2019 - 2023 DSA Memorandum of Understanding: Article 32: Labor / Management Meetings
32.1 Matters of Mutual Interest
The County and the Association shall meet for consultation purposes on matters of mutual interest which would serve constructive purposes to prevent or eliminate grievances or on matters affecting employee health or safety. Such meetings may be called by the Association President, or designee, and the County’s Employee Relations Manager.
“Consultation” shall not be construed as an obligation to “meet and confer” under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act.
32.2 Written Notice
Written notice of topics for discussions shall be exchanged prior to any such meeting. The meeting shall be scheduled at a time and place mutually convenient to the parties.
32.3 Participation
The number of employees who will participate in the meeting without loss of pay to the extent the meeting occurs during an employee’s scheduled duty period shall be reasonably related to the subject being discussed and shall be mutually agreed upon by the County and the Association.
32.4 Joint Training on Memorandum
The parties agree to jointly present informational training on this Memorandum of Understanding to affected supervisors and managers. The details of the training shall be mutually agreed upon by the Association and the County. The parties intend to conduct the training session(s) within 90 days from the date this Memorandum is implemented by the Board of Supervisors.
32.5 County and Labor Retirement Benefits Committee
Within twelve months of the effective date of the parties’ successor MOU, the County and the DSA will form a management/labor retirement benefits committee. The charge of the committee is to gather and analyze information on County employee retiree benefits and to develop recommendations for optimal long-term solutions that meet the interests and needs of all impacted parties and still position the County to have total compensation market competitiveness and workforce stability. As part of this recommendation, the parties shall address the following items: unfunded liability cost sharing; pension cost sharing; pension obligation bonds; retiree medical benefits longevity; and retiree cost of living adjustment. Other retirement related issues may be considered by mutual agreement.
The committee shall consist of up to two (2) DSA members and six (6) management representatives. DSA team members will be permitted time off without loss of compensation or other benefits when formally meeting or engaging in mutually agreed upon preparation or caucus time. Additional DSA staff may participate. To accommodate DSA represented employee’s work schedules, the County shall consider requests for release time and compensate employees who participate in the committee at straight time when meeting on their regularly scheduled day off.
The County and the DSA further agree that the committee should include representatives from all County bargaining units and employee organizations and that they will support having representatives of all such units and organizations participating in the committee by commencement of the committee’s work in the March 2021. The County and the DSA further agree that the committee’s work will be completed by March 2022. The committee’s recommendations and strategies will be advisory only to the County’s CAO’s office. The DSA shall not be bound by any recommendations of the committee.