socializing, AND donates to charities? How does playing dodge-ball, indoor soccer, or volleyball sound? No need to be a pro, all are encouraged to play! For those interested in joining a sports league and be part of BAAQMD’s team, please reply to aflores@baaqmd.gov with your sports league preference. See you on the field!   Labor Law Conference On January 5th, three members of the EA Board attended the Labor Law and Arbitration conference in Oakland.  This conference featured four labor law arbitrators discussing current labor issues from 2016 and giving their insights and how they would have ruled on the case.   In addition, several topics were discussed including: rules of evidence, off-duty misconduct, computer misuse, discipline and discharge, last chance agreements, contract law , past practice and family and medical leave act.   EA Board Meetings The EA Board meets on the second Wednesday of the month in the Bay Area Conference Room 6102. Meeting agendas are posted on the EA and the Public Bulletin boards one week prior to the meeting.  Our next EA Board Meeting will be February 8th  at 11:45 am.  Labor History At 8 p.m. on December 30, 1936, in one of the first sit-down strikes in the United States, autoworkers occupy the General Motors Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Michigan. The autoworkers were striking to win recognition of the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the only bargaining agent for GM’s workers; they also wanted to make the company stop sending work to non-union plants and to establish a fair minimum wage scale, a grievance system and a set of procedures that would help protect assembly-line workers from injury. In all, the strike lasted 44 days. The strike actually began at smaller plants.  The Flint plant was the biggest coup, however: it contained one of just two sets of body dies that GM used to stamp out almost every one of its 1937 cars. By seizing control of the Flint plant, autoworkers could shut down the company almost entirely. So, on the evening of December 30, the Flint Plant’s night shift simply stopped working. They locked themselves in and sat down. “She’s ours!” one worker shouted. GM argued that the strikers were trespassing and got a court order demanding their evacuation; still, the union men stayed put. GM turned off the heat in the buildings, but the strikers wrapped themselves in coats and blankets and hunkered down. On January 11, police tried to cut off the strikers’ food supply; in the resulting riot, known as the “Battle of the Running Bulls,” 16 workers and 11 policemen were injured and the UAW took over the adjacent Fisher Two plant. On February 1, the UAW won control of the enormous Chevrolet No. 4 engine factory. GM’s output went from a robust 50,000 cars in December to just 125 in February. Despite GM’s enormous political clout, Michigan Governor Frank Murphy refused to use force to break the strike. Though the sit-ins were illegal, he believed, he also believed that authorizing the National Guard to break the strike would be an enormous mistake. “If I send those soldiers right in on the men,” he said, “there’d be no telling how many would be killed.” As a result, he declared, “The state authorities will not take sides. They are here only to protect the public peace.” Meanwhile, President Roosevelt urged GM to recognize the union so that the plants could reopen. In mid-February, the automaker signed an agreement with the UAW. Among other things, the workers were given a 5 percent raise and permission to speak in the lunchroom. Better know your MOU SECTION 9.04 OVERTIME The District will avoid the necessity for overtime where possible. The District is under no obligation to assure anyone of the availability of overtime work, nor is the District obligated to treat any particular kind of assignment as overtime. Therefore, the District may adjust work schedules where possible to cover work assignments as straight time work assignments. The District recognizes that not all work matters can be scheduled during a work shift, and consequently, legitimate overtime assignments will be compensated accordingly. A notice to an employee to work overtime is a notice in advance if the assignment is given more than 24 hours prior to the beginning of the work to be performed. Such assignments will be considered “scheduled” overtime. An assignment given less than 24 hours in advance will be considered an “unscheduled” assignment for call-back purposes. A call-back is the unscheduled, emergency, and authorized call-back to return to work after a regular shift has been completed. The District will make every reasonable effort to notify employees of changes in work schedules 14 days in advance of the work to be performed. Though work schedules for most employees are within the normal work day and normal workweek, groupings of employees may occasionally or regularly have work schedules at different times. The District reserves the right to change work schedules to meet operational needs during straight time shifts. Except as otherwise provided in Section 9.01, travel time pay is only authorized for call-back assignments. Travel time and call-back time will be compensated at the applicable rate of pay. The time employees spend traveling to a work assignment, except for qualifying callback assignments, is not to be paid regardless of whether the employee is traveling to a scheduled overtime or straight time assignment. 1. AUTHORIZATION. Overtime is the necessary, assigned authorized time worked in excess of eight (8), nine (9), or ten (10) hours per day (depending on an individual's normal work schedule) or forty (40) hours per week. With regard to flex time or compressed work weeks, it is recognized that the standard work week may not be 40 hours. Any hours worked beyond whatever is necessary to fulfill the designated flex/compressed work week plan for a represented employee are designated as excess hours. These excess hours are to be paid as overtime or compensatory time at the rate of one and one-half times base hourly rate. For the purposes of this section, paid leave time shall be included in computing the forty hours per week when determining eligibility for overtime; provided, however, that an employee on a flex time or compressed schedule may, with supervisor's approval, modify a normal schedule in order to meet operational necessities, which modified schedule will then constitute a normal work time. ...... 6. All represented employees who are authorized and work overtime shall be compensated at the rate of one and one-half times their base hourly rate of pay for all time worked over their normally scheduled work day. Represented employees may elect compensatory time at the rate of one and one-half (1½) times the overtime worked in lieu of overtime pay but may not accumulate more than 240 hours of compensatory time. After 240 hours of compensatory time has been accumulated, overtime pay will be the compensation for overtime work. The maximum accumulation of compensation time is 120 hours as of the end of the calendar year. At the end of the calendar year, the District will pay the employee all compensation time in excess of 120 hours at the current hourly rate. An employee may cash out up to the full amount (240 hours) at the end of the calendar year.