The 2015 LegisLaTive session - Texas State Employees Union

The 2015 Legislative Session:
A chance to turn Texas around
It’s bad, but it doesn’t have to be this way
The issues state employees face today are the same issues we’ve been facing for years. Rising workloads and stagnant pay in most state agencies and universities are driving up turnover rates. The latest
privatization and closure attempts are threatening state services in DSHS state hospitals, DADS state
supported living centers and community programs, FPS foster care, TJJD, and state universities
across Texas. Health care costs continue to rise and lawmakers are again discussing additional cuts
to state employee and retiree pension benefits on top of earlier cuts.
For years, Texas has ranked 50th (dead last) in state spending per citizen out of all 50 states, and
the average state employee’s standard of living is now 36.7% behind what it was in 1987 (see the
graph below). The situation we face and the conditions we find on the job are the
result of ideologically driven attacks on the public sector, engineered by many
politicians and corporate interests in our state. For decades, extreme right-wing
politicians and big business lobbyists have worked together to undermine the
social safety net and public infrastructure in our state by starving state services of
needed resources and by making it harder and harder on the people who deliver
those services- state employees- to make a living doing this work.
“Big Government” is the
Boogey Man that many elected
officials rely on attacking to
win primary elections. The
message most commonly used
by these ideologues and their
wealthy supporters is that state
services and state employees
are too expensive and taxpayers can’t afford them. Whether
trying to cut funding for state
universities and thereby raise
tuition on students, or when
trying to gut state employee
pension benefits, this tired
argument is dragged out time
after time. In any situation, this
What are “state services” and do we really need them?
argument is false.
The state of Texas employs over 300,000 people who work in dozens of
state agencies, such as HHSC, FPS, TDCJ, TXDOT, and all state universities, from UT and Texas A&M, to University of Houston and Texas Tech.
State employees also work at all university health science centers, including
UT MD Anderson, UT Health Science Centers, and UTMB Galveston.
The work we do as state employees is critical for the well-being of all
Texans. State workers protect children and adults from abuse and neglect,
and we protect public health by tracking diseases and inspecting the quality of our food. State employees ensure public safety by helping those who
have committed crimes, both juveniles and adults, to get their lives turned
around so that they don’t commit more crimes. In academic universities
and health science centers, state employees educate the next generation of
Texans, work to develop new technologies through research, and provide
quality health care. State workers are also on the front lines of care for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities or mental illness. And
when Texans are unemployed, struggling to make ends meet, or have fallen
on hard times state employees are there to provide needed assistance.
2.
TSEU UPDATE
When funding for these services or funding for those of us
who provide these services are cut, it’s the Texans who depend on
our work who suffer. The graph at the bottom of the preceding
page shows the impact of state funding cuts in just one area of
state services: higher education. The chart shows the direct relationship between the decreasing levels of state funding for higher
education since 2003 and the skyrocketing increases in tuition
and fees that students and their families have to pay. The bottom
line is that when politicians cut, Texans suffer.
Busting the myth: we CAN afford quality state services
and fairly paid state employees and retirees
Texas is a wealthy state with a growing population (up by
27% since 2000), but the way in which our state funds public
services such as law enforcement, education, health care, and
social services places the heaviest financial burden on working and middle class citizens, while large corporations are given
massive tax breaks. The vast majority (68%) of the state’s revenue
comes directly from consumer taxes (sales tax, motor vehicles tax,
etc.). These taxes hit working and middle class Texans the hardest
because we pay a higher proportion of our total income compared
to the wealthiest citizens. Meanwhile, businesses only pay 20% of
the state’s total tax revenue (see the chart below).
