No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA BACKUP 02-03-94 . Central Contra Costa Sanitary lJistrict BOARD OF DIRECTORS PAGE 1 OF 1 POSITION PAPER BOARD MEETING oFFebruary 3, 1994 NO. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR a. SUBJECT DATE \January 21, 1994 AUTHORIZE MEDICAL LEAVE WITHOUT PAY FOR DENNIS ALMOND, MAINTENANCE CREW MEMBER II, THROUGH APRIL 30, 1994 TYPE OF ACTION PERSONNEL SUBMITTED BY INITIATING DEPT./DIV. John A. Larson i n ISSUE: Board authorization is required for Leave Without Pay in excess of 30 days. BACKGROUND: Dennis Almond, Maintenance Crew Member II, has been off work since April 22, 1993, due to a non-industrial injury. Mr. Almond was granted continuing Medical Leave Without Pay by the Board at its August 23, 1993, meeting. Mr. Almond needs additional time, through April 30, 1994, in order to resolve his situation. RECOMMENDATION: Authorize Medical Leave Without Pay for Dennis Almond, Maintenance Crew Member II, through April 30, 1994. REVIEWED AND RECOMMENDED FOR BOARD ACTION ~ CRF Central Contra Costa Sanitary District BOARD OF DIRECTORS PAGE 1 OF 13 BOARD MEETING OF February 3, 1994 NO. 6. PERSONNEL a. SUBJECT DATE January 24, 1994 TYPE OF ACTION ADOPT CHANGE IN REPRESENTATIONAL UNIT FOR CHEMIST 1/11 CLASSIFICATION PERSONNEL SUBMITTED BY Cathryn Radin Freitas, Personnel Officer INITIATING DEPT.lDIV. Administrative ISSUE: In accordance with Chapter 4 of the District Code, modifications to representational units must be authorized by Board resolution. BACKGROUND: Pursuant to District Code Chapter 4.24.050, the District received a petition in October, 1993, from the six District Chemist 1/II's. The petition requested removal of the Chemist 1/11 classification from the General Employee Representation Group and inclusion in the Management Support/Confidential Representation Group (MS/CG) (see Attachment A). In accordance with the provisions of Chapter Four, Deputy General Manager Paul Morsen issued his determination that the General Employee representation unit should be modified by deleting the Chemists and adding them to the MS/CG (see Attachment B). The MS/CG stated by letter that they had no objection to the requested modification (see Attachment C). Following the Deputy General Manager's response to the petition, representatives of the General Employee bargaining unit met and conferred with staff. As a result, Local One has decided to "not interfere with their (the Chemists') request..." (see Attachment D). Therefore, staff is recommending that the Board adopt the resolution (see Attachment E) modifying the respective bargaining units by deleting the Chemist 1/11 classification from the General Employee representation group and placing it in the MS/CG representation group. The proposed effective date is May 1, 1994, the day after the expiration of the current Memoranda of Understanding with both bargaining groups. By taking this action now, the Chemists will know who is representing them in the coming M.O.U. negotiations. RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the resolution modifying the MS/CG representation group p~rsuant to the October, 1993 petition of the Chemist 1/II's, effective May 1, 1994. RE~EWEDANDRECOMMENDEDFORBOARDAcnON INITIATING DEPT.lDIV. ~ 1302A-7/91 CRF \ ATTACHMENT A CENTRAL CONTRA COSTA SANITARY DISTRICT mrn@rnnurnm r~T 1 1993 C"-t'') ADMINiH1i.w:C:I October 1, 1993 TO: Paul Morsen Deputy General Manaqer FROM: Laboratory Chemists SUBJECT: Petition for Modification of Established Representation units Dear Mr. Morsen: This is a petition for modification of Central Contra Costa Sanitary District's (CCCSD) certified unions: Public Employees' Union, Local No. 1 and the Management Support/Confidential Representation Unit (the Mid-Management Group). As professional employees of the District, we would like to exercise our option of not being included in Local No. 1 with nonprofessional employees as explained in Title 4, Part 5 of section 4.24.030; however, we would like to be eligible to become members of the Mid-Management Group. In essence, chemists at CCCSD are a management support group. We must "exercise technical supervision over subordinate laboratory personnel" (i.e. co-op and summer students). In the absence of the Senior Chemist and/or the Laboratory Superintendent, we must be able to prepare the daily report, interpret data in order to advise the necessary personnel, and remedy unexpected situations. Also, we must have a Bachelor's Deqree or an equivalent education. Therefore, we feel our occupational community of interest and our job duties are more aligned with the Management Support/ Confidential Representation Unit rather than Local No.1. (Page 1 of 2) , Given the above reasoning, we hope you will determine that the Management support/Confidential Representation Unit and Local No. 1 should be modified to reflect the changes needed in order to establish more appropriate representation. We feel these changes will have no effect on the operation of the District but it will promote a more sound employer/employee relationship. Thank you for your reply. A. I i(~J ~Il~ arJ. Es a a ~t1Ul ~ Patrick Fisher ~h I\C /h J 9iu'NJdu7t?u!Jv Susan Hasselwander -+>e..cR.."o ~~~ Pedro Mendo . r;; 7U1 ~(<..