Sign On to OCEA's Step 2 Grievance & More Ways to Get Involved

Dear OCEA member,

Thank you to all who joined us on Zoom for our virtual CFS Membership Meeting on Tuesday, February 14. As you know from our previous communication, OCEA filed a Step 1 grievance on behalf of OCEA members against SSA for failing to follow the language and intent of the CFS Caseload Management Forum language in the Community Services MOU. SSA, and Deputy Directors Kim Ragen and Scott Burdick, have denied the Step 1 grievance. Now, OCEA is escalating the grievance to Step 2 for adjudication by the Chief of Employee Relations.

Filing a grievance means we believe the County is VIOLATING the MOU. The Agency and their managers have consistently and systematically taken steps to undermine the contractual rights of OCEA members by failing to act in accordance with the negotiated language in our MOU. The remedy we are seeking is for the Agency and County to provide manageable caseload targets for all case-carrying programs and other rights to which OCEA members are entitled. SSA failing to follow-through in good faith on their obligations speaks to a larger failure of leadership in the Agency. SHAME ON THEM!

While we seek a remedy under our MOU, we need to prepare to take further action. Holding the Agency accountable means taking direct action up to and including holding a rally, signing a petition of no confidence in management, or even bringing our demands directly to the Board of Supervisors.

The deadline to submit the Step 2 grievance is Thursday, February 16. During this week’s CFS Membership Meeting five more of your co-workers added their names to the grievance.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION. Please email OCEA Labor Relations Representative Kerensa Schupmann at kschupmann@ocea.org as soon as possible if you will stand with your fellow members and sign on to the grievance as part of this official action. The County agreed to address your caseload and safety concerns, but their unwillingness to collaborate within the CFS Caseload Management Forum proves that is not the place to do so.

If you would like to get involved, you can participate at various levels of involvement. Would you like to join our CFS Organizing Committee, which will plan upcoming actions at CFS? Will you attend a rally in support of CFS workers? Will you speak out at a Board of Supervisors meeting? Please let us know how you will participate by taking this brief survey.

REMEMBER, OCEA IS YOU. We cannot make significant change at SSA CFS on your behalf without you, standing together with us. Please stay tuned for more information as this situation develops.

In Solidarity,

OCEA

Publication Date: February 15, 2023