eNewsletter - March 28, 2008

City of Oakland Members Go to the Table Thursday, April 3
After months of preparation, Local 21 members in Oakland are set to meet with the City next Thursday to begin negotiating a new Memorandum of Understanding for over 970 represented employees. Members have been signing up for the CAT, Contract Action Teams, to support the team and to create a communication network with Local 21 members throughout the City about what's happening in bargaining. Meetings will be held every two weeks. Stay tuned for informational flyers and bargaining updates in your worksite!

You can get involved in our upcoming activities, including:
  • Equity Adjustment Training, Part 3 being held next Wednesday, April 2 at noon in City Council Chambers.

  • City Council races - PAC endorsement membership survey underway next week. Watch for an email link from Local 21.

  • CAT team meetings and activities on an ongoing basis.

  • Check our Local 21 website for up to the minute news: www.ifpte21.org and click on the City of Oakland Chapter page.



Executive Committee Recommends New Endorsement Process
At the Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, March 20, the officers agreed to a draft version of a new Endorsement Process for the union. This new proposal will be sent out to the chapters for review and any proposed changes will be considered by the Executive Committee before the proposal is voted on at an upcoming Delegate Assembly.




EC Votes to Make Endorsements in Hayward
At the same Executive Committee meeting, officers voted to approve endorsements for four City Council races and to make financial contributions to each candidate from our COPE Fund. Those who received the endorsement were Barbara Halliday, Bill Quirk, Olden Henson, and Steve Bristow.

Danny Galang also delivered over 25 new TJ Anthony Fund Committee on Political Education (COPE) contributions from members in Hayward to the EC. He is the new COPE Coordinator for Hayward and has embarked on an aggressive campaign to sign up as many Hayward members as possible.




San Francisco Facing Budget Deficit Totaling Over $300 Million
City unions met with management on Thursday to discuss the Mayor's projected budget deficit of over $300 million for the coming Fiscal Year 2008-2009. Labor is beginning to mobilize to address possible layoffs and other cuts in services which will effect the residents of San Francisco.

While management seems to be blaming the steep rise in the shortfall on union contracts, we feel that this has more to do with poor financial planning and other problems which we are going to delve into in the near future.




L21 Express is the bi-weekly email publication of IFPTE Local 21. Local 21 represents more than 7,000 Bay Area professional public employees. Main Office Phone: 415.864.2100 South Bay Phone: 408.291.2200