How to Reach Us 2 Bus. Agent Notes 2 Meeting Minutes 3 Meeting Notice 4 Calendar of Events 4 Inside this issue: By Tim McDermond, Local 1684 President Energy, that part of reality that, when applied to mass, yields power. When applied to humans, energy takes on new meanings, but still when applied to mass(es) yields power. A charismatic leader can harness this energy. He can mold it to his desires and lead his followers but unless he returns it to the masses, the energy will dissipate and be wasted. Energy which is created by the masses and is directed by them to the benefit ofthe whole is effective energy. It creates an atmosphere that is tangible and electric. It fills the soul and leads to hope. I have been privileged to experience this energy twice this last February. It was given life once here in Eureka and a second time up north in Crescent City. On Lincoln’s Birthday, a small group of dedicated members met to help plan wh ere the local should go in the future. They came and talked and conferred. Splitting into 6 committees, Negotiations, Social, Education, Organizing, Fiscal and Education, they brainstormed over the course of several hours. While they were doing so, the energy built. Like a dose of fresh air to a suffocating man, it enriched and thrilled. Great ideas flowed. Issues were discussed. Then they were shared. The energy moved us. Power is beingcreated. So, if you wish to indulge in a great experience- join the energy makers. They will create the will to turn energy into power and change our reality. Help us make it a good change. Meanwhile, the Humboldt /Del Norte Central Labor Council has been holding quarterly meetings in Crescent City. For many years the idea was kicked around, and last year we finally started doin g so. An hour and a half drive at today’s gas prices requiring time off from many of our jobs seems a fairly stiff price. The reality is that fighting against great odds, labor is alive and thriving in Del Norte and this creates energy. CUHCW, care givers who are some of the lowest paid workers, has been working, demonstrating and proving the power of collective bargaining. More importantly, they and their allies, sister locals and other Union supporters have been creating energy. They have reached out and passed the spark on to their children. T o organize and educate is a family affair. They are committed to show the face of labor as it is, not as the one percent wishes to portray us. To that end, for Mayday (delayed to the weekend, technically Saturday May 4) they are presenting at the Del Norte County Fairgrounds a labor celebration. They will have family events (includingbooths and games), speakers and informational (Continued on page 3) March 2013The Steward Volume 46, Issue 3Local 1684 Newsletter of the Humboldt County Public Employees Union, AFSCME Local 1684, AFL-CIO REMINDER: General Membership Meetings are held quarterly on the 3rd Wednesday ofJanuary, April, September and November at 6:00 P.M. Please plan to join us! Remaining for this year: April 17, 2013 September 18, 2013 November 20, 2013 Guest Column—Weingarten Rights By Drew Redden, Local 1684 Steward I wanted to take this opportunity to provide everyone with a reminder of a fundamental workplace right which we can always utilize to our mutual benefit and aid. Weingarten Rights These rights have become a bedrock ofprotection for employees represented by unions throughout the country and have been affirmed and expanded several times in our nation’s history.What do they say?oFor investigatory interviews: An employee can request union representation when an interview begins or any time during the interview A union rep can be any available steward or union officer or the business agent oWhen an investigat or receives a “Weingarten request” they may: Halt questioning until a union rep arrives (Continued on page 3) President’s Perspective
Transcript
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How to Reach Us 2
Bus. Agent Notes2
Meeting Minutes 3
Meeting Notice 4
Calendar of Events 4
Inside this issue:
By Tim McDermond, Local 1684 President
Energy, that part of reality that, when applied to
mass, yields power. When applied to humans,
energy takes on new meanings, but still when
applied to mass(es) yields power. A charismatic
leader can harness this energy. He can mold it to
his desires and lead his followers but unless he
returns it to the masses, the energy will dissipate
and be wasted. Energy which is created by the
masses and is directed by them to the benefit of the whole is effective energy. It creates an
atmosphere that is tangible and electric. It fills the
soul and leads to hope. I have been privileged to
experience this energy twice this last February. It
change our reality. Help us make it a good change.
Meanwhile, the Humboldt /Del Norte Central LaborCouncil has been holding quarterly meetings inCrescent City. For many years the idea was kickedaround, and last year we finally started doing so.
An hour and a half drive at today’s gas prices
requiring time off from many of our jobs seems afairly stiff price.
