The State Worker: SEIU president fires off holiday letters to state executives

The State Worker

Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers

February 8, 2010

SEIU president fires off holiday letters to state executives

The day before a San Francisco judge said the Department of Personnel Administration was within legal bounds when it told state workers to treat Columbus Day and the upcoming Lincoln's Birthday like any other workday, SEIU Local 1000 President Yvonne Walker sent letters to about 130 department and agency heads.

Click the following link to read more about what Walker said.

After referencing the union's position that Columbus Day is a paid holiday according to the evergreen terms of the union's expired contract until new labor agreement says otherwise, the head of the 95,000-employee union looks ahead to this Friday:

This applies equally to our bargaining unit members' right to take Lincoln's Birthday on Feb. 12, 2010.

Of course, this Friday also is a furlough day, so most employees represented by Local 1000 don't have to decide whether to show up for work. Last October, the dispute escalated after Walker urged employees to stay home and DPA threated to discipline anyone who did.

Click here to read one of the letters. This link will open last week's report about the holiday ruling by Judge Peter Busch.

IMAGE: Yvonne Walker / Sacramento Bee, 2008

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