The following agreement goes into affect once ratified by members and approved by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. Ballots have been sent to UAPD members, and are due back by November 3, 2009. The UAPD Bargaining Team unanimously recommends ratification of the agreement.
Term: 2 Years (Oct. 1, 2009 thru Sept. 30, 2011).
Salary: Remains the same with no takeaways or emergency financial contingency language.
Fringe Benefits: 2 year agreement maintains all provisions – including paid holidays, sick days, vacation days, – and funds health care inflation for most medical and dental plans in 2010 and provides for significant increases in 2011.
New CME language: UAPD may assign two members to the Department of Mental Health Continuing Education Committee to discuss in-service training (subject matter and locations) provided by DMH. The DMH agrees to meet and consult on ways to determine which CME units offered through other County departments will count towards DMH in-service credit.
New Health and Safety Language: Emergency Alarm Systems; Sheriff’s Department management shall maintain emergency alarm systems, including personal alarms and panic buttons, in accordance with Department and State standards. The Department of Mental Health shall make every reasonable effort to regularly inspect and maintain panic buttons wherever they are currently installed in DMH controlled facilities. Testing and inspection reports may be reviewed upon request by UAPD.
Change in Paycheck Errors language: Removes the word “endeavor to” from Section 2. This mandates management to notify the affected employee of an overpayment on the employee’s payroll warrant(s) prior to making any deduction to recover any overpayment.
Good News: No layoffs – No work furloughs – No salary cuts
Overview: The County allocated money to give employees in the form of benefit enhancements rather than wage increases – allowing County employees represented by Unions affiliated with the Coalition of County Unionss (CCU) to maintain their standard of living during this difficult recession.
Although the County is in difficult financial times with diminishing tax revenue from local economy and funding hits from the State of California, we fought not to lose anything and look forward to working with the County over the next few years to find solutions needed to keep services flowing to the greater L. A. community.