Articles

BUDGET, BI-LINGUAL PAY, CTO, UNION ACTIVITY – WHAT CAN YOU DO?

THE BUDGET AND WHAT YOU CAN DO
Management at the Mayoral level appears to be intentionally inflicting emotional distress upon you in an effort to force voluntary compliance with unilateral actions. EAA has already stated its opposition to unilateral changes to your terms and conditions of employment through the proposed mandatory furloughs and work week schedule changes. Our legal counsel and executives have prepared the appropriate course of action for all contingencies. EAA will NOT be telegraphing its tactics until action is necessitated by management. You can remain informed on the latest developments concerning you and other EAA-represented employees by visiting this website regularly.

Additionally, please alert your EAA Labor Representative if you are aware of any intent by management to contract out work that could be performed by City employees. This is vitally important as your union can take action to oppose the contracting out of personnel services or consulting work EAA-represented employees could perform. EAA remains opposed to any contracting out of work EAA-represented employees could perform so long as management is proposing mandatory furloughs claiming fiscal necessity.

PROTECTING YOUR BI-LINGUAL PAY
EAA is fully aware management is reviewing its bi-lingual differential allocations in attempts to manage its fiscal mismanagement. Management is allowed to determine how many positions can receive bi-lingual differential. Management is NOT allowed to order you to perform bi-lingual work without compensation. If your bi-lingual differential is terminated by management, consider yourself having received official notification you are no longer authorized to speak any other language but English in your official capacity as a City employee. At LAPD it could be perceived as misconduct to speak an additional language in an official capacity without express authorization in the form of bi-lingual certification and compensation. Immediately notify your supervision if contact with the public requires an authorized bi-lingual employee. No bi-lingual pay, no second languages, no exceptions. Let your supervisors and managers resolve any resulting slowdowns in work or customer service response as that is their job.

MANAGEMENT ATTACKS C.T.O. AT ONE CITY DEPARTMENT
EAA has become aware that one work unit in one City Department is "ordering" employees to take Compensatory Time Off to keep their 'TO Bank' at or below 70 hours to avoid cash overtime payment mandated after 80 hours. This is in complete violation of the express provisions of EAA's labor contracts. Management cannot order employees to exhaust their 'TO Bank' except as outlined in the Compensatory Time Off section of the overtime article of your MOU. Immediately alert your EAA Labor Representative if management is ordering you to reduce you TO Bank to below 80 hours.

YOUR RIGHTS: PROTECTED CONCERTED ACTIVITY
The Administrative Code of the City of Los Angeles, federal labor law and your labor contracts allow for unfettered communication regarding issues related to your terms and conditions of work. Specifically, management rights under EAA’s contracts cannot "preclude employees and their representatives from consulting or raising grievances about the practical consequences that decisions on these matters may have on wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment". Protected concerted activity, as defined by the National Labor Relations Act, can also include discussing pay or other work-related issues with other employees. Do not allow your management to tell you that you cannot discuss "union business" on the clock when the issues being discussed are related to your terms and conditions of employment and management's proposals. Violations of protected activity by public officials are taken with absolute seriousness by EAA. Please alert your EAA Labor Representative if management is thwarting your rights to protected concerted activity.