Where the state’s
money comes from
In order for our state to provide quality services like higher
education, public safety, protection and assistance for the elderly, poor, and disabled, Texas lawmakers must ensure that the
responsibility of paying for these services, which all Texans benefit
from, is fairly shared by wealthy corporations. Currently, the biggest part of that burden is being borne by the Texans least able to
afford it. This is why TSEU is working with our allies in the Texas
Forward Coalition to push state leaders to implement a regular
sunset review of all tax exemptions. This would give the public a
chance to weigh in on which tax breaks make sense, and which
ones don’t so that we can make sure everyone is fairly sharing the
responsibility of paying their taxes.
TSEU UPDATE
Tax giveaways that don’t make sense and should be ended: • $1.2 billion each year for the natural gas “fracking” industry,
despite the Texas natural gas industry being the biggest of all
50 states
• $200 million/year for companies who pay their taxes on time
• Country clubs are given millions in tax exemptions because
they claim golf courses are “recreational green spaces”
And even without eliminating any of these tax giveaways,
Texas has a significant amount of money that it is not spending:
an extra $6 billion in revenue above what was budgeted for the
2013-2014 biennium and $8 billion in the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
Texas should spend OUR tax money on the vital state services
that have been underfunded for decades and on the dedicated
state employees who provide those services for our communities.
Another place where Texas lawmakers are wasting taxpayer
money is by not expanding Medicaid to the 1.1 million Texans
who now qualify for it under the Affordable Care Act. Every year,
Texas politicians are turning down $27.2 billion in federal funding
because they don’t want to invest an additional $1.3 billion in state
funding in providing health care for uninsured Texans. What’s
worse, Texas taxpayers are already paying $5 billion annually for
hospital visits by uninsured Texans. Economists have estimated
that expanding Medicaid in Texas would create 230,000-300,000
new jobs in our state. Medicaid expansion would also drastically
reduce the costs of uncompensated care that gets passed on to
insured patients.
This is why TSEU along with business groups, hospitals, advocacy groups, civil rights organizations, community organizations,
and local governments are all calling on state lawmakers to make
it happen this legislative session. The ideological lies and attacks will continue this legislative session as some lawmakers are already making plans to tie
state spending to population growth, cut taxes even further for
businesses, and cut our pension benefits even more. But TSEU
members and our allies will be there to fight. The organized voice
of state workers can turn these attacks around, and build a state
where every Texan has the chance to succeed. It’s going to take
all of us, state workers and retirees from across Texas, fighting together in the union for our common cause to turn Texas around. What to do now:
1. Use the membership form in this Update to sign up
a coworker. The more state employees who join our
union, the more powerful we all are.
2. Buy your Lobby Day ticket and make plans to be there
in Austin April 8th (USE THE TICKET ON PAGE 9). We need
thousands of state workers, retirees, family, and friends
to make their voices heard at the capitol.
3. Join COPE, TSEU’s political action committee. State
employees and retirees must be engaged in the political process, so we can elect leaders who will fight for
our issues. Download the COPE form at our website
www.cwa-tseu.org.
3.
Agency moves to give control of state
hospital to prison company with history
of abuse and mismanagement -
TSEU members vow to fight to the end!
I
n October 2014, the Dept. of State Health Services (DSHS)
announced it would enter contract negotiations with Correct
Care Solutions, parent company of Geo Care which had been
a branch of Geo Group (formerly Wackenhut, a private prison
company). The agency made this move without any prior legislative approval or public input. DSHS signaled that it intended to
transfer over all or part of the mental health care services provided
at the Terrell State Hospital to the private company. This move not
only threatens the jobs and livelihoods of the more than 900 state
employees who work at the Terrell State Hospital, it also threatens
the care that hundreds of patients currently receive at the facility.
What’s more, if the state begins privatization of Terrell, every other
state hospital around Texas will be at risk of the same fate.
