Between 2005 and 2007, PECG-represented
supervisors received raises totaling 38.1%, more than any Bargaining
Unit employees except Seniors. However, in 2008, when Unit 9 Seniors
received a 10.1% pay raise, Governor Schwarzenegger refused to
provide the same raise to supervisory Seniors and above, even though
there was adequate funding in the State Budget to do so.
Since that time, achieving those raises to correct
this salary inequity has been a top priority item for PECG. The
following email describes those efforts. This will remain a high
priority item for PECG until the long overdue and well deserved pay
raises for PECG-represented supervisors and managers are achieved.
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Email Sent to PECG Supervisory and Managerial
Members
regarding the Status of the Pay Raise Efforts on May 3,
2012
Subject:
The Continuing Effort to Obtain a Salary Adjustment for
PECG-Represented Supervisors and Managers
Dear Colleague,
PECG’s Supervisory Meet and Confer Team met again
yesterday with the Director of the Department of Personnel
Administration (DPA) and are continuing our efforts to obtain a
long-overdue inequity adjustment for PECG-represented supervisors
and managers. As DPA has consistently supported the increase, it is
frustrating to all of us that it has not yet occurred. The problem
has been the unwillingness of the current and previous Governors to
support the increase. Our previous emails to you have described our
activities. As we move forward to increase these efforts, let’s take
a look at where we are and how we got here, as well as briefly
address the lawsuit that some private attorneys are encouraging
supervisors to contribute toward.
Bargaining Unit 9 employees, the folks you
supervise, have bargaining rights established by law under the Dills
Act. When PECG and DPA reach agreement after negotiations, the labor
contract (Memorandum of Understanding or MOU) takes effect when it
is approved by the Legislature and the Governor.
Supervisors are covered under a different
law which provides meet and confer rights. DPA must give
consideration to PECG’s proposals but there is no obligation to
“endeavor” or try to reach agreement, nor is there a formal
contract. Thus, obtaining raises (or other benefits) for supervisors
is a more informal process.
State law (Government Code Section 19826)
says DPA “shall establish and adjust salary ranges” for supervisors.
It is “based on the principle” of like salaries for comparable
duties and responsibilities. Also, “consideration shall be given to
the prevailing rates for comparable service in other public
employment and in private business.” Any salary increase shall
“require” an appropriation of funds, typically in the State Budget.
Who has “comparable duties and responsibilities”?
The first place to look might be other state supervisors.
However, you and other PECG-represented supervisors are paid more
than your counterparts elsewhere in state service. From 2005 to
2007, you received pay raises totaling 38.1%, reflecting the
same increase that PECG negotiated for Unit 9 Seniors. Those parity
salary increases addressed the salary lag with our public sector
colleagues and allowed state agencies to retain staff.
For supervisors and managers, the salary lag has not been
eliminated as the 2008 parity increase has not yet been paid. During
that same time period, most other state supervisors received 7%
raises. Actually, one such group of supervisors obtained a DPA
finding that they should receive a pay increase to rise to your
salary level, although that has not yet been implemented.
Who else has “comparable duties and
responsibilities”? Some of you are in the same classifications as
Unit 9 Seniors and some others are in so-called “parallel”
classifications. As those Unit 9 Seniors are paid 10.1% more
than you, PECG has sought to obtain that same increase for you since
2008. This argument is further bolstered by the PECG/DPA Salary
Survey which shows that supervisors in California’s local agencies
(“other public employment”) are paid 10.1% more than you.
DPA has not formally declared that the “comparable
duties and responsibilities” principle has been met but it has
strongly supported the inequity adjustment for you since 2008.
The problem has been the Governor’s Office, its Department of
Finance (DOF), and the backdrop of continued unprecedented State
Budget deficits.
A raise requires a willingness by the
Administration to provide a salary increase and money in the State
Budget to do so. The Legislature appropriates funds in the budget,
and PECG has been and is working with the Legislature to provide
funds this year for the pay increase, but the Governor can “blue
pencil” or veto such funds.
PECG has asked DPA to make a formal finding
or determination that your salaries should be at least the same as
Unit 9 Seniors because your responsibilities are at least comparable
to the work they do. While such a finding would not directly result
in a pay raise, it could help in the effort to persuade the Governor
and DOF to provide for the increase. PECG started the process to
obtain such a finding a couple of years ago but it proved to be
non-productive and was actually delaying meaningful discussions and
efforts to obtain the salary increase. We are currently working with
DPA to conclude that the comparable responsibilities principle
justifies the 10.1% inequity adjustment for you without getting
bogged down in an Administrative Hearing process which, as we saw
before, can take years and still not arrive at any conclusion.
At PECG's request, the DPA Director has assigned
staff from her Classification and Compensation Division to conduct
an analysis of PECG-represented classifications.
Again consistent with PECG's recommendations, the analysis is
expected to begin with the U09 or "split classifications" where some
employees in the classification are assigned to supervisory
positions and some are assigned to Unit 9 positions.
The CCD staff will analyze the specifications, scope of
duties, minimum qualifications, duty statements, and organizational
charts and reach a conclusion on whether the supervisory and
rank-and-file positions within these classifications are comparable
and present their findings for the Director's consideration.
This effort is underway and PECG is providing input to DPA.
Thus, in summary, DPA has the authority to
set supervisory and managerial salaries but, while the law lists
principles and considerations, DPA (whose Director is appointed by
the Governor) makes the decision. Any raises must include funding in
the State Budget which must be authorized by the Legislature and the
Governor. DPA and several departments have been consistently
supportive of your pay adjustment, but while it is justified,
obtaining a 10.1% increase for supervisors who already received
38.1% raises while other supervisors got 7% has been politically
difficult to achieve. However, we will continue our aggressive
efforts to persuade the Governor and the Legislature to authorize
the increases and the funding to implement them.
On a final note, we understand there are private
attorneys contacting some of you, asking you to contribute $900 to
$2,500 to pay them to file a lawsuit to obtain the raises. In
general, lawsuits can tend to convince the party being sued not to
take any action until the matter is resolved in court. Also, a
lawsuit asking for a 10% raise for any state employees during a
substantial ongoing State Budget deficit would surely generate
negative media coverage and publicity.
Because of the discretion the law provides to the
Legislature, the Governor, and DPA, PECG has not filed a lawsuit on
this issue. However, if anyone believes they have a viable theory
for such an action, we urge them to contact PECG. If a lawsuit or
any other action could be productive and successful, PECG would
pursue it on your behalf. You don’t need to pay an outside attorney
to pursue an action which PECG would undertake at no additional cost
to you.
As always, PECG appreciates and thanks you for
your continuing support during these most difficult times. Be
assured we are continuing to do everything we can to represent your
economic and other interests.
Sincerely,
Cathrina Barros
PECG Vice President, Supervisory
