Summer Update

By Kulmeet Galhotra | Published: July 17, 2009

Here is a little update for the membership on what’s going on with our local.

Installation of New Board and Trustees

The recently elected executive board and trustees of Local 3315 will be sworn-in in a ceremony on July 21, 2009 by our former brother and now Judge, Stuart Paul Katz.

1% Arbitration

The Cook County Comptroller has contacted us and indicated that our 1% salary increase will show up on our pay checks that we will receive on 7/24/09. Retro to follow at a still unknown date. Sounds like good news, but prudence requires you to not spend a dime of it until you get it. It’s about the Roosevelts, baby! For those of you who have not signed up at the MVP level for our Political Action Committee, PEOPLE, please consider doing so, using this”windfall”. See any local board member or steward for a canary color, Voluntary People Deduction Authorization Form.

Contract Negotiations:

Given the current economic and political climate, you will not be surprised to learn that negotiations are progressing at a snail’s pace. In the forthcoming weeks, the Union will be asking it’s members to engage in solidarity day activities which will involve the donning of buttons or stickers at your work sites. Please participate to publicize your support of your bargaining team’s efforts during these difficult times. More information will be distributed as it becomes available.

Summer Party

Our local’s summer party will be at the Beer Garden at Navy Pier on July 29, 2009. As of 7/17/09, we have a little over 100 guests who have sent in their checks. The deadline for submitting your rsvp is 7/22/09 so please don’t miss the boat. . . so to speak. Details on how to RSVP are in my prior message on this website.

Golf Outing

Our annual golf outing will be held at Eaglewood resort on August 27, 2009 and if you are interested in golfing, please call David Figura at the Multiple Defendant Divison downtown so he can get you a tee time. If you can put together a foursome, that would be helpful. Golfers must arrive at the resort a minimum of 20 minutes before their tee time!

Jack Carey Memorial Scholarship

The scholarship named in memory of our local’s past president is set to award the next scholarship for the winter of 2009-2010. The deadline is November 1, 2009 and the Scholarship tab on the local’s home page can provide your law clerks with the necessary forms and other information about the scholarship for public defender law clerks.

The fundraiser for the scholarship is going to be on September 1, 2009 at Wrigley Field with the Cubs hosting the Astros in a game that is sure to play a role in the race for the division championship. Information on how to get tickets is available online. While sales have been brisk, some tickets remain for the procrastinators among us.

In Solidarity,

K. S. Galhotra

President, Local 3315

Cook County Public Defenders Association

This entry was posted in President's Message. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

Bruce Mosbacher, Executive at Large

Re: 1%

You can can put it on the board YES!
arleen floren

To the Executive Board:

Thanks so much for the party last night. Great company, great location, great food,
and a great time. I’m really glad I went!

p.s. Beatrice Santiage adds her thanks. It was really a lot of fun
arleen
Joe Stachler

Is there any progress on the contract negotions?
Joe Stachler

Can someone explain to me why I didn’t get a retro check? I asked my union steward and she doesn’t seem to know why people got retros/why I didn’t.

Kulmeet Galhotra

Here is a previous entry on the website explaining the 1% arbitration: On April 14, 2009, an arbitrator ruled that “The Public Defender Salary Schedule shall be modified to provide an additional 1% increase for Public Defenders at Step 3 or above effective June 1, 2008…”

In the last contract negotiations, AFSCME proposed an additional step and a 2% increase for all assistant public defenders at Step 3 and above in addition to negotiated wage increases. The County flatly rejected the proposed additional step, but made a counter proposal offering a 1% increase. In response, the Union dropped it’s request for another step and proposed a 1.5% increase. The 1% counter proposal was never retracted during the negotiations. On June 1, 2008, the County started paying the additional 1%. But a few weeks later, the County claimed that the parties had never agreed to the 1% increase and reduced paychecks accordingly.

The Negotiation Ground Rules state that “All Tentative Agreements will be reduced to writing, initialed and dated by the Spokesperson of each Party.” No tentative agreement prepared by either party referenced mutual assent to the 1% increase. For this reason, the County argued that the additional 1% proposal inadvertently “fell of the table” without mutual agreement. However, Tentative Agreements were formalized and jointly signed off during the negotiation process onlywhen there were structural changes in a pay plan. Other contractual changes were adopted without a sign off The 1% increase is not a structural change in the plan such as adding a new step to the pay grid. Further, the 1% appeared in the salary schedule prepared by the County during negotiations. Both parties reviewed the salary schedule and made corrections, but the 1% increase was never changed. Thus the parties reached a binding, mutual agreement and the 1% increase is a part of the contract.

M.S.

K. S. Galhotra

Joe, the retro checks and the 1% issue applies to all at step 3 and above. Call me and I will explain.

Summer Update

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