The companies behind the move, Correct Care Solutions
(CCS) and Geo Care, have a long, sordid history of mismanaging the mental health facilities it is charged with operating both
in Texas and around the country. At Geo’s South Florida State
hospital, a patient died in a scalding bathtub, according to the
Associated Press in a string of three deaths over a few weeks’ time
in 2012. In Texas, the Austin American Statesman reported that
the Geo run forensic facility in Montgomery County had been
fined $55,000 for problems including “unauthorized restraint and
seclusion of patients, incomplete medical records, failure to show
patient consent for medications and failure to report serious injuries to the state”. In 2012, DSHS rejected a bid by Geo Care to run
the Kerrville State Hospital, citing the company’s plans to achieve
savings by reducing staffing levels which would threaten the quality of care for patients. Correct Care Solutions has a track record
in other states that includes allegations and confirmed reports of
rape, suicide, neglect, and medical malpractice.
TSEU members at Terrell, with support from union members
around the state, are leading the fight to stop the privatization
move. At a town-hall meeting in Terrell, TSEU members were out
in force, armed with signs and questions about how CCS plans to
turn a profit without lowering the quality of patient care. Jorge Dominicis (seen above addressing the town hall), the President of CCS who took home over $1 million in income last year,
defended his company but evaded questions about patient care as
well as salaries, health care, and pension benefits for employees
who might be lucky enough to keep their jobs.
The TSEU Organizing Committee at Terrell State Hospital
(Dwight Gentry, Virginia Gentry, Robert Holmes, Wayne Lee, and
Jo Ottman) are organizing their coworkers into the union, generating hundreds of phone calls to legislators, meeting with local
elected officials to ask for their opposition to the plan, and getting
the word out to the media that THIS FIGHT IS NOT OVER!
Texas ranks 50th in the nation in per capita expenditures for
mental health care. More beds and more funding is what is vitally
needed. All of the current state hospitals are needed as public facilities. Turning them over to a private operation will inevitably lead
to cuts in expenditures related to patient care and treatment, either
directly or indirectly, including cuts to already inadequate staffing
levels, salaries that already are inadequate to keep qualified staff
and cuts to employee health care and pension benefits. Maintaining
rigorous standards of care and treatment must be at the core of the
operation of any mental health facility. Care and treatment must
not be compromised to accommodate the privatization process.
This is not a done deal! What to do now:
TSEU members are calling state legislators on the House Human Services Committee to slow down this process by holding public hearings to investigate this privatization move and how it will affect patients, the community of Terrell, and the
dedicated state employees who work at the state hospital. Call State Rep. Richard
Peña Raymond today at 512-463-0558 and ask him to hold public hearings on the
privatization of Terrell State Hospital.
4.
TSEU UPDATE
HHSC needs to hire more staff now!
Union members push agency
to deal with workload crisis by
hiring 1,700 additional staff
T
his past summer, TSEU activists in HHSC eligibility
offices collected more than 1,400 signatures on our
petition for increased staffing levels and an across-theboard pay raise. Since then, union members have been meeting with state legislators from across Texas, pushing them to
contact HHSC leadership and ask them to immediately hire
additional staff. Momentum is building in the campaign as
we head into the 2015 legislative session.
Average Monthly
Currently, eligibility workers and
support staff are having to work nights
and weekends to deal with the increasing workload levels. The skyrocketing
workloads are primarily due to the
influx of new Medicaid applications
because of the rollout of the Affordable
Care Act (ACA) and the additional verification requirements put into place by
the new law. The number of Texas Medicaid recipients has increased by 13%
just since February of 2014. Over that
same time period, total SNAP (food
stamp) cases are up by 18%, largely due
to a booming Texas population.
The work keeps piling up for eligibility staff but the agency
so far has refused to hire additional staff to keep up with the
increasing workloads. This fact, combined with the stagnant pay
state workers have seen over the last seven years, is driving up
turnover in the agency, making the problems even worse. Agency leaders are hoping the rollout of the Business Process
Reengineering plan (BPR) will solve the workload crisis. Experience shows the only thing that solves a workload crisis is the hiring
of additional staff. No matter how successful BPR may or may not
be, the agency must hire in order to bring down workloads. While
agency leaders are putting all their eggs in the BPR basket, TSEU
members across the state are organizing their coworkers into the
union to make our voice stronger and bring about real change.
