Earlier this year Advocacy Inc. canceled its union contract with its employees’ union, CWA Local 6182. In response, CWA 6182 has filed a lawsuit against Advocacy for breach of contract. As part of this lawsuit, Advocacy, the defendant, has subpoenaed TSEU, asking for testimony and “all documents” about nearly every aspect of TSEU’s activities. TSEU has no relationship with CWA 6182 except that we are both locals of the CWA. TSEU does not communicate with CWA 6182 or its members on any issues.

<CLICK HERE> to see a copy of the subpoena

MH/MR 2007 Legislative Victories

Victory:
Increased Staffing
Funding is in place to increase staffing levels by 1690 positions. This is about a 15% increase. Full details, including new job distribution by facility and by job title will be out in early July.
Staffing at state schools has been dropping every year for a number of years as the governor and the legislature have demanded budget cuts in previous legislative sessions. This session, facing a potential lawsuit by the Federal Department of Justice over conditions at the schools which included severe understaffing and a lack of adequate training, the legislature was moved to increase the number of positions allocated for state schools. TSEU has been raising the alarm about inadequate staffing since the layoffs in 1999. Our ongoing education of lawmakers on this issue helped develop a consensus that action was needed. The new jobs, when they come on line, should help in dealing with issues such as forced overtime, getting reasonable time off, and turnover resulting from time issues and excessive stress.

Victory:
Employee at will provision killed.
We killed a serious attempt to make state school and state hospital employees officially “at will” employees. “At will” means that the agency would have the right to fire people without cause or at their will. While the move might not have completely eliminated the current disciplinary and grievance procedures, it would have watered down the due process provisions that are in place and made terminations without a fair hearing easier.

A brief history of TSEU/MHMR victories
A question everyone hears when talking to co-workers about the union is; What has the union done? Click below for a brief history of our major victories due to our level of organization and our willingness to stand together.
<Details & PDF>