Santa Clara County Chapter Wins – August 2020
We have two victories this month that we would like to share.
Win #1 – Our Co-workers at the Assessor’s Office Win Fight to Work from Home
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the health and safety of our members and the public we serve have been our top priorities. Since early July, Assessor Larry Stone was clearly disregarding these priorities when asking far too many staff to work unnecessarily in the office. For the last several months we have been able to successfully serve the public remotely, and with the number of COVID-19 cases increasing every day, the department was clearly putting us in a dangerous situation.
We collected more than 150 online signatures together with CEMA, representing the majority of workers, to a petition that was presented to the Board of Supervisors on August 11. After a series of actions culminating with the petition, our voices and actions were heard: we won our fight to work from home. This shows again the strength of our power when we are united for the best working conditions and stand up for each other.
“I don’t want to witness anyone in the Assessor’s Office having their life altered or dying because they could have worked from home and they didn’t.”
– Mullissa Willette, SEIU 521 Vice President and Exemption Investigator
Read the news coverage in the San Jose Spotlight.
Our union is not backing down from doing everything we can to ensure our co-workers are protected and safe, regardless of Assessor Larry Stone’s attempts to silence our collective voices. Read the latest news from the Silicon Valley Voice.
Win #2 – We won the recognition of 80-hour emergency sick leave for childcare
The County initially tried unsuccessfully to limit the law to child care facilities
When the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) passed in March of this year, many workers were provided with relief and could get an additional 80-hour leave for various reasons related to COVID-19. Under the Act, an employee is able to use the 80-hour emergency sick leave if he or she “is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19)…“
Santa Clara County Labor Relations changed this language stating that its employees could only use the 80-hour emergency leave IF the workers’ childcare facility was closed. The County was denying workers the additional 80 hours if the care was not provided by a facility when their usual childcare provider was unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions. No such wording was provided in the Act, which clearly mentions “provider,” not a facility.
Additionally, it would have been discriminatory to only consider facilities since it’s difficult to find a childcare center open late during the day or at night; this is why many parents at the hospitals who work PM and night shifts rely on family members to provide childcare.
Valley Medical Center Chief Steward, Mary Hernandez, continuously pushed the issue with her co-workers, including planning to file a complaint with the federal government for non-compliance. After our members took action, management recognized their error, and are now granting our co-workers the additional 80-hour emergency leave if their childcare provider is unavailable, regardless of who provides the childcare services.
“For the past 4 years, I have been working the PM shift and always had my relatives care for my child who is 9 years old. Most employees who work on the PM and night shifts depend on grandparents or other family members to care for their children. Santa Clara County Labor Relations initially manipulated the wording of the FFCRA Act and misinformed our employees. It’s only through our concerted actions as union members that we were able to get the sick leave if needed. As union members, it is up to us to do our homework and hold management accountable.”
– Mary Hernandez, Chief Steward at the Valley Medical Center