Official Notice of Nominations and Elections

Official Notice of Nominations and Elections for the 2020-2022 Term

In accordance with the Constitution of AFSCME Local 2620, the elections for the Officers and the Executive Board of the Local occur in two consecutive phases.

Nominations for the following positions open on August 18, 2020

President, Northern Vice President (Executive), Southern Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, 3 Trustees, 8 Council 57 Delegates, Regional/Facility Chief Stewards and Occupational Committee Chairpersons.

Nominations close on September 1, 2020, at 5:00 PM by email

2020 General Election

President

Northern Vice President (Executive)

Southern Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

3 Trustees

8 Council 57 Delegates

6 Facility Chief Stewards                               11 Regional Chief Stewards

Atascadero State Hospital                            Redwood Empire       Central Coast

Coalinga State Hospital                                 Shasta                         Los Angeles

Metropolitan State Hospital                         Sacramento                Orange/Inland Empire

Napa State Hospital                                       Vacaville Facilities      San Diego/Imperial

Patton State Hospital                                    Bay Area                     Stockton Facilities

Porterville Developmental Center                Central Valley

10 Occupational Committee Chairpersons

State Psychologists (SPOC)                           Licensing Program Analysts (LPAOC)

Dieticians and Nutritionists (DNOC)             Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors (VROC)

Physical Medicine (PMOC)                            Rehabilitation Therapists (RTOC)

Pharmacists (PharmOC)                                Individual Program Coordinators (IPCOC)

Social Workers (SWOC)                                 Chaplains (CHOC)

 

VIEW THE FULL NOTICE FOR NOMINATIONS    <–CLICK TO VIEW

“Why am I choosing to stick with my Local during this crisis?” Chelsea Harris

Right now, more than ever, our members need the guidance and support in these unprecedented times. Since the union demonstrates its resilience time and time again, what we are faced with today, is no different. It’s the bad and the ugly circumstances that continue to reinforce the union’s dependability, durability, and unity to overcome the adversities brought forth to our members. The union will never be perfect, and I would never expect it to be; but make no mistake, the opportunities the union has brought, and will continue to bring, will prioritize you, your family, and your quality of life.
Chelsea Harris, M.S., CTRS
Region III Chief Steward
Governmental Affairs Committee (GAC) Chair

Newsom outlines new budget proposal amid coronavirus crisis

(Content provided by The Sacramento Bee)

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN AND SOPHIA BOLLAG

JUNE 08, 2020 05:00 AM

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced his new budget proposal on May 14, 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The proposal includes heavy use of reserves and federal funding but also cuts to education, health care and other services.

Washington has no plans to vote on more federal aid to the states before California’s June 15 deadline to pass a state budget — a budget that Democratic lawmakers say badly needs help for schools, health care, police and just for keeping thousands of people working.

Instead, what Sacramento and other state capitals see on Capitol Hill is a stalemate without an obvious end. Or even a clear path forward.

That means big trouble, or at the least a lot of drawn-out tension, for California and its lawmakers.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling on the federal government to send the state more money, and has laid out a budget plan with $14 billion in so-called trigger cuts. The economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus created an estimated $54.3 billion deficit for the next year.

Without federal aid, a long list of state programs face reductions that will be felt everywhere. The state fiscal year begins July 1, and if Congress fails to act before that — and right now, that’s not a good bet — the California cuts would be triggered.

Education funding would be cut. So would dental benefits for low-income people. State preschool programs would have fewer slots for children than planned and less funding per child.

Less money would go to child care programs. The University of California and California State University systems would lose about 10 percent of state funding.

A counter-proposal from the Legislature would make fewer cuts, but its plan still relies heavily on federal funding.

In Washington, the House, Senate and President Donald Trump need to agree on a package before anything can become law. Though there are some talks there’s little evidence of progress towards an agreement.

The House, which last month approved a $1 trillion state and local government aid package, has scheduled no votes until June 30.

In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged a pause in stimulus legislation, and last week outlined a June schedule that does not include any such package. The Senate plans to spend the month considering nominations and major defense as well as land and conservation bills.