Benefit Recipients and Filled Eligibility Determination Postions
TSEU leads fight to save Austin SSLC
A
fter the Sunset Committee proposed closing Austin
SSLC, along with five other unnamed state supported
living centers by 2017, TSEU went into action with a
postcard campaign. We launched the campaign at our Save
Austin SSLC picnic which was planned by activist Stacy Offord.
Since then, hundreds of postcards have been sent to area legislators asking for their support in keeping these valuable services
for a very vulnerable community of Texas citizens.
Offord and fellow AuSSLC member Susan Hanson met with
TSEU UPDATE
with Senator Kirk Watson and
Representative Elliott Naishtat’s
offices (whose districts include the facility) to explain why these
specialized services are needed and are not available in community homes. Getting legislators to understand the medical needs,
behavioral challenges and reliance on the type of care and treatment received at these facilities will be key in stopping closures.
TSEU members have joined in with the Austin SSLC Parents
Association in demonstrations outside the facility, protesting the
evictions of residents. Saving Austin SSLC and others from the budget cutting axe
which jeopardizes the health and safety of many of
our most vulnerable citizens is going to be one of the
biggest battles for our union this legislative session.
The private group home industry and developers
who would profit from the evictions and sell off this
valuable property are serious and have powerful
political allies. To win we must continue to build
our membership, COPE fund, activism and work
together with advocacy and community groups.
5.
General Assembly fires up activists
and sets union agenda for 2015
E
very two years, the TSEU General Assembly brings together elected delegates from every part of the
state to adopt our union’s political/legislative and organizing programs and make the decisions that
will guide TSEU for the next two years. This year, over 150 union activists, elected by their fellow
TSEU members as delegates, met together in Austin for our General Assembly September 26-28. They
came from six different state universities, three university health science centers, nine state agencies, both
ERS and TRS retirees, and two private employers.
General Assembly always begins with an action. This year, we marched on the north steps of the state
capitol building to launch our campaign for a REAL, across-the-board pay raise for all state workers and
retirees, and to protect our pension benefits. On the steps of the capitol, several TSEU speakers fired up the
crowd: Judy Lugo (TSEU President), Yoly Griego (TSEU activist and current ERS Board of Trustees member), Yolanda White (Lufkin SSLC), and
Paula Everett (Dallas FPS-Retired).
After the rally, delegates to the General Assembly heard a report on TSEU’s
political program and the importance of joining COPE, as well as inspiring speeches
from TSEU friend and ally, State Rep. Dawnna Dukes, and CWA Public Sector Vice
President Brooks Sunkett.
A major task of General Assembly is adopting the organizing and political programs that chart a course for our campaign to defend state services and state employees. The TSEU overall legislative agenda is listed below. Sector caucuses also met and
adopted legislative goals specific to their issues; a summary of those is listed at right.
Full goals and more information can be found on the respective caucus pages of the
TSEU website (www.cwa-tseu.org).
ALL State Employee Legislative Goals for 2015
• $6,000/year or $500/month acrossthe-board pay raise for state
agency and university workers
• Full funding for ERS and TRS
and COLA’s for retirees
• Adequate staffing based on need
• Stop privatization in state agencies
and universities
• Justice on the job
6.
TSEU UPDATE
Delegates elected our candidate for the 2015 ERS Board of Trustees
election and started planning the mobilization required to win the
board seat. TSEU’s candidate will be Ilesa Daniels from
Houston HHSC (pictured right). You can find more
on the ERS Board of Trustees election campaign
on page 11 and on our campaign page at
www. cwa-tseu.org.
tseu Caucus
legislative goals Human Services (DADS-CCAD and HHSC):
• Stop Managed Care
expansion
• Increased staffing levels
• Career ladders for all
staff
Universities:
• Repeal tuition deregulation to keep higher
education affordable
• Across-the-board raises
• Stop privatization and
consolidation schemes
TJJD:
• No closures, lay-offs or
privatization
• 1:8 JCO-to-youth ratio
• 20-year retirement for
JCO’s and Case Mgrs.
