Sep
12
12
General Membership Meeting – September 13
A General Membership Meeting will take place at our office at 150 Wood Road, Suite 400 in Braintree on Tuesday September 13 at 6 p.m.
Jul
6
6
The Trial Court Violates Negotiated Pay Rates!
Sisters and Brothers:
We must inform you the Trial Court arbitrarily and capriciously posted new job vacancies for Case Specialist, Probation Case Specialists and Child Support Processing Clerks above the negotiated Step 1 starting salary. The Trial Court has also increased all Case Specialists, Probation Case Specialists and Child Support Processing Clerks currently at Grade 7, Step 1 and Step 2, to a Step 3 rate. All this was done without an agreement with the Union!
In response, OPEIU Local 6 has sent a Cease-and-Desist Letter to Chief Justice Locke. We have also filed a Prohibited Practice Charge and Grievance naming Chief Justice Locke.
To provide you with some background, in mid-May the Trial Court approached the Union with a “special recruitment proposal” to address a shortage of job applicants for the Case Specialists, Probation Case Specialists and Child Support Processing Clerks. We responded that we were open to a discussion about their recruitment problem after, and only after the Trial Court paid our members their negotiated hazard duty pay for which they waited months to receive!
On June 8, we met with the Trial Court to discuss their recruitment and hiring problem. We suggested that the Trial Court also has a problem retaining employees as well. Further, we know of numerous departments that are severely short-staffed, which has caused a significant burden on our members who are left to pick up the slack. On top of an inordinate number of retirements over the past year, we have seen over 170 resignations during the same period. We were shocked when Human Resources confessed that they didn’t know why newly hired and long-time employees were leaving in droves because HR wasn’t even conducting exit interviews! The answer to their problem is to increase the Starting Step salary to Step 3 for a year for Case Specialists, Probation Case Specialists and Child Support Processing Clerks and to increase current employees in those classifications who are at Step 1 and Step 2, to Step 3. That is nice, but we asked, “what are they going to do for the rest of the OPEIU Local 6 members who work at the Trial Court?” “What about the members who have dutifully carried the caseloads in understaffed departments during the pandemic?” “Don’t you care about them?”
We asked that they send us a written proposal for us to consider. We promptly responded with a counter-proposal that included bonuses for current members based on seniority, and exit interviews with an OPEIU Local 6 representative on the exit interview panel.
We are outraged by the bad faith the Trial Court exhibited by not even pretending to entertain our counter proposal and deciding to implement their disrespectful, ill-advised plan. Word is getting out, and we are already hearing from members fuming at the unfair and ill-mannered Trial Court’s treatment toward them.
We will keep you informed about how our grievance and the Prohibited Practice Charge at the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations progresses. As well as, any progress we may make with negotiations.
Supporting Documents:
June 27 Cease and Desist Letter
June 27 Step 2 Grievance for Article X & XXV Violations
MOA Draft Between OPEIU Local 6 and EOTC
OPEIU Local 6 Counter Proposal 6/16/22
Jun
17
17
Letter to the Members
OPEIU Local 6 Joins Other Public Unions to File Legislation for a 7% Wage Increase!
As you know, Governor Baker has imposed artificially low economic parameters on the Commonwealth’s public employers, including the Trial Court. We don’t have to remind you that we received an average of 2% annual wages since 2017, the first year that Governor Baker got involved setting the economic parameters for negotiations. That is a 10.5% wage increase from 2017 until the present. Based on the data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area increased from July 1st, 2016 to March 1st, 2022 by 18.984%.
May
5
5
General Membership Meeting – May 10
A General Membership Meeting will take place at 140 Wood Road, Suite 304 in Braintree on Tuesday May 10 at 6 p.m. 140 Wood Road is the building next to where our office is located. You are welcome to park in either parking lot.
Mar
3
3
General Membership Meeting notice
General Membership Meeting – March 8
A General Membership Meeting will take place at 140 Wood Road, Suite 304 in Braintree on Tuesday March 8 at 6 p.m. 140 Wood Road is the building next to where our office is located. You are welcome to park in either parking lot.
Dec
29
29
Vaccine Reporting & Weekly Testing
As we recently reported, Local 6 and the Trial Court have executed an agreement regarding the Trial Court’s Policy to Require Vaccine Reporting & Weekly Testing for Unvaccinated Staff. A copy of the Memorandum of Understanding, as well as the corresponding Appendix A, can be found under Trial Court Documents.
Nov
4
4
General Membership Meeting – November 9
The next General Membership Meeting will take place on November 9 at 7 p.m. It will NOT be at our office. It will be at UWUA Local 369, 120 Bay State Drive, Braintree, MA 02184. Download the meeting notice for more details.
Read more…
Oct
21
21
Open Enrollment Period
The OPEIU Local 6 and Massachusetts Trial Court & Welfare Fund is having an open enrollment period from October 18, 2021 through November 30, 2021. All changes and additions that you make will be effective on January 1, 2022.
For more information and the Enrollment/Change form, please click on the links below.
The Enrollment/Change form is also the same form to be used for those members who are enrolling in the plan. Questions on all dental/vision matters should be directed to the OPEIU Local 6 Trust Fund line at 781-843-3820.
Local 6 Open Enrollment 2021-2022