PEF/OPRHP STATEWIDE L/M MEETING

PEF HEADQUARTERS, LATHAM, NY

OCTOBER 26, 2006

 

MEETING MINUTES

 

Present:

PEF Wesley Bartlett Joe Mungillo Gerald Miller James MacFarland Vincent Kreutz Ronald Perlmutter Moises Rodriguez Warren Lew, Field Representative Josephine Rice, Recorder

MANAGEMENT Brian Lee Kate McKee

 

Personnel Issues

ISSUE A. Promotions to Traineeship Titles

 

DISCUSSION

PEF felt that, in the future, interviewers need to make clear when situations do not make people eligible for a contract grade increase in salary. At times, and under certain circumstances, a promotion to a traineeship may not result in an immediate increase in salary. Most traineeships start at Grade 13 or 14. Management asked if there was a specific case that initiated this concern. PEF explained there was and named the individual involved. Management said that they would look into this case.

ACTION

Kathryn McKee will look into the specifics of the case where a Grade 9 going into a traineeship for Grade 14 under Article 7. Debbie Northrup, from Personnel, was handling it. In the future, Management will advise employees during the interview process when this specific situation occurs.

 

 

ISSUE B. Time and Attendance

 

DISCUSSION

Time Cards – Supervisory training program is in place. Patrick Hale (Personnel) handles all time and attendance issues. There is no timetable for completing this training because Personnel is very busy completing the conversion of temporary seasonal employees to permanent positions.

 

Professional Leave – Employees were being required to charge professional leave for things that were requested by the agency, e.g.: being directed to attend a conference. PEF wanted everyone supervising PS & T employees to be clear. Management stated that the intent was not to include mandatory attendance at conferences and training.

 

ACTION

Revision of previous memo to be provided to PEF within three weeks for review.

 

Social Release – A subgroup was to review social release time in other agencies. Tax & Finance grants a half-day for the annual picnic and another half-day for the holiday party without charge to accruals. They do keep a skeleton crew in the office, usually volunteer. DOT follows that but also has individual division holiday parties run by their supervisors. SUNY tries to host something each day during a certain week to cover all shifts. Attendance is taken at some events, others may charge a nominal fee. A realistic policy is needed to try to meet most needs. The existing employee manual stated one half-day for the holiday party. PEF is seeking a uniform policy to be applied statewide.

 

PEF was told certain things no longer applied but were not shown the changes in policy. PEF felt that until a new manual was produced, the old manual should be followed, which may date back to 1982. PEF feels that policies and procedure were not being written down in Parks and Recreation. Management agreed that there shouldn’t be individual supervisors making decisions.

 

ACTION

Management will attempt to provide guidelines for this year’s holiday party and further discussion for future events will be tabled until after January 1, 2007.  Jim MacFarland and Joe Mungillo will review the existing situation for future discussion.

 

ISSUE C. Updated Employee Manual

 

DISCUSSION

PEF stated that managers were attempting to apply draft policies which were not previously provided to PEF. An organization chart was also requested from management.

 

ACTION

Management will provide to the PEF L/M Chair a list of PS&T employees and personnel transactions on a quarterly basis. In lieu of an organizational chart, management will provide a list of PS&T employees indicating the supervisor of each person on the list by January 1, 2007.  Management also stated that updating the employee manual is a priority.

 

ISSUE D. Sick Leave Issues, EAP and miscellaneous

 

DISCUSSION

The sick leave issue was withdrawn.

 

PEF wanted to have an internal EAP structure to meet regularly. Management replied they always discuss this at supervisor trainings, offer it to employees and have coordinators in every area. CSEA has no one on the Albany committee. PEF was concerned management was not supporting it and asked if new employees were informed of this program. Management replied that it’s part of orientation, in addition to the voluminous amount of information they receive. Coordinators have the data regarding the number of contacts made.

 

 

ACTION

Management will issue a memo reminding employees of the EAP resources available and informing them who the specific EAP coordinator is for the respective Regions. Management also agreed to take a look at the possibility of posting information specific to EAP on the agency intranet.

 

 

 

Driver Training

PEF wanted to re-institute the program where members who attended driver training could do so on state time. PEF feels that this provides a benefit to the agency as well as the employee. Management had already discussed this issue and had no objection to running the program at a Park’s location but not on state time. PEF added that this is done in other agencies and sometimes encompassed with other operating programs.

 

ACTION

PEF will research other agency policies on driver training and report back.

 

Health and Safety

ISSUE A. Need for more labor/management communication on H&S issues

 

DISCUSSION

Interviews were held for the position of Agency Safety and Health Director. Rich Rose is the contact person in the interim. PEF expressed concern about several safety-related issues:

 

1)                  There needs to be a plan in place for the use of AED’s where applicable and that those plans are updated periodically.

2)                  Development of a sub-committee to discuss the topic of workplace violence.

3)                  Some Regions have evacuation procedures that are overly simple. Development of more comprehensive procedures and action plans.

4)                  There was an issue with overriding the doors locking from the sensors. PEF disagreed that the swipe cards provided any level of security. The public needs to access the offices. The agency has had numerous problems with entry and exit in many OGS facilities because of varying needs. PEF felt each area has its own nuances, and therefore, is necessary to have someone physically walk through the layout for improvements to be made. There was no input from the unions on the swipe cards. OGS claims it’s not their system and they don’t want anything to do with it. OGS employees don’t have access. Security uses keys to enter, not swipe cards. OGS stated it was the agency that decides what they want for security and therefore should address the issue.

  

 

ACTION

Management will inform PEF where they are in the process of hiring the Agency Safety and Health Director . 

 

ISSUE B. Proposal for Health & Safety subcommittee including developing policy on violence in the workplace

 

DISCUSSION

The new Agency Safety and Health Director will report to Rich Rose. See above for other details.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Downstate Issues

 

ISSUE

New York City/Downstate issues. (Follow-up from last meeting)

 

DISCUSSION

Staffing/Personnel Issues – PEF stated that there are some personnel issues at Riverbank State Park. Management replied that local issues should be handled at that level and that Joe Lescinski is fully willing to hold a local L/M meeting within a short period of time. Since many of these issues were discussed at past L/M meetings, PEF explained that since they were not resolved at the local level, they needed to be raised to the statewide forum. Employees at Riverbank feel short-staffed from individuals being reassigned to other areas. Management added that there hasn’t been a local meeting in NYC for the past 15 months. PEF replied that the last local meeting was held on March 22, 2006. Management and PEF agreed that there would be a local meeting in the interest of resolving the issues at that level.

 

Operational Issues

 

Parking –Members were seeking upstairs parking privileges. People in control have given passes to some people, but people are being ticketed. Management had no objections as long as it was being done equitably. If it becomes a problem, it should be raised at the local meeting. There was a report of a recent stabbing in the building. Management wants to protect all employees. There are security and lighting issues. Management will request NYC to do whatever is possible to ameliorate the situation pending the local meeting.

 

Budget

From previous discussion of the budget, it is known that FTE’s increased by 16 and there is an additional $2.8 million for contractual services. PEF requested details on the location and titles involved and information on the purpose of the increased funding.

 

ACTION

Management will provide the information requested and if necessary Brian Lee and Wes Bartlett can set up a meeting with Peter Finn, Director of Financial Administration.

 

CONCLUSION

Meeting Dates

It was mutually agreed that there will be a local New York City labor management meeting soon, prior to the next statewide meeting which will be February 8^th at 11:00 AM at the Riverbank office. Details to follow.

 

 

 

____________________________________            ____________________________________

Kate McKee for Management                                      Wesley A. Bartlett for PEF