Governor Brown has signed AB 1538 into law. The bill is a follow-up to AB 1008, which was signed in 2013 to protect our bargaining unit in Alameda County. AB 1538 reaffirms that UAPD is the exclusive bargaining representative of Alameda County physicians irrespective of when a physician joins the bargaining unit. Thank you all for the work doctors and staff put into getting the bill passed. Read more about the bill here.
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Register Now – UAPD Annual Meeting and Free CME
August 29, 2017The UAPD Annual Meeting and Free CME will be held on Saturday, October 28th at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott (5855 West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles) (MAP). All UAPD members are invited to attend.
For each of the events listed below, you can register online here. Most UAPD members are responsible for their own transportation and hotel costs to attend the meetings. UAPD will provide members with passes to cover parking at the hotel.
Saturday, October 28
- 8:30 am to 1 pm – CME/CE Course “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Pain Management and Opioid Abuse.” Four (4) AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™, Four (4) Dental Board Credits, Four (4) ACPE Pharmacy Credits. Free for UAPD Members.
- 1 pm to 2 pm – UAPD Annual Meeting. UAPD President Dr. Stuart Bussey will lead a meeting of all UAPD members. Find out what’s going on in every sector of UAPD.
- 2 pm to 4 pm – Washington, State of California, County, CSU/UC, Retiree, and Private Practice Breakout Sessions. Meet with other UAPD members and staff from your own sector to discuss common issues.
Read more about: Featured, Member Benefits
Update on Coleman Lawsuit
August 14, 2017As part of our ongoing collaboration, UAPD President Stuart Bussey and staff held a call with Coleman plaintiffs’ attorneys last week. The attorneys were able to present a compelling case that CDCR is not providing adequate mental health care, based in part on evidence collected by UAPD. According to the attorneys, while Federal District Judge Kimberly Mueller is committed to improving mental health care in CDCR, there is no specific time frame for further court action. That is disappointing, but both the actions of the Court and the timeline for them are fully under the discretion of Judge Mueller.
UAPD and the plaintiffs’ attorneys know that raising psychiatrists’ salaries is a necessary step toward improving mental health care inside the prisons. UAPD will continue to monitor the progress of this case and contribute where we can.
Important Victory in Case against Contractors
August 9, 2017Yesterday, UAPD-represented doctors working for Alameda Health Services (AHS) won a significant legal victory in our year-long campaign against contracting out. While a judge had previously denied UAPD’s request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to immediately halt the transfer of psychiatrist jobs to outside contractor Traditions Behavioral Health (TBH), yesterday Judge Michael Markman issued a motion to compel AHS to participate in binding arbitration with UAPD over the issue. The text of the Judge’s ruling can be read here.
The arbitrator will determine if by hiring high-cost contractors, AHS violated a law that went into effect with the passage of AB 1008 in 2013. Co-sponsored by UAPD and AHS, AB 1008 strictly limited the ability of AHS to contract out the work of its union doctors. It stated:
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UAPD Files Charges Against State Hospitals
May 10, 2017Several months ago, Napa State Hospital management distributed a memorandum to the medical staff stating that they had decided to utilize the Personal Duress Alarm System (PDAS) as the primary method to contact physicians, because management had determined that the hospital’s pager system was unreliable. UAPD was staunchly opposed to this new policy.
After Psych Tech Donna Gross was murdered by a patient on NSH grounds in 2010, enormous efforts went towards winning a host of safety improvements at the State hospitals. That work continues to the present. The PDAS is a state-of-the-art system chosen, developed, and continuously refined with employee input. At no time did the state legislature, Cal-OSHA, Coalition unions, or the DSH contemplate any use for PDAS except as a personal alarm. And, as PDAS’s sole purpose is to alert all staff in the vicinity of an emergency request for help due to attack, the system has the potential to save lives. Diverting its use for any other purpose undermines the system’s effectiveness. Nevertheless, recognizing that the hospital’s current pager system indeed is not reliable, the UAPD agreed to meet with DSH in order to negotiate implementation of the new policy.
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CSU Bargaining Off to Good Start
May 10, 2017Last week UAPD and CSU starting formal bargaining over terms and conditions of employment for our members in Unit 1. UAPD and the bargaining team are optimistic about this round of bargaining. After a State audit revealed unnecessary spending, and news articles publicized cuts in student services at the same time as the student fees were raised at some campuses, CSU has come into bargaining with an understanding that change is needed.
CSU is taking a proactive approach in addressing the issues around recruitment and retention. They have been meeting with the UAPD Bargaining Team for the past year to establish new classifications, which will allow campuses to hire needed employees at a more competitive salary. UAPD and CSU have tentatively agreed to two new classifications and some revisions to the original physician classification. The team is still negotiating the salary ranges for each classification, as well as the implementation and the reclassification of the current unit members. UAPD will communicate that information with the membership as soon as it becomes finalized.
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Ending the CDCR Psychiatrist Staffing Crisis
May 3, 2017Rosen, Bien, Galvan and Grunfeld, LLP is a legal firm that represents the plaintiffs in Coleman v Brown, which addresses mental health care in California prisons. The original judge in the case ordered that a Special Master be appointed to monitor compliance with the court orders to improve care. The current Special Master is Matthew A. Lopes, Jr..
In recent weeks, UAPD has been working closely with Michael Bien and others at the firm. Together we are trying to persuade the Special Master and the Court that there is a severe psychiatrist shortage within CDCR, and that the State is doing too little to correct it. UAPD has provided the attorneys with data and physician testimony that they will share with the Court (with names redacted). You can download a copy of the letter provided by UAPD to the attorneys here. UAPD will update members on the progress of the case.
If you would like to provide further information that UAPD will share with the Plaintiffs’ Attorneys, you can do that here: CDCR PSYCHIATRIST STAFFING ISSUES
State Contract Goes into Effect
May 3, 2017Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 131, the bill containing the UAPD contract for State Bargaining Unit 16. Now that the UAPD contract has been approved by membership, the Legislature, and the Governor, it will be in effect now through July 1, 2020.
All pay increases in the new contract are effective starting May 1, 2017. Payroll implementation is expected to take several months. Once the State completes the payroll implementation process, all doctors will receive payments retroactive to May 1, 2017.
You can read the summary of the entire agreement here. You can download the summary of the economic agreements here.