SSLC’s/State Hospitals:
• No closures no privatization
• High risk duty pay for
work with severe behaviors and dual diagnosis
• Peer Support Specialist
job classification
On Saturday afternoon, delegates watched a short
film of our last Lobby Day in 2013, created by TSEU
Board Member Anne Lewis
(UT Austin). DVD copies
of the 20-minute video are
available from your area’s delROC/Retirees:
egate or organizer. Attendees
• Full funding for the ERS
at the General Assembly also
and TRS pensions
discussed our next Lobby
• Cost-of-living increases
Day coming up on April
for all TRS, ERS retirees
• No cuts to retiree health
8th, 2015, and made plans to
care benefits
mobilize thousands of state workers and allies to attend. You can find more on Lobby
Day 2015 and your Lobby Day ticket on page nine of this Update.
FPS:
• Caseload standards
At the Saturday night banquet, a bevy of awards were given for on-the-job
• Stop privatization
organizing excellence. Delegates, members and guests were treated to a speech
• Compensation for bilinby Texas AFL-CIO President Becky
gual staff and advanced
Moeller, CWA District 6 Vice Presidegrees
dent Claude Cummings, and strong
• Job parity for CCL
TSEU ally State Representative
• Career ladders for all
staff
Roberto Alonzo. The Saturday night
dance party followed the banquet and
Parole:
a great time was had by all.
• 10% pay increase for
P.O.’s & support staff
On Sunday morning, after a mo• 60:1 caseload ratio
ment of silence was held for all TSEU
members who passed away in the last
two years, delegates took care of final
business and concluded the 2014 General Assembly with the singing of
our union movement’s anthem, Solidarity Forever. Thanks to all members,
TSEU staff, invited guests, family, hotel staff and others who came together
to make this a very memorable and productive General Assembly!
TSEU UPDATE
7.
2014 Election Results What it means for state workers
and the services we provide
T
he 2014 general election was an overwhelming victory for Republicans over Democrats. But for TSEU, this wasn’t just a mere contest
between two political parties. This was our opportunity to elect
candidates we could count on to stand up for state employees and the
services we provide. The majority of our TSEU-endorsed candidates
suffered defeat. TSEU members all over the state put in a great deal of
time and diligence to interview candidates to determine if they were
committed to fighting for our issues. Based on the candidate responses,
union members decided which
candidates would be worthy of
an endorsement.
TSEU-endorsed and Texas
Austin members
Senate allies, Wendy Davis
blockwalk for
and Leticia Van De Putte, lost
Wendy Davis.
their bids for Governor and
Lieutenant Governor to Attorney General Gregg
Abbott and Texas Senator Dan Patrick. Abbott and
Patrick won by a significant margin of 20%. Other
Rep. Philip Cortez meets with San Antonio
TSEU-endorsed Senate and House candidates
TSEU/COPE members.
also experienced defeats. In Fort Worth,TSEUsupported Libby Willis lost her election to replace Wendy Davis in her Senate seat to Tea
Party-backed opponent, Konni Burton. Burton’s victory
shifts the balance of power in the Senate even more in
favor of extreme, anti-state services lawmakers.
On the Texas House side, Republicans increased
the size of their large majority over Democrats.
Incumbent TSEU allies, Philip Cortez (San Antonio)
and Mary Ann Perez (Houston), were both beaten in
electoral upsets. The 2015 Legislative Session will now
consist of 20 Republicans and 11 Democrats on the
Senate side, 98 Republicans and 52 Democrats on the
House side, and continued Republican control of all
Houston TSEU/COPE committee with
HD 23 candidate Susan Criss.
statewide offices.
