SEIU Local 509 Celebrates the Anniversary of the ADA

Disability services at risk without Medicaid Extension

Statement from Michael Grunko, President of SEIU Local 509:

The 12,000 members of SEIU Local 509 work daily building supports for persons with disabilities. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we are mindful that many programs for persons with disabilities will be eliminated if Medicaid funding is not extended. Persons with developmental disabilities will loose case management and residential services, as well as day programs if the Senate does not act on Medicaid funding. Likewise, children with mental illness will have diminished access to services without Medicaid funding. On the anniversary of the ADA we call upon Senator Scott Brown to stand up for disability services and support Medicaid funding.

Union Takes Action to Protect DDS Community Services

On Thursday June 24^th, SEIU Local 509 filed documents in federal court in an attempt to stop the lay off 28 Service Coordinators employed by the Department of Developmental Services. These Service Coordinators provide services directly to and coordinate care for hundreds of adults with developmental disabilities living in the community. Many of those served by the Service Coordinators are covered by the 1993 Disengagement Order from the Ricci v Okin case. The layoffs and refusal to refill scores of other Service Coordinator positions are putting persons are risk.

Click here to read the recent Boston Globe article about the DDS layoffs.

Click here to see 1st Document
Click here to see 2nd Document
Click here to see 3rd Document

 

Strike Averted at Brien Center

Workers at the Brien Center ratified a new contract 159-48 Friday, effectively ending any possibility of a strike that could have started Monday. Click here to read full article from The Berkshire Eagle.

Tell Scott Brown to Release $700 million in Federal Relief Money to Massachusetts

Details of the new state budget are emerging. When more information is available, we will get it to you.

 
What we do know is that Scott Brown is blocking the release of $700 million in federal money to Massachusetts. As a result, the legislature was forced to make hundreds of millions of dollars of cuts deeper into what was already a lean budget.

 

SEIU locals are rallying with major disability rights and advocacy groups to urge Brown to stop blocking a vote on the federal relief to the state. The rally is on Monday, June 28^th at noon at 2400 JFK Feral Building (Scott Brown’s Office).

Click here for a copy of a flyer about the rally to distribute at your worksites. 

We need you to speak up to make sure that Scott Brown gets the message.

The Senate must pass extend FMAP - by passing the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act - or more services will be cut and more jobs will be lost. Click here to make a phone call to Scott Brown.

 

 

 

Health and Safety Victory

After years of health and safety worksite concerns at our DOR Salem Regional Office ,the Unions finally scored a major victory for those employed at this location.

The Commonwealth has finally committed to full relocation of the employees in this location. An RFP is to be issued within two weeks and full relocation of the office is to take place within the next seven months. In the interim employees desiring immediate reassignment for health related issues will be granted an immediate reassignment.

 

The State has also committed to proactively monitoring health and safety issues of other agencies in the 35 Congress St location in Salem.

 

Another major achievement is a new willingness by the commonwealth to examine its policy of leasing space in mixed-use settings. This is an issue we had requested cooperation on at contract time but were denied. Hopefully now we can make significant gains on this issue and make our future work sites healthy ones.

 

 

Remember, if you too have an unhealthy work place it is very important to constantly bring it to your managements attention keeping a trail of Emails outlining the problem and requesting a solution.An unhealthy work environment can have devastating life long health consequences, every worker deserves a safe and healthy work place.

 

 

Special thanks to John Tortelli, Ed Kiley, Laura Adams and other members of the DOR Chapter and the 509 Health and Safety Committee for their attention to this matter.

Governor's Forum

 

On the morning of Saturday, May 22nd, SEIU Local 509, in conjunction with the SEIU State Council, hosted a Gubernatorial Forum for the candidates running for Massachusetts Governor.  While invitations were extended to the three major candidates, only Deval Patrick and Tim Cahill choose to attend and seek a SEIU endorsement. 

More than 300 members gathered to ask the candidates about issues important to them. Members afterwards graded each of the candidates.  Overall, Governor Patrick received a B+ grade and Treasurer Cahill received a C. 

As an important part of the SEIU endorsement process, the member feedback on both of the candidates was very useful.  Click here to read some comments made by members at the forum.  Thank you to both of the candidates who chose to attend. Special thank you to all of you who were able to come out and make this a great event.

 

 

Brien Center Workers Plan to Strike

After bargaining for a year to establish their first contract, the SEIU 509 members from the Brien Center in Pittsfield plan to strike on June 28, 2010. Click here to read the recent article in the Berkshire Eagle.

Resolution for DDS Service Coordinators

We have reached a successful resolution for a grievance regarding a recent change of work hours and lunch breaks for DDS Service Coordinators.   

Standardized hours across the agency for DDS Service Coordinators will soon be typically 9 am to 5 pm with a one hour lunch break. Currently, the hours have been 8:30 am to 5 pm with sometimes a half hour lunch and 2 fifteen minute breaks. This is also in accordance with flextime agreements. Work start and finish times will adjust accordingly.  DDS members confirmed to have been negatively impacted by these unilateral changes will have up to 5 comp days restored as part of resolution of this grievance.  This will not affect those members pay or retirement.  

We expect a speedy implementation of this agreement soon. Click here to read the full agreement.  

HEC Employees Vote to Ratify Contract

Employees at Hampshire Educational Collaborative (HEC) voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first contract. Congratulations to the bargaining team and all the employees at HEC.

Governor Signs Funding Bill for State Worker Contract

On Thursday April 29 the Governor signed the funding bill for the state worker contract.
The state notified the union today, April 30th,  that the 1% increase is most likely to appear in paychecks on June 11th, and the retroactive payment (back to 12/31/09) would likely appear in the next pay check on June 25th. The next wage increase, which is 3%, will go into effect on December 31, 2010.  The reimbursements for the health insurance co-payment and deductible increases will automatically appear in your pay check and will be paid out quarterly, starting in July. You only need to save medical reciepts in order to double check whether the reimbursement amount is accurate. The state will soon send out more information about the reimbursements.