~A~ Tri~'yen ~oh,o.J [)~ lJ Jonalea Ostlund cc: Wayne Miner Al Cambron (Page 2 of 2) ATTACHMENT B Central Contra Costa Sanitary District December 3, 1993 TO: MARY LOU ESPARZA, CHEMIST II PATRICK FISHER, CHEMIST II SUSAN HASSELWANDER, CHEMIST II PEDRO MENDOZA, CHEMIST II ~ TRI NGUYEN, CHEMIST II JONALEA OSTLUND, CHEMIST II , . FROM: PAUL MORSEN, DEPUTY GENERAL MANAGER ~ SUBJECT: DETERMINATION OF THE PETITION FROM THE DISTRICT'S CHEMISTS TO BE REMOVED FROM THE EMPLOYEES' ASSOCIATION, PUBLIC EMPLOYEES' LOCAL ONE BARGAINING UNIT AND BE PLACED IN THE MANAGEMENT SUPPORT/CONFIDENTIAL BARGAINING GROUP EFFECTIVE MAY 1, 1994 On October 19, 1993 I sent a letter to Public Employees', Local One Business Agent Scott Wildman requesting his comments by October 29, 1993 regarding your petition to join the Management Support/Confidential Group (MS/CG) bargaining unit. I received a letter from him regarding this issue on November 10, 1993 stating that the Chemists' request was inappropriate as Local One did not have any information leading them to believe that the Chemists had a community of interest with the MS/CG. I have considered this input along with the other criteria spelled out in Chapter Four of the District Code. Also, I have received a letter dated October 26, 1993 from the MS/CG President stating that while the MS/CG does not solicit additional members, if a determination is made to include the Chemists in their bargaining group, they will be welcome. Pursuant to the District Code 4.24.050., Modification of established reoresentation unit, the petition has been properly filed within the time lines established in the Code. Moreover, twice the required number of signatures from the Chemists were obtained on the petition (one-hundred percent of the Chemists are included in and have signed the request). The petition describes the reasons for modifying the MS/CG bargaining unit as follows: 1 . professional status; 1 2. exercise technical supervision over subordinate laboratory personnel; 3. in absence of supervisor or superintendent, prepare daily reports, interpret data and handle emergencies; and 4. possess a bachelors degree or equivalent. The Code requires that I ascertain if the petition is based "only upon substantial changes in District functions, organizational structure or job classification" (4.24.050.B). After reviewing the history and current status of the laboratory and the Chemist classification, I have concluded that major changes in laboratory functions and the organizational structure have taken place. Consequently, it is appropriate for the Chemists to be represented by the MS/CG commencing May 1, 1994, after the expiration of the current Memorandum of Understanding. In 1 981, when the MS/CG was first formed, the Laboratory had six employees in four classifications: one Superintendent, one Senior Chemist, two Chemists and one Laboratory Technician. Throughout the early 1980's the Laboratory Superintendent hired additional Laboratory Technicians on either a full or part-time basis when extra help with the work load in the Lab was needed. However, in the late 1980's, it became apparent that the Laboratory Technician position could no longer be expected to perform the new and complex analytical work required for the detection levels mandated by more stringent regulatory standards. In contrast to the early 1980's when test results were reported in parts per million, Chemists were required to report test results regarding the identification and evaluation of elements in parts per billion and in some cases, parts per trillion. As a result of the additional skills needed to achieve these results, in 1989 the Laboratory Technician positions were eliminated and degreed Chemist positions were created to replace the Laboratory Technician classification (Attachment A, Historv of Laboratorv OraanizationL Today, the Laboratory has eight employees in three classifications: one Superintendent, one Senior Chemist, and six Chemists. The professional knowledge and expertise required for Laboratory staff must be emphasized. An integral part of the District's mission is to protect the health of 390,000 Central Contra Costa County residents and the water environment of Suisun Bay. This means the District must meet the ever-changing, increasingly stringent environmental standards imposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (E.P.A.), and the State of California Water Resources Control Board and the State Department of Health Services. In order to do so, the Laboratory staff must possess a high degree of competence an.d training in operating a variety of computer controlled instruments. These instruments include a Kratos MS25RFA Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer with a Data General DG30 Minicomputer and 286 PC terminal; a Perkins-Elmer 51 OOC Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer with an AS60 Heated Graphite Analyzer and AS90 Autosampler (386 PC controlled); a Leeman PS200 Flow Injection Cold Vapor Mercury Analyzer with an Autosampler and 386 PC; ~ - 2 and an Hitachi l6200 High Performance Liquid Chromatograph with an l400 Ultraviolet Detector, a F1050 Fluorescence Spectrophotometer and Dual 02500 Computer Integrators. This complex equipment did not exist in the Laboratory in the early 1980's when the bargaining units were formed. It has become necessary for the Chemists in the laboratory to utilize this complex equipment to monitor much lower concentrations of metals, toxics and organics in order that the District to meet the more stringent discharge standards. Moreover, the Chemists must directly communicate with the E.P.A. and Department of Health Services regarding the District's Quality Assurance/Quality Control Program and laboratory certification program. On weekends the Chemists work independently to generate the highly detailed analytical reports for the regulatory agencies. If the District did not have qualified Chemists to conduct this work, the District would not be a state-certified laboratory and the work would have to be sent to other laboratories at much greater cost to the ratepayer. laboratories achieve state certification not only based on their performance, but to the extent that they have adequate Quality Assurance/Quality Control programs and meet all requirements for the professional competence of their staffs. Organizationally, the MS/CG represents most of the District's professional employees, skilled craft supervisors, and several technical supervisors, as well as the confidentially designated employees (Attachment 8, MS/CG Classifications). The group named itself in 1981 based on its commonalty of purpose. A community of interest exists among these classifications because of their supervisory, confidential and/or professional responsibilities. Legally, by definition, Chemists are considered professionals in at least three areas related to employee relations: 1.) Section 709 (c) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended. This section requires the reporting of individuals by category, race and sex to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. "Professionals" are defined as, "Occupations which require specialized and theoretical knowledge which is usually acquired through college training or through work experience and other training which provides comparable knowledge." 2.) The Fair Labor Standards Act defines a professional employee as engaging in work primarily requiring a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study, generally characterized by the attainment of an academic degree. The work must require the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment. The work product must be predominately intellectual and varied in character and cannot be standardized in relation to a given time period. 3 The Department of Labor lists at (29 C.F.R.> Section 541-302 (e)(1) a number of professions which, generally speaking, meet the requirement of a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction and study, including various types of "physical, chemical and biological sciences" . 3.) Most significantly, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, in the California Government Code Section 3507.3 defines professional employees as "employees engaged in work requiring specialized knowledge and skills attained through completion of a recognized course of instruction, including, but not limited to, attorneys, physicians, registered nurses, engineers, architects, teachers, and the various types of physical, chemical, and biological scientists" . Clearly, each of these occupations is characterized by an advanced level of education and training, exactly like that required of the District's Chemist classification. As professionals, they should be represented by MS/CG. Given the substantial organizational changes of the Laboratory, the professional nature of the Chemists' work, and the community of interest with the MS/CG, it is apparent to me that the petition should be granted within the guidelines established by Chapter Four of the District Code. cc: R. Boylan A. Cambron D. Craig C. Freitas J. Lucey J. Stallsmith S. Wildman 4