The Union agrees that it has the duty to provide fair and non-discriminatory representation to all employees in all classes in the units for which this section is applicable regardless of whether they are members of the Union.
2.1 Payroll Deduction
The Union may have the regular dues of its members within a representation unit deducted from employees’ paychecks under procedures prescribed by the County Controller for such deductions. Dues deduction shall be made only upon certification from the Union that a worker has authorized such deduction, and shall continue:
(1) until such certification is revoked, in writing, by the Union; or
(2) until the employee separates from the bargaining unit..
Employees may authorize dues deductions only for the organization certified as the recognized employee organization of the unit to which such employees are assigned.
Employees may voluntarily elect to have contributions deducted from their paychecks under procedures prescribed by the County Controller for the PEOPLE Fund (AFSCME).
Not more than once per week (preferably bi-weekly on non-payroll Fridays), the Union will send a list of changes to its Union member listing by email to the Controller’s Office at payroll@smcgov.org , including any revocations of membership, with the following Certification statement:
- “I, NAME, TITLE, hereby certify that AFSCME Local 829 possesses and will maintain an authorization (for dues deductions and/or voluntary political contribution deductions, as indicated) signed by the individuals on this list from whose salary or wages the deductions is to be made.”
Certified spreadsheets that arrive by the non-payday Friday will be processed for the following week’s payroll.
2.2 Separation from the Bargaining Unit and Reinstatement
Deductions pursuant to 2.1 above shall not occur during periods that an employee is separated from the representation unit, but shall be reinstated upon the return of the employee to the representation unit. For the purpose of this Section, the term separation includes transfer out of the representation unit, layoff, and leave of absence without pay.
2.3 Forfeiture of Deduction
If, after all other involuntary and insurance premium deductions are made in any pay period, the balance is not sufficient to pay the deduction of Union dues required by this Section, no such deduction shall be made for the current pay period.
2.4 County Obligation
A. All dues and PEOPLE deductions shall be transmitted to AFSCME Council 57 in an expeditious manner.
B. All transmittal checks shall be accompanied by documentation which denotes the employees’ s name, social security number (for members only), and the amount of deduction (including PEOPLE).
2.5 Hold Harmless
The Union shall indemnify, defend, and save the County harmless against any and all claims, demands, suits, orders, or judgments, or other forms of liability that arise out of or by reason of this union security Section, or action taken or not taken by the County under this Section. This includes, but is not limited to, the County’s attorney’s fees and costs.
2.6 Communications with Employees
The Union shall be allowed by a County department, in which it represents employees, use of available bulletin board space (17″ by 14″) for communications having to do with official organization business. The department involved and/or Human Resources will investigate problems that the Union identifies with respect to use of these bulletin boards.
The Union may distribute materials to employees within the unit it represents through County mail distribution channels including email. This privilege may be revoked in the event of abuse after the Human Resources Director consults with representatives of the Union. The content of any materials distributed to employees shall not relate to political activity or violate existing County policies. Employees shall not prepare, read or respond to union related emails during work time, without first obtaining advance permission from the employee’s supervisor.
Any representative of the Union shall give notice to the employees’ department head at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance when contacting departmental employees during the duty period of employees, provided that solicitation for membership or other internal employee organization business shall be conducted only during the non-duty hours of all employees concerned. Pre-arrangement for routine contact may be made by agreement between the Union and the department head and when made shall continue until revoked.
2.7 Advance Notice
Except in cases of emergency as provided below in this subsection, the Union, if affected, shall be given reasonable advance written notice of any new, or permanent or temporary change to, a County policy, ordinance, resolution, rule or regulation directly relating to matters within the scope of representation proposed to be adopted by the County and shall be given the opportunity to meet with the appropriate management representatives prior to adoption.
In cases of emergency when the foregoing procedure is not practical or in the best public interest, the County may adopt or put into practice immediately such measures as are required. At the earliest practicable date thereafter the Union shall be provided with a description of the emergency preventing advance notice and the notice described in the preceding paragraph, and shall be given an opportunity to meet with the appropriate management representatives.
2.8 New Employee Orientation
The County and the Union shall continue to work on best practices to ensure labor access to new employees for the purpose of educating them on their representation opportunities. Toward that goal, the County shall administer an opportunity for the Union to meet with new employees as follows:
All new employees are encouraged to attend the first new employee benefits orientation following the commencement of their employment. New employee Benefits Orientation is scheduled for every other week, and the Union will have up to thirty (30) minutes at the end of each session to provide information regarding its organization to its represented employees and members. When new employee Benefits Orientations are conducted in person, and a separate room is available, the County will provide the Union with a separate room for its exclusive use to make this presentation. When new employee Benefits Orientations are conducted virtually, the County will provide the Union with a separate, virtual break-out room for the presentation.
For employees who do not attend a benefits orientation within the first month of their employment, the Union may meet directly with each employee for up to thirty (30) minutes. The meeting time and location will be subject to approval by the employee’s supervisor. Release Time requested for this activity will be reviewed and approved by Employee Relations under normal Release Time processes.
2.9 Employee Roster
The County shall supply without cost to the Union a monthly electronic and sortable list with a data processing run of the names and classifications of all employees in the units represented by the Union. Such lists shall indicate which employees were having Union dues withheld from their pay checks as of the date the roster was prepared, the names added to or deleted from the previous list, and whether each such change in status was by reason of any type of leave of absence, termination or withdrawal from the Union. The lists shall be supplied without cost to the Union. The County shall notify the Union of employees who are on an unpaid leave of absence status in excess of twenty-eight (28) days.
Leave of Absence Status. Recognizing that the Union needs information as to the leave status of its members for various purposes, the County agrees to provide a list of members who are on leave on a periodic basis and at the request of the Union. It is understood that the main purpose of such lists is for election purposes and that the requests should not be more often than twice a year.