March 2020 | AFSCME Local 1587 – Probation Peace Officers’ Union |

SCOPE

Contents

Out and about 1

Hot Topics 2

General 1587 News 3

In Other News 4

Local 1587 Directory 4

Out and about … Local 1587 Retirement Party

MARCH 2020

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING: 12-1pm March 5, 2020 (JPD Training room Fourth Floor) EBOARD MEETING:12-1pm March 12, 2020 (UNION OFFICE) EBOARD MEETING:3-5pm March 26, 2020 (UNION OFFICE)

“In this business, we become family.”- Eric Parsons “It’s the people you work with, take care of each other because it’s who you work with that matters.”- Cathy Johnston “I have had an extraordinary career. I was only supposed to do this for a few years …I realized I could do much more as a PO than I could as a psychologist. ”-Patrick Ching “I appreciate all the people who mentored me, especially in my early years.” -Linda LaBove

2

Hot Topics…

Jorge Escobar, “In talking to Scott’s coworkers, the thing I heard from them over and over again was Scott always had their back. One person said, “I knew when I went out in the field with Scott Murray, I knew I was going home that night.”” Scott Murray, “That was my thing, was to always back my people up. I hope when you all leave that’s what you take with you, that you back each other up. Not everyone is going to like each other, but when someone calls on you, back them up.”

Eric Parson “I want to thank 1587 for a glorious career. I admire my father. Between my father and I, we put in over 45 years in this department. All my friends went into the private industry, some of them real jobs and they were making money hand over fist, just raking it in. I went with the county. I chose slow and steady, retirement and benefits. I’m proud to say I was happy to come to work every single day. It was never a burden to me to come to work and it was because of the people I worked with and that is all of you. All of my best friends are in the Probation Department. I have one or two close friends outside the department, but all my best friends are in this department.”

3

General Local 1587 News *SCOPE will no longer delineate JPD, APD, JH in this section.

• Local 1587 had a very successful Retirement Celebration! Many thanks to the retirement party committee, Supervising Probation Officers Jennifer Contreras, Victoria Contreras-Wolfe, and Marc Utsey, as well as Union Office

Manager Amelia Taylor. We would like to encourage all members to attend a

retirement party in the future. Hearing from members who have been with the Department 20-30 years allows you a glimpse into your future and as well a perspective as to how it will evolve through your relationships here in the Department.

• Local 1587 to meet and confer with Management regarding changes to job specifications in PO and SPO series

• All new double doors have been installed at APD • JH union reps continue to work with management in working out the kinks of the

new software system for the control desk and all units, as there has been delayed response times as much as 1-3 minutes in having doors open. Response time is crucial when it comes to safety, so this issue is of paramount importance.

• Local 1587 brought it to management’s attention the lactation room in the JH was unsanitary as it contained rat feces. Management promptly addressed the issue and JH employees have been directed to use a space in the bathroom on the fourth floor of JPD. This space is made semi-private by use of a curtain. Unfortunately, this space does not meet state regulations: A lactation room or

location shall not be a bathroom and shall be in close proximity to the employee’s work area, shielded from view, and free from intrusion while

the employee is expressing milk. The space provided is part of the bathroom, not in close proximity to JH staff and is not free from intrusion. Further, employees have expressed feeling unsafe using the space at night as it so far removed from their normal workspace and JPD is largely devoid of people at night, creating a feeling of vulnerability not conducive to the necessary conditions for effective lactation. Our hope is that JH and JPD staff are provided a lactation room equal in safety, comfort and compliance as the lactation room at APD. Given management’s prompt action thus far, we hope to see a quick resolution to this issue and are monitoring the situation.

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=LAB&sectionNum=1031.

• Thank you so much to the dedicated 1587 members who attended the precinct walk on February 29, 2020. If you see one of these people the halls, thank them! They are helping to elect candidates who positively impact your working conditions and paycheck .

DID YOU KNOW?? On February 9, 2020, Stanford University partnered with the Community Based Probation (CBP) Unit to host the student council members of Ace Esperanza Middle School at their annual “Girls and Women in Sports Day.” The youth watched a Stanford women's basketball game, toured the home of champions, and participated in arena booth activities. The intention of this opportunity was to recognize and reward students who have demonstrated a passion to take on a leadership role and promote a voice for their peers. Probation Officer Patrick Choi organized the event and

Probation Officer Markisha Coleman was

instrumental in facilitating this opportunity and helped chaperone the event. The students listened to Officer Coleman’s journey, which provided context to set their own personal goals. Many of the youth declared they would be students of Stanford! Thank you to Probation Officer Deserie Escobar,

Probation Manager Alex Villa, and Deputy Chief

Mike Simms for helping to provide lunch for the

students. Thank you to Probation Officers Jennifer Anguiano and Robert Reyes, who worked on a

Sunday to support the youth. Thank you, Fleet Maintenance Scheduler, Olivia Gomez for securing

transportation for the event.

