CSD Area Update #4 (as of 7/6/11)

By Amy Achilles

Due to the high volume of issues currently happening in CSD, monthly teleconferences are scheduled for CSD reps and monthly updates specific to CSD are going out to staff and the CSD leadership team.

Late in 6/2011 concerns were raised regarding the possibility of significant changes in how LEP work is done in the CSC’s. I contacted management and it seems that this will not be going forward as initially suspected. CSD HQ management stated that if any changes were going to be made they would be for all of CSD, be statewide and consistent and the WFSE would be involved. No DTB is anticipated at this time.

Early in 6/2011 a concern was raised about the removal of no weapons signs in the CSO’s. I spoke with Babs and she found that the signs cited inaccurate RCW’s. At this point we plan to make this an agenda item for update purposes at our first CSD UMCC. Between now and then Babs will be working with the landlords of leased facilities on signage and to ensure that the signs in state owned facilities accurately reflect the RCW’s regarding threatening a state employee. More to come.

SB 5921 was signed by the Governor and retained the language in section 27 establishing an employee incentive pilot related to Workfirst performance. The bill requires the Department to implement a pilot by January 1, 2012, and to report to the Legislature on pilot implementation and outcomes by January 1, 2013. The department has not determined how they plan to implement this yet but we would expect to receive formal notice and plan to file a DTB as soon as that is received.

A DTB was filed 4/20/11 regarding benefit portal. No notice was received and not a lot of detail is available but members have brought forward concerns directly to me that resulted in the filing. No team has been developed and no meetings have been scheduled yet. I have received communication from Babs explaining what benefit portal is, we are no scheduling a meeting as it results in some concerns about contracting out.

A DTB was filed 3/17/11 regarding management’s intent to eliminate or reduce their presence in the communities of Othello, Colfax, Stevenson and South Bend. I have received recommendations for team members from every area. Meetings had not yet been scheduled on this issue and management had stated that the notice was a bit premature. Mid 6/2010 management withdrew their notice to the WFSE. They did say that this is something that may be revisited in the future but for now, the DTB is closed and the offices are open!

A DTB was filed on 3/17/11 in response to management’s intent to relocate the King North CSO to the North Seattle Community College Campus effective 5/6/11. The team appointed to this is Justin Fellores, Greg Gunther and Herbie Martin. The meeting occurred on 4/28/11. The main issue per the CR was parking costs and free parking has already been arranged. Other issues such as safety committees, bulletin boards etc. were addressed at the meeting. We are in the process of scheduling a follow up meeting.

A DTB was filed 2/9/11 regarding management’s intent to reconfigure EBT services. The team appointed to this DTB is Gayle Chamberlain-Smith, Daniel D’Haem and Rod Sauer. Jeanine is attending as well. The first meeting occurred on 3/31/11. This meeting was mainly an informational session at which we walked through their proposal and questioned each section. At our meeting on 4/27/11, we maintained our position that proper notice was not received and we were not convinced this would achieve a cost savings or efficiency as required by the RCW. Management acknowledged that the notice was not proper and has now delayed implementation until 7/11/11. Between now and then we have had a couple of other meetings with the final one occurring on 6/9/11. The team has finished drafting their MOU and it has been sent to management for a response. The general outcome is a 12 month pilot project; once the MOU is final it will be forwarded out to all CSD reps.

A DTB was filed 1/27/11 regarding management’s proposal to compress the work hours in CSD. The offices would close to clients at 3pm each day to allow all staff (CSC & CSD) to work batch and have daily protected time. This was actually based off of suggestions made repeatedly by the membership at other meetings. An informal meeting occurred on 2/15 and implementation has occurred. The team was Gayle Chamberlain-Smith, Daniel D’Haem, Karen Mork, Randall Kurtz and Judith McMahon.  This was easily resolved through a teleconference/informational discussion and has since been expanded to go through 7/11. Recently concerns/discussions about what will occur when the protected time ends and the transition back to full service have come up. This will likely need to be revisited in the near future.

A DTB was filed 1/7/11 not in response to a notice, but to a change in leave approval practices at the Mt. Vernon CSO. A lengthy information request was sent in order to prepare we’ve just had our first  meeting on 4/19/11. Resolution has not been reached and follow up is in process, we are still awaiting an information request.  I have attempted follow up on this issue several times w/ the HRD rep with not much response, at this point we will be pursuing the information directly from CSD. The team appointed is Marci Douglas-Bumgarner, Diane Linnell-Merry and Terea Gilmore. 

A DTB was filed 10/19/10 regarding notification from the CSC that they will be moving toward connecting all of the call centers and going live with a statewide CSC. We have had four meetings with management and reached agreement at the final meeting on 2/16/11. The team was Gayle Chamberlain-Smith, Rod Sauer and Randall Kurtz. They worked hard gathering input from hundreds of their co-workers and developed two proposals to consider as alternatives. The final plan is a blend of the members’ and managements’ concepts.  Some issues have arisen from function selection and a CSC UMCC was requested on 6/2/11. A CSC UMCC is now scheduled for 8/9/11 and issues arising from this DTB will be on the agenda.

A DTB was filed 9/7/10 regarding the CSC implementing a statewide tele-work project. This has been completed and is now closed. Six monthly follow up teleconferences have also now been completed and a detailed summary of the final meeting went to all CSD reps. The next step is to expand the opportunity to about 70 more people over the summer.  A request was sent 6/2/11 to have a CSC UMCC and for this to be on the agenda, it has now been scheduled for 8/9/11.

A DTB was filed 4/27/10 on Disability Lifeline. Kurt and Jeanine were involved in this process and a settlement has just been finalized that will allow ongoing ad-hoc type meetings to address issues related to Disability Lifeline as they arise. Legislative session was likely to change the outcome of this DTB so this was pretty much on hold pending that information.  This will be reviewed soon now that leg. session is over.

Note that the Regional Consolidation issues are being handled by a large group and the staff person assigned is Debby Lippincott. A CSD Ad-Hoc was agreed to and occurred on 6/8/11. Neither side had anything substantive to discuss specific to the consolidation but felt compelled to get together with what little info we had due to the 6/30 cutoff date for the Ad-Hoc. The outcome of the CSD Ad-Hoc was a set of “guiding principles” that each side agreed to jointly adhere to at the larger table.  In addition, it has since been agreed that the Ad-Hoc could occur through the end of the year.
Under the new CBA, CSD Statewide UMCC’s will occur. David Stillman and Babs Roberts have already reached out to begin the scheduling of those meetings.