Negotiations Update: March 28, 2018

Dear OCEA member,

We wanted to give a quick update regarding the current impasse of negotiations to let everyone know that mediation has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 17.

Jerry Fetcher of the California State Mediation and Conciliation Services (SMCS) has been selected as the mediator. The mediator is a neutral third party whose role is to facilitate the process by working with both sides to explore options of reaching common ground. If the mediator is successful in bringing resolution to our disputes, we will schedule a membership meeting to brief the membership on what took place during mediation and explain the voting process. If mediation is not successful, we will request to enter the Fact Finding process through the Public Employment Relations Board. You can read about the Fact Finding process here. We intend to have this completed as expeditiously as possible.

We appreciate everyone’s support and patience during this process. We will continue to advocate for a fair contract that values the work that you perform and services you provide every day. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Aaron Peardon at apeardon@ocea.org or Kate Wolf at kwolf@ocea.org. Additionally, please look for email communications during the upcoming weeks to announce when Aaron and Kate will be onsite to answer any one-on-one questions you may have about the process.

In Solidarity,

OCEA Bargaining Team

PS; If your coworkers are not receiving OCEA emails, please encourage them to either sign up for an account at www.ocea.org or to update their email preferences on their existing account.

Publication Date: March 28, 2018