Conservative, liberal and moderate economic and policy experts are largely unified in their plea for more help as most states face sudden, huge deficits that by law have to be addressed.

“State and local governments desperately need financial support,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

A copy of the full article can be found here FULL ARTICLE

To soften the blow of state worker pay cuts, California might suspend $2,600 health deductions

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration could offer some relief from potential pay cuts for state workers by temporarily eliminating one of the paycheck deductions workers see each month, according to an Association of California State Supervisors web post.

Newsom this week proposed reducing state workers’ pay by 10 percent on Thursday in a budget that aims to reckon with a projected $54 billion deficit.

California Human Resources Department Director Eraina Ortega told the association the state could ease the pain a little by pausing workers’ monthly contributions toward the health benefits they receive in retirement, according to the post.

The association represents managers and others who aren’t part of the rank and file workforce. CalHR plans to link pay reductions for supervisors and managers to the pay reductions of their associated bargaining units, according to the post.

Most state employees pay roughly $2,600 per year toward the benefit, although the amount varies by salary and bargaining unit, according to a State Controller’s Office report. Public safety workers, who typically retire earlier than other employees, pay much more.

The deduction shows up as “CERBT” on state worker pay checks, which stands for California Employers’ Retiree Benefit Trust Fund.

It’s a fairly new deduction for most California state workers. California Highway Patrol officers began paying it in 2009.

Former Gov. Jerry Brown insisted that unions agree to the deduction in contracts his administration negotiated. The Professional Engineers in California Government accepted it in a 2015 agreement. Workers represented by other unions, including SEIU Local 1000, began paying the deduction in 2018.

Workers and their employers each pay the same amount toward the fund each month.

The retiree benefits are massively underfunded. At the end of fiscal year 2018, the state had about $874 million set aside for retiree health care benefits, and it had liabilities of about $85.6 billion for the benefits, according to the controllers’ report.

The supervisors’ association’s executive director and attorney spoke with Ortega and Deputy Director Paul Starkey Thursday morning, according to the post.

“This does not come near offsetting the proposed reduction in take home pay, but it is a helpful mitigating step,” the association said in its post.

CalHR declined to comment, saying it does not discuss confidential negotiations with bargaining units.

Newsom’s proposed pay cut will go through the collective bargaining process if possible, but the administration would seek authority from the state Legislature to reduce pay anyway in July if bargaining fails, according to Newsom’s proposal.

House Passes HEROES Act With Limits On Student Loan Relief – What’s Next?

The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the HEROES Act – a massive, $3 trillion stimulus bill. The bill is designed to provide broad financial relief to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and state and local governments who have been hit hard by the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. Senate leadership has already declared the bill “dead on arrival,” and the President has promised to veto it.

Student Loan Relief Provided by the HEROES Act

House progressives had originally pushed for $30,000 in across-the-board student loan forgiveness. The released version of the bill reduced the forgiveness, but still provided meaningful student loan student relief, including the following:

  • $10,000 in federal student loan forgiveness;
  • $10,000 in private student loan forgiveness;
  • An extension of the CARES Act suspension of payments, interest, and collections on government-held federal student loans through September of 2021, and an expansion of those protections to include commercially-held FFEL-program federal student loans as well as Perkins loans.
  • A fix to Public Service Loan Forgiveness that would allow payments made on previously-consolidated federal student loans to potentially count towards the 120 qualifying monthly payments required for the program.

Link to full article HERE

Free Low Cost Bachelor’s Degree Completion Program

In response to the current economic and health uncertainty, AFSCME, for a limited time, is offering this normally low-cost benefit completely for free! All students who begin or continue their academic program with the Summer term are eligible for a last-dollar scholarship, which allows students to complete their degree (through graduation) with no out-of-pocket cost for tuition, fees, or e-books. So, don’t delay – enroll in the summer term today.