The reality is that fighting against great odds, laboris alive and thriving in Del Norte and this creates
energy. CUHCW, care givers who are some of thelowest paid workers, has been working,demonstrating and proving the power of collectivebargaining. More importantly, they and their allies,sister locals and other Union supporters have beencreating energy. They have reached out andpassed the spark on to their children. To organize
and educate is a family affair.
They are committed to show the face of labor as itis, not as the one percent wishes to portray us. To
that end, for Mayday (delayed to the weekend,technically Saturday May 4) they are presenting atthe Del Norte County Fairgrounds a laborcelebration. They will have family events (including booths and games), speakers and informational
(Continued on page 3)
March 2013
The Steward
Volume 46, Issue 3
Local 1684
Newsletter of the Humboldt County Public Employees Union,
AFSCME Local 1684, AFL-CIO
REMINDER:
General Membership
Meetings are held quarterly
on the 3rd Wednesday of January, April, September
and November at 6:00 P.M.
Please plan to join us!
Remaining for this year:
April 17, 2013
September 18, 2013
November 20, 2013
Guest Column — Weingarten Rights
By Drew Redden, Local 1684 Steward
I wanted to take this opportunity to provideeveryone with a reminder of a fundamental
workplace right which we can always utilize to ourmutual benefit and aid.
Weingarten Rights
These rights have become a bedrock of
protection for employees represented byunions throughout the country and have beenaffirmed and expanded several times in our
nation’s history.
What do they say?
o For investigatory interviews:
An employee can request unionrepresentation when an interview
begins or any time during the interview
A union rep can be any available
steward or union officer or the
business agent
o When an investigator receives a
“Weingarten request” they may:
Halt questioning until a union
rep arrives
(Continued on page 3)
President’s Perspective
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The AFSCME Council 57 Union office, serving themembers of AFSCME Local 1684, is located at
840 E Street, Suite 7, Eureka CA 95501PHONE (707) 443-7371 FAX (707) 443-0819
We encourage you to write to The Steward about happeningsat your worksite and issues affecting working families. All
letters to the editor and articles must be signed and may beedited for length, libel, and good taste. Deadline for letters andarticles is the first Monday of each month. Please submit your
letter or article to the editor or the Union office.
Opinions expressed in letters or articlessubmitted to The Steward are those of the writer
and not necessarily the opinion of AFSCME Local 1684.
By Harriet Lawlor, Local 1684 Business Agent
The Union’s most recent Lunch & Learn opportunity was presented to represented
employees at the Superior Court of California, County of Humboldt. The Union waspleased to welcome our speaker, Victoria B. Henley, who is the Director—Chief Counsel
for the Commission on Judicial Performance.
The Commission on Judicial Performance is the oversight body for California’s state
court judges. It is responsible for investigating allegations of judicial misconduct and,when appropriate, imposing discipline. No other entity – state or federal – has the
authority to remove a California judge from off ice or to impose any other discipline.
The commission acts on the basis of complaints submitted to it. Each year it receivesapproximately 1100 complaints. The majority of complaints do not involvedemonstrably more than dissatisfaction with a judge’s ruling and are closed by the
commission after review. When a complaint states facts which, if true, would
constitute misconduct, the commission may authorize an investigation.
Court employees, lawyers and judges together submit fewer than 15% of the totalcomplaints received by the commission each year. Their complaints, however, aretypically more meritorious than those from other sources, comprising as much as 60%
of the discipline imposed by the commission in some years.
Each year, ninety-five percent of the commission’s investigations involve conduct in the
courthouse. Consequently, court employees are frequently contacted by commissioninvestigators as witnesses. Court employees, like other public employees and officials,are required to cooperate with the commission and provide reasonable assistance andinformation during investigations. Witnesses are permitted to have counsel present
when interviewed.
Investigations, as well as complaints, are confidential. When a judge is contactedduring an investigation, the judge is given only a summary of the allegations. The judgedoes not receive the complaint or statements given by witnesses, unless the case goesto formal charges. This happens in only two or three cases each year as most casesare resolved without formal charges. In the few cases that go to formal charges eachyear, witnesses can be deposed before the hearing. Upon request, court employeeswho are to be deposed are entitled to have counsel furnished by the Administrative
Office of the Courts.