Building TSEU’s Poltical Machine
Throughout the election season, union members were out
in full force, working hard to elect TSEU-endorsed candidates.
TSEU knocked on over 6,800 doors, made over 2,500 phone calls,
and sent 12,005 pieces of mail all in efforts to build support for
our candidates. The work we did in this election cycle is a testament to our union’s dedication to political activism; a dedication
that does not stem from loyalty to a particular political party
or candidate, but from our daily encounters with low pay, high
workloads, and insufficient resources to effectively do our jobs. If
there is anything to celebrate, it is our union’s enduring commitment to justice and our growing ability to impact Texas Politics.
TSEU-COPE activist Elias Cantu blockwalking in Dallas.
8.
We’ve been here before and we’ve won!
As a result of the election, the
2015 legislative session will be governed by a larger number of lawmakers who stand opposed to providing
funding for living wages, secure health
care and pension benefits, and quality state services. We’ve been in this
situation before, most recently when
we faced massive privatization efforts
in 2003 and tens of thousands of state
employee lay-offs in 2011. TSEU
members will respond to the threats
of today, just as we responded to the
attacks of those years; by remaining
true to what has carried us through
the attacks on our benefits, attempts
to privatize our jobs, and budget
cuts to our agencies. We win on our
issues year after year because we are
constantly organizing more of our coworkers to build a powerful, independent voice for state employees. Legislators and election cycles
will come and go, but what
remains constant is TSEU’s
ability to win on our issues by
applying grassroots pressure on our elected officials, regardless of party affiliation.
In preparation for next year’s legislative session, we should expect more
attacks on our health care and pensions, attempts to close and privatize
state facilities, and more resistance to
a significant pay increase. That’s why
the political fight for state employees
starts now. We should be talking to
coworkers, asking them to join TSEU
and get involved now. Anti-state
worker/services legislators and political groups are making plans to undermine everything TSEU stands for
in the 2015 session. They feel as if the
election results give them free range to
gut state services and employee benefits. We cannot let this happen! State
employees organizing and mobilizing
has been and will continue to be the
engine that allows us to navigate any
political environment, no matter how
difficult or challenging it may be.
TSEU UPDATE
Make checks payable to: Texas State Employees Union. Give completed ticket and
payment to your organizer or mail to: TSEU (lobby day), 1700 South 1st St, Austin 78704
Prices:
austin-area (registration lunch) . .......................................... $8.00 
Outside Austin (registration, lunch, transportation)................ $15.00 
Reserve your lobby day t-shirt
size:
______ . ............ $12.00 
_________________________________________________________________________________
name $ amount enclosed
_________________________________________________________________________________
home street address
city
state
zip
_________________________________________________________________________________
phone
email
Lobby Day 2015
Wednesday, April 8 / Austin, TX
_________________________________________________________________________________
agency/organization
location
tseu organizer (if applicable)
house dist senate dist
Use the ticket above to take a stand for the future of Texas and for our jobs!
State Employee Lobby Day
L
obby Day is a critical part of our ongoing fight for economic and social justice for
state workers and citizens. On Wednesday, April 8, we will meet on the lawn of the
Capitol, march, rally, and then meet with our legislators and present them with our
program. TSEU is calling for a massive show of strength to tell the legislature that we
will fight to restore funding for public services, protect state employee benefits, and win
a REAL, meaningful across-the-board raise. Everything is at stake; our jobs, our pensions, our health care, our pay, and the services we provide. We need you to be there.
Get your ticket and get on the Lobby Day Bus!
Buses will be departing from or going through almost every major Texas city. Tickets
are only $15.00 and include the bus ride, lunch and registration. Members from Austin
pay $8.00 for lunch and registration only. Contact any TSEU office to reserve your seat on
the Lobby Day Bus!