Click FREE Low Cost Bachelors degree for more info

We Need Your Help With These Committees in 2020

The following are the Local 2620 committees that we will need your help with:

  • Membership Organizing Committee – Helps grow the Union by collaborating on creative ways to organize potential members
  • Good & Welfare Committee – Recognizes and promotes outstanding members within 2620 and supports our members when in need
  • Communications Committee – Responsible for sending regular communication to our membership as well as maintains social media content
  • Constitution Committee – Reviews 2620 Constitution and suggests changes to our membership
  • Contracting Out Committee – Reduce the States ability to “Contract Out” our work by reviewing and challenging the actual contracts
  • Elections Committee – Conduct our Biennial Election as well as run elections for vacancies within a term
  • Political Action Committee – Make recommendations to the Executive Board regarding Labor Friendly candidates
  • Women’s Committee – Creates avenues and opportunities to engage women within our Union and provides an opportunity to support women causes in general
  • Budget & Finance Committee – Assists in creating budgets and makes financial recommendations to the Executive Board
  • Conservative Caucus – Allows conservatives within our Union to collaborate and contribute to 2620
  • Next Wave Committee – A Committee reserved for members under the age of 40 that creates ways to engage and train our Next Wave of union leadership
  • Policy Committee – Create, amend and review policies that govern our union

If you are interested in serving in one or more of the above mentioned committees, please email President Abdul Johnson at president@afscmelocal2620.org as soon as possible.

CalPERS Announces Candidate Forum for 2019 Board Election

Two Retired Member Candidates to Speak

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – CalPERS members are invited to attend the CalPERS Board of Administration Candidate Forum on Tuesday, September 10.

The forum will be moderated by the League of Women Voters, and will be held in the CalPERS Auditorium, 400 P Street, Sacramento, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. For those who can’t attend in person, the forum will be streamed live on our website, where it will also be posted for later viewing.

Ballots will be mailed August 30 and votes must be received by September 30. Only eligible retired members will be able to vote, using one of three convenient voting methods: Online, by phone, or by mail.

The candidates for the retired member position invited to speak at the forum are:

  • Henry Jones, Incumbent
  • Joseph “JJ” Jelincic, Retired investment officer

The newly elected board member will begin his term January 16, 2020.

The 13-member CalPERS Board of Administration sets policy for retirement and health benefits on behalf of California public employers, and their active and retired employees. The board also oversees asset allocation of the pension fund’s investments. Under the California Constitution, the CalPERS Board has exclusive authority to administer the CalPERS Pension Fund.

Information on the upcoming board election and resources for members is available on our Board Elections page.

About CalPERS

For more than eight decades, CalPERS has built retirement and health security for state, school, and public agency members who invest their lifework in public service. Our pension fund serves more than 1.9 million members in the CalPERS retirement system and administers benefits for more than 1.5 million members and their families in our health program, making us the largest defined-benefit public pension in the U.S. CalPERS’ total fund market value currently stands at approximately $376 billion. For more information, visit www.calpers.ca.gov.

Local 2620 Launches Conservative Caucus to Bring Focus to ‘Lunchbox Issues’

Looking to bring a different perspective to the table when it comes to fighting for issues affecting working people, several members of AFSCME Local 2620 recently formed a Conservative Caucus to make sure the conservative voice was included in the local’s work throughout California.

Launching the caucus is a bold move in our state, which is heavily progressive in state and national politics.

But members felt this was long overdue, especially since the local has members in every county of the state and not all of them lean left in their political views.

A big part of forming the group was to remind our union that it “has a responsibility to equally represent its members,” said VeRonica Mundell, a licensed clinical social worker and steward who is chair of the local’s Conservative Caucus.

The caucus held its first meeting in Burbank and brought a number of people together to set their agenda and expand the tent as wide as possible.

Guests included Erin Cruz, a U.S. Congressional candidate, members from the conservative caucuses of AFSCME Council 28 (Washington) and AFSCME Council 75 (Oregon), members from AFSCME Local 10 and members from AFSCME Council 36 in Southern California.

Moving forward, members of Local 2620’s Conservative Caucus agreed that it was important to have a place in our union where the conservative voice can be heard. Most importantly, our sisters and brothers pledged to take a more active role in our union’s political process by supporting candidates that support “lunch box issues,” which include fair pay, a secure retirement, healthcare benefits, preventing outsourcing and a state budget that values working people.

Watch the video to get highlights from the first Conservative Caucus meeting.