Our local consists of members in nine different community and social service agencies -- and right now our members in JVS SoCal (formerly Jewish Vocational Service) are battling an attack from management in contract negotiations. State, county, and city elected officials, 12+ Rabbis, 8+ community organizations, and hundreds of community members have come out publicly in support of JVS union members. On Monday Dec. 7, the West Hollywood City Council unanimously passed a resolution "Supporting the Members of AFSCME L800 and Encouraging a Fair and Timely Contract Settlement Between AFSCME L800 and JVS SoCal."
Please follow and share the contract campaign on Facebook and Instagram. See the powerful article by Rabbi Robin Podolsky in the Jewish Journal, entitled, "JVS, Do the RIght Thing."
In our current Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, management wants to:
- Reduce paid Jewish holidays for staff who work outside of the Federation building
- Eliminate severance pay after layoffs
- Reduce the number of shop stewards
- Eliminate the standard protection in all Local 800 contracts against unilateral reductions in health benefits
- Take away workers’ rights to legal redress, via forced arbitration
It has been more than two years since some employees have received a cost of living increase, and JVS is offering wage increases of less than 1% per year.
Threats to members at any of our agencies are threats to us all. If JVS management is pushing to strip worker rights, management at the other agencies may try as well.