March-Rally-Lobby
9:30 Buses Arrive
10:00Meet on the SOUTH side of Capitol
Lunch served
11:00Form march contingents
11:30Begin march around the Capitol
12:00Begin rally
1:00 Form lobby groups
1:30 First lobby appointment
4:00 Last appointment
Take a Stand for Our Healthcare and Pensions
Ilesa
Daniels
for ERS Board of Trustees
“The ERS Board makes important decisions about our
healthcare benefits and our pension plan. We need Board
members that will work to ensure the stability of the plan and
not go along with shifting costs to employees and retirees.
I would be proud to represent the interests of frontline state
employees on the Board, and would work with current
Board members to protect and improve our benefits.”
- Ilesa Daniels
. . . keeping our ERS funds strong
• Ilesa will push for increased state contributions to our health care plans and pension
fund and support continued responsible investing to strengthen our pension fund.
. . . fighting for what we deserve
• She will oppose attempts to convert our pension plan to a 401(k) plan and will oppose
Health Savings Accounts or other schemes that only serve to undermine our benefits.
. . . listening to the needs of workers
• Accessible to assist any state employee with health care and pension issues, Ilesa will
be the voice of front-line state employees on the board.
Background:
Endorsed by:
Election Details:
• State employee with more
than 24 years of state services
• Texas State Employees Union • Friday, March 6, 2015:
Ballots mailed to home
address of all state
employees and retirees
• Yolanda Griego, ERS Board member
• Quality Assistance Specialist at • Karen Charleston,TRS Board member
E. 40th Street HHSC in Houston
• Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
• Proud TSEU member and
activist since 1999
• Friday, April 10, 2015:
ERS election voting ends
TSEU Executive Board
• Judy Lugo (HHSC, El Paso) President
• Seth Hutchinson, (TSEU Austin) Vice President
• Joanne Day (DSHS, Austin) Secretary
• Anthony Brown (DADS, Houston) Treasurer
• Joe Angulo (UTPA-Retired, Edinburg) Region 1
• Arthur Valdez (DSHS, San Antonio) Reg. 2
• Margaret Santillan (HHSC Alpine) Reg. 3
• Micah Haley (TDCJ, Dallas) Region 4
• Stacie Bardshar (HHSC, Tyler) Reg. 5
• Debra Coleman (DADS/Brenham) Region 6
• Samm Almaguer (TWC, Houston) Region 7
• Anne Lewis (UT-Austin) Region 8
TSEU Staff and Offices
Austin 512.448-4225
1700 South 1st Street
Austin, TX 78704
• Seth Hutchinson, Organizing Coordinator
• Ron Day, Organizer
• Albert Sloss, Organizer
• Manuel Ramirez, Organizer
• Georgia Marks, Organizer
• Harrison Hiner, Political Organizer
• Savanah King Norton, Legislative Aide
• Debbie Haun, Office Manager
• John Behr, Membership Office Manager
• Rachel Telles, Membership Office
• Chris Knapp, Publications
San Antonio 210.354-2900
454 Soledad, Suite R-200
San Antonio, TX 78205
• Santos Hernandez, Organizer
• Arthur Valdez, Organizer
• Linda Wilson, Organizer
• Gabriel Morales, Organizer
• Andrea Roelofs, Organizer
Southeast Texas 713.661-9030
9247 South Main
Houston, TX 77025
• Myko Gedutis, Asst. Organizing Coordinator
• Ashira Adwoa, Organizer
• Michael Young, Organizer
• Mark Gurrola, Organizer
• Cheryl Sanders, Organizer
North Texas 214.942-4305
737 S. RL Thornton Frwy, Ste B
Dallas, TX 75203
• Joe Montemayor, Lead Organizer
• Anitra Patterson, Organizer
• Keith Stenson, Organizer
• Celia Morgan, Organizer
Valley 956.428-0251
801 N. 13th Street, Ste 13
Harlingen, TX 78550
• Seth Hutchinson, Organizing Coordinator
• Missy Benavidez, Organizer
• Gabriel Morales, Organizer
West Texas 806.741-0044
2002 Avenue J
Lubbock, TX 79405
• Joe Montemayor, Lead Organizer
• Santos Hernandez, Organizer
• Albert Sloss, Organizer
• Georgia Marks
• Manuel Ramirez
ERS Board elections matter - don’t throw away your vote!