Judicial misconduct involving court employees has been the subject of disciplinebeginning with the commission’s first removal case (“You’re just a f**king clerk.” –
Geiler v. Commission on Judicial Qualifications (1976)) and continuing to the present(The judge repeatedly referred in open court to the court business office staff as“cucumbers who might lose the file,” explaining “they aren’t even potatoes because
potatoes have eyes” and “they aren’t even corn because corn has ears.” – Inquiry
Concerning Judge DeAnn M. Salcido (2010)). In addition to abusive treatment, judgeshave also been disciplined for using court employees for non-judicial purposesincluding judicial campaigns and business ventures, involving court employees in ticket
-fixing and accessing DMV records for non-judicial purposes.
Additional information about the commission can be obtained from its Website:
www.cjp.ca.gov. The commission office can be reached at 415-557-1200.
booths by sister locals and trade unions. They will display labor’s
history, present and possible future. They will help end the swing
to Corporate bosses and reinvigorate Labor’s Power to enrich the
nation and empower the 99%. They will show to the youthneeding jobs some opportunities that they don’t get in school.
Plan a family outing up North. Let yourself, and them, feel theEnergy and create the Power. You’ll see me there indulging with
delight. Hope to see lots of you.
President’s Perspective (cont’d)
End the interview without asking questions
Offer the employee a choice of continuing the
interview without a rep or end the interview
o If the investigator denies or ignores the request for a
rep and continues to ask questions without the employee’s
assent, the employee can refuse to answer.
An employee should remain in the meeting until it
ends, but need not answer any question.
o This has been expanded by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals:
Employees must be informed of the subject
of the investigation prior to the start of the meeting.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Pacific
Telephone v. NLRB, 711 F.2d 134 (9th Cir. 1983),found that an employee’s right to representation
would be seriously diminished if the employee didnot have the right to know the subject matter of the
interview.
Weingarten rights have been established as a fundamentalprotection of unionized employees to exercise their ability to act inmutual aid of each other. Investigators and administrators areunder no compulsion that says they must inform you of theserights; but they must defer to this request if we invoke these rightsto protect ourselves and our fellow colleagues. No one can
retaliate against an employee for invoking these rights!
If you have any questions about this, would like to know more,have concerns about utilizing these rights or have other workplacequestions or concerns, please use a break or other non-work timeto contact your union rep or the AFSCME 1684 office at 443-7371. Know your rights, and make sure your colleagues know
them, too. Together we are stronger!
In solidarity,
Drew Redden
Steward - AFSCME Council 57 - Local #1684
Guest Column (cont’d)
By Sherman Landry, Local 1684 Recording Secretary
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Call to Order; Pledge of Allegiance; Quorum Present (9)
Present:: Tim McDermond, Jo Wattle, Mikel Purdy, Sherman Landry, Michael
Richardson, Larry Lancaster, Geoffrey Barrett, Dan Gerber, Harriet Lawlor
Reading/Approval of Minutes: January 16, 2013 General Membership Meet-ing – Moved Jo Wattle, Second Michael Richardson Carried
Monthly Financial Reports: December 2012/January 2013; Approval of De-
cember 2012 report – M/S/C; Jan. 2013 report available at March meeting
New Business:
Formation of committees to implement strategic planning objectives, official
assigning of committees: Education, Social, Fiscal and Organizing. M/S/C
Appoint E-Board liaisons to the new committees:
Education – Jo Wattle; Social – Mikel Purdy; Fiscal – Mikel Purdy; Organizing
– Larry Lancaster; M/S/C
Reimbursement to M. Purdy for www.local1684.com fees ($45.66). MovedJo Wattle, Second Geoffrey Barrett Carried
Purchase wireless PA system, not to exceed $1,000. Tech Committee willresearch and purchase no later than two Executive Board meetings - M/Sdiscussion ensued. Friendly amendment Michael Richardson – considera-
tion of motion to be approved by Executive Board -Carried
Correspondence:
Dues waiver approval from International;
Notice of Nominations for the C57 Executive Board for the 2013/2015 term
Thank you from Food for People
Thank you from Humboldt Senior Resource Center
President’s Report: Briefing on the C57 Delegate Meeting held January 26,
2013, in Oakland
Staff Report: Briefing on the Local 1684 Strategic Planning Day held Febru-
ary 12, 2013
Committee Reports:
Good and Welfare
Request for an employee (Steward) who has been on extended medical
leave to request assistance with health insurance payment. MovedJo Wattle $100 to health care by precedence, Second Michael
Richardson, discussion ensued. Carried
Jim Smith’s going away dinner will be held at the Labor Temple March
12, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. Jo Wattle, Tom Wattle, Joan Hoss, TimMcDermond, Harriet Lawlor and Geoffrey Barrett will attend. Two