Contract negotiation updates:

As The Gambler said “You never count your money while you’re sitting at the

table; there’ll be time enough for counting when the dealing is done.” We are still holding our cards close, but here’s what we can tell you. If you’ll recall, our contract negotiating team stopped meeting with the county’s team in order to gather data which would support our ask for more than the county was offering, as we had reached a point that the county team was no longer at liberty to offer more. The data was gathered, the case was made to the County Executive and he turn has granted the county “more authority” in bargaining with Local 1587. As such, we are resuming contract negotiations. In the coming weeks, we are scheduling MAT meetings in which we will disperse information as it becomes available. The last time we met, the offer on the table was a 5 year contract, with a 3% increase every year, a realignment increase of.8% the first year in addition to the 3% increase, and reducing pension costs for PEPRA employees by a total of 5 % by the end of year two. Stay tuned…

Local 1587 Directory

4 In other news…

• During the Standford Event, at the Maples Pavilion, student Christian Gomez found a wallet which contained an unknown subject’s identification card, credit cards, and cash in the amount of $125. This young man demonstrated high moral character and turned in the wallet to staff, which was relayed to an usher. Christian was recognized below with a certificate of integrity and $25 gift card to Target. Thank you to Probation Manager, Maureen Wheatly for her donation of the

gift card.

• Local 1587 Eboard members attend monthly delegate meetings at the South Bay Labor Council, where we often hear about the issues impacting other unions. At the February 2020 meeting, we learned what Marriott’s Green Choice program means to hotel workers. When asked to “Make a Green Choice” and skip housekeeping services for points, Marriott guests might think they’re making a choice to help the environment. But zero leading environmental studies recommend skipping housekeeping, and when a room goes days without cleaning, housekeepers report having to use more water and more chemicals to get the job done. Truth is, Marriott’s “Green Choice” program hurts workers. When there are less rooms to clean, there’s less work for housekeepers – who lose the wages and benefits their families need. Job cuts disguised as a sustainability measure aren’t going to solve the challenge of climate change, and when companies engage in this kind of “greenwashing,” it undermines trust in proven environmental programs. Join climate leaders and hotel housekeepers, and pledge to not use “Green Choice” when you stay at Marriott hotels.

https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/are-hotel-greening-programs-hurting-housekeepers

• Local 1587 would like to remind members we do have monies available with regard to Union member extracurricular sports team sponsorship:

o A maximum of $1 ,000 will be budgeted for sponsoring sports teams per year.

o Each individual team may request up to $250 per calendar year.

o Prior to donations, requesting teams must provide verification their team is comprised of at least 85% Local 1587 members.

• Local 1587 has purchased a table at the “The 68th Annual Friendship and Freedom Gala” hosted by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), to be held at the Summit Center Ballroom 7th floor, 88th South Fourth St. San Jose on April 25, 2020. We attend every year in part to promote and maintain our union’s role in the community.

• Do you have a shout out, idea, event, any kind of news you’d like to see mentioned, discussed, or announced in SCOPE? Please submit whatever you’re thinking about to Erica.demasi@pro.sccgo.org. There is no need to write up an article, you can send bullet points or brief description and it can be turned into an article.

AFSCME Local 1587 –

Probation Peace Officers’

Union

2055 Junction Avenue, #232 San Jose, CA 95131 408/324-1399 www.afscme1587.org FAX 408/456-0463 Office Manager: Amelia Taylor info@local1587.com

President: Mark Murray, 314-3824

Vice President: Nydia Smith 499-8904

Corresponding Secretary/SCOPE: Erica DeMasi, 435-2176

Recording Secretary: Jennifer Contreras, 278-6137

Treasurer: Frank Nesci, 650/324-6515

Adult Probation Reps: Jorge Escobar, 468-1857; Zulema Viramontes, 435-2274

Juvenile Hall Reps: James Hill, 278-5966; Antonio Walker, 278-5881

Juvenile Probation Reps: Cassandra Hosseini, 278-6183; Marc Utsey, 278-6080

APD Stewards: Perla Arellano 408-535-4248; Jose Lepe 408-771-4851; Melissa Rice, 468-1679; Bernie Rocha, 201-0577 JH Steward(s): Joel Gonzalez, 278-5820; Rita Gonzalez, 278-Horlando Guzman, 278-5829; Anthony Souza 891-8100; Alexandria Peyton, 278-5881 JPD Stewards: Mayari Castro, 278-6118; Victoria Contreras-Wolfe, 278-6076; Dustin Eng, 278-6085; Rashad Jones, 793-8849; Lorena Chavez 278-6056 or 832-8255

General Counsel: Lou Silver, 456-5076, Emergency only: 592-2904

Union Office: Office Manager Amelia Taylor, 324-1300

The information included in this newsletter is provided as a service to AFSCME - Local 1587 members and does not necessarily reflect endorsement by AFSCME International. Please submit suspected omissions or errors to the editor’s attention (see above). Question, comments, feedback encouraged.