T
he six member ERS Board of Trustees has three members
appointed by elected officials and three elected by state employees and retirees. The board makes important decisions
about our healthcare and pensions. We must elect a board member
who represents the interests of frontline state employees. Asking employees and retirees to pay more and more while our
TSEU UPDATE
pay has been stagnant is NOT fair. Only TSEU members elected to
the ERS Board are willing to say “enough is enough!” We need another voice on the board to stand up and fight back. Do your part
to protect and improve our benefits by helping elect Ilesa Daniels
to the ERS Board. Sign the petition to get Ilesa on the ballot, then
vote and make sure your coworkers are doing the same!
11.
Texas State Employees Union
Communications Workers of America, Local 6186
1700 South 1st Street
Austin, TX 78704
NON PROFIT ORG.
US POSTAGE PAID
PERMIT NO 1025
AUSTIN, TX
TSEU members win improvement in TJJD grievance procedure
In meeting with agency head, union activists address key concerns
I
n December, TSEU activists Cora Bennett (Case Manager- Mart),
Demetrius Waples (JCO VI- Mart), and Mary Henry (Hearings Officer- Giddings) met with the new Executive Director of the Texas
Juvenile Justice Department David Reilly and other agency leaders. The three union leaders addressed a range of key issues with
the incoming agency head. Top among those issues were ways to
address the high turnover, staff shortages, high rates of injury, and
the threat of closures within the agency.
Reilly indicated that there were currently no plans underway to
close any additional facilities in the agency. On the issue of turnover and staffing, the union delegation emphasized the need for an
across-the-board pay raise for all TJJD staff, moving to a 1:8 JCOto-youth ratio, and inclusion of all JCO’s and Case Managers in the
20-year LECOS Retirement Fund. Mr. Reilly recognized the need to
increase pay and staffing levels in the agency in order to bring down
turnover rates and increase safety, but said that would depend on
whether lawmakers approved those measures this upcoming session. Union members also pushed Mr. Reilly to reconsider the use
of contract placements for youths committed to TJJD. The group
highlighted the history of abuse and neglect in privately run facilities and suggested that the agency look at expanding the number of
halfway houses in order to meet placement needs for youths.
The TSEU members there also raised some ideas and issues
that TJJD could address internally. Union members stressed that
the agency needed to immediately change the employee grievance
procedure to mirror TDCJ’s
grievance procedure, which
allows for employees to present
evidence and hear witnesses in
a face-to-face grievance hearing
with supervisors up the chain of
command. This was a piece of
legislation that TSEU was able
TJJD activists Mary Henry, Cora Bennett,
to win in the last session, and
would allow employees to grieve and Demetrius Waples (not pictured) met
with TJJD leadership. TSEU Legislative
terminations and other workOrganizer Harrison Hiner, center
related issues in face-to-face
hearings instead of just filling out a form and waiting for a response.
Decisions would also be subject to appeal, a big improvement over
the current grievance procedure. TJJD agency leaders promised the
policy would be changed by January 1st to comply with the law.
In response to suggestions by the union delegation, Reilly and
his staff also promised to look into:
• moving JCO’s to a four ten-hour shift per week pattern which
has proven successful at Giddings
• paying employees twice a month instead of once a month
• providing regular behavior management training modules for staff
The meeting was extremely productive and Mr. Reilly and his
staff promised to continue listening to the needs and concerns of
TSEU members on the front lines of TJJD.