On June 14, 2023, UPE met with the County regarding the above policy.
The County stated that the policy was to codify existing practices currently in use. One of our first questions was whether the call-in procedure could be streamlined. The same procedure was listed out for if an employee is unable to report to work, as well as if an employee needs to leave early. The County wants the PCFT facilitator to call both the Supervisor and the PCFT scheduler if they will be absent and/or leaving early. Our ask was, why call two people? We pointed out that in other programs/divisions, there is one absence line. The County said they would take this back to ask if the process could be changed. We also pointed out that the County is attempting to have the 008 do the work of 005 bargaining unit members by scheduling and organizing PCFT meetings when the scheduler is unavailable. We reminded the County that there used to be two (2) schedulers, and for whatever reason, they decided it was necessary and that if there needs to be a backup scheduler, they may want to bring back the other clerical staff to fill that role. UPE was able to have the part about the Facilitator collaborating with the Social Worker to arrange accommodation for any special needs or resources removed, as this is not a duty of the Facilitator. The County wanted the Facilitator to clean the meeting rooms before and after facilitation meetings. We brought to light that there used to be rooms used strictly for facilitation, and that has changed, and in no way should the Facilitator have to clean up after someone else that used the room before them. The meeting rooms should be cleaned by the person occupying them when they are done. We are waiting to hear back from the County on the call-out procedure, having rooms specifically for facilitation, and ensuring that the bargaining units' work is not overlapping with one another.
STAY TUNED!
Thank you to the participants for your advocacy
Eric Booker, Priscilla Cochran-Navarra, Robert Shorter, and Sarah Singleton