OCEA members,
OCEA met with the Department Sept. 21 about its change from 4/10 to 5/8 schedules for Institutional Cooks, Food Service Workers, and Warehouse Worker IIIs. Impacted employees Alex Min and Janessa Rosa joined us to explain how the change would affect childcare, commuting costs, and recovery time between workweeks. We also raised concerns about morale, recruitment, and retention.
The Department said the change is part of the County’s mandated budget reductions and is intended to reduce overtime by putting more staff on each shift. We presented several alternatives to address the Department’s budget concerns while keeping the 4/10 schedule. The Department explained why it does not believe those alternatives would address its staffing and overtime concerns and confirmed that it intends to proceed. We know this is not the outcome many of you wanted, but schedule determination is a management right.
Shift Selection
The 5/8 schedules take effect in January 2027. Shift selection is expected to begin in the next two weeks. The Department described these schedules:
- Food Services: 12 a.m.-8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m.
- Warehouse Worker III: 7 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday
What OCEA Secured
At OCEA’s request, the Department agreed to review the schedule after one year to determine whether it achieved the anticipated overtime reductions and agreed to share its findings with us.
The Department also agreed to establish a Labor Management Committee for Food Services. This will give members a regular place to bring concerns directly to management and work on the underlying issues affecting morale. We will share how you can participate as the committee gets started.
Please contact OCEA Senior Labor Relations Representative Kerensa Schupmann at kschupmann@ocea.org with questions when the new schedules are released.
In Solidarity,
Kerensa Schupmann
OCEA Senior Labor Relations Representative
