Keeping you up-to-date on our work to increase your salary, improve and protect your benefits, and aggressively represent your professional interests in every forum where they are at stake.
CASE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UPDATE
Board Approves Dues Increase. The CASE Board voted Friday to increase dues by $5 to $65 per month. CASE dues remain the second lowest of any state employee union and this marks only the second dues increase in the last 20 years. The new rate goes into effect for the July pay warrant (paid on August 1).
CASE Wins Petition To Compel Telework Arbitration. CASE’s ongoing battles to preserve maximum telework flexibility for members secured a significant victory this week as the Sacramento Superior Court granted CASE’s petition to compel arbitration.
Despite the proven efficiency and effectiveness of CASE Members teleworking during the pandemic, since 2021, various departments began mandating Members return for specified days-per-week in the office. Few were able to offer a justifiable operational need for in-person work. CASE grieved these arbitrary requirements under Article 6.4 of the CASE MOU. CalHR denied CASE’s requests to arbitrate the disputes after the grievance process was unable to resolve the conflict. CalHR’s intransigence forced CASE to seek a motion to compel in February, 2023. The court’s order this week vindicates CASE’s position: these matters are indeed subject to arbitration. CASE will now get the arbitrations (most of which were held in abeyance pending the court action) back on calendar to litigate the propriety of the departments’ various asserted operational needs.
The specific departmental telework grievances included CalPERS, SCO, FTB, CEC, DIR, CalSTRS, CalTrans, CalVET, and DDS. Since the action was pending, other departmental grievances have reached the arbitration level, and a few other departments have issued new return-to-office mandates. Given the reasoning of the court and the identity of issues, CASE believes that the ruling is broad enough to cover all of the departments where our members work.
If your department is requiring you to come into the office an arbitrary number of days per week with no justification, let us know.
CASE Public Service Scholars Award Winners. Last week, CASE announced our inaugural CASE Public Service Scholars, each of whom will receive a $1000 scholarship. This week, we profile winner Chaya Tong:
Chaya Tong’s life of service started when she was the oldest kid taking care of other children at a small Bay Area daycare. She recalled those earliest days of giving and receiving kindness in a college application essay published in The New York Times two years ago. Click here to read the rest of Chaya’s story . . . .
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
News of interest to CASE legal professionals:
- Board hands down harsher penalty for Felta Creek timber owner’s water quality violations – The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa)
- What new laws are going into effect in California in July? – KTLA
- California Supreme Court repeals decades of rulings shielding police from lawsuits – San Francisco Chronicle
- California, other states join FTC bid to block Amgen deal – Reuters
REMINDERS
Just in Time for Summer: Expanded Consumer Discounts. We’re happy to announce a new partnership with Working Advantage that gives CASE members access to even more discounts at even more locations in California, across the country, and via online vendors. Working Advantage offers discounts on: electronics, appliances, fitness memberships, hotels, movie tickets, rental cars, special events and theme parks. Major brands include: Disneyland, Apple, and Marriott Hotels. To sign up, visit the Working Advantage website, select “Become a Member” and enter the company code: CASE