As many of you may already know, the Department of Youth Services is in the process of creating and rolling out a new policy on ROOM CONFINEMENT. Your Vice President (Bob Amaral), is currently a member of the Policy Steering Committee, representing the Local. As a Groupworker III, with several years of experience, I can assure you, Bob is doing the right thing in representing us all, and making sure our interests/concerns are heard at this level.
On April 8, 2008 both VP Amaral and President Gilbert were invited to the training/roll out for managers held at Bunker Hill Community College in Charlestown. As stated earlier, the day was intended for Mangers, not Labor Relations/Union negotiations. Some uneducated(in Labor Relations) managers from DYS recently made comment to some members that the Union sat there silent and he did all the talking for staff...Pretty brave words BG, not very truthful though.. There is a process and a forum for the Union to speak their minds and concerns(and bargain if necessary) and a Management training is not appropriate.
Management has rights as well as Union members. The following paragraph is directly from our Contract:
The Employer shall have the right to exercise complete control and discretion over its organization and technologyincluding but not limited to the determination of the standards of services to be provided and standards ofproductivity and performance of its employees; establish and/or revise personnel evaluation programs;the determination of the methods, means and personnel by which its operations are to be conducted; thedetermination of the content of job classifications; the appointment, promotion, assignment, direction andtransfer of personnel; the suspension, demotion, discharge or any other appropriate action against itsemployees; the relief from duty of its employees because of lack of work or for other legitimate reasons;the establishment of reasonable work rules; and the taking of all necessary actions to carry out its missionin emergencies.
It is the Union's job to monitor any changes in hours, wages and working conditions. As well as violations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. If a DYS policy simply instructs us how to conduct business(unless it is a significant change), we are limited as to what we can do about it. In some cases, there may be an impact on the worker, and we would demand to bargain over the impact. The Local monitors all policies and their changes, and reports any issues directly to our Legal team in Boston, for review and advice.
VP Amaral can be contacted directly, via e-mail, if you chose to weigh in on the Room Confinement Policy.