Reggie McCoy Retires

Longtime LACCD Chapter Presdent Reginald McCoy retired on March 5, 2010. Reggie leaves our LACCD chapter well-positioned to take on whatever new challenges come our way. In his tenure as President he:

• Established a constant presence for our chapter at the Board of Trustees.
• Established a regular presence with the Personnel Commission and regular contact with the commissioners.
• Brought awareness within the LACCD system of our small but important unit of Supervisors.
• Expanded our public relations and outreach to gain recognition for our unit by each individual college president and administrator.

SEIU 721 Executive Board members of the Los Angeles Community College District took steps forward in their Feb. 16 meeting to enhance relationships with administration officials during the state and Los Angeles budget crisis.

Members met with LACCD Senior Vice Chancellor Dr. Adriana Barrera and Board Trustee Miguel Santiago to address ways to continue providing services as the district faces financial challenges.

"Workers in the Community College District are here today to help keep open lines of communication between employees and upper management," said Steward Mary John, who is an assistant book store manager at Valley College. 

Every month, executive board members include community college administrators and elected officials to address challenges and solutions to continue providing a quality education, knowledge and skills to thousands of students. 

"Our goal is to have a grievance free environment," said LACCD/Chapter President Reginald McCoy. "That's why we do this. We can solve problems before they start."

 

 

 

 

1. Los Angeles City leaders proposed drastic service cuts through layoffs and furloughs to deal with the city's budget crisis. LA City workers organized for months for their Better Way for LA, an early retirement program and wage deferrals that will save the city more than $2 billion over five years. They held an efficiency summit with City Council members and community groups to generate ideas for saving money for the city. They marched on City Hall, filled Council chambers, met on the lawn of the mayor's mansion, dogged the mayor's every public appearance for weeks, and finally won unanimous passage by City Council of their plan.
   
   
2. 2,000 of LA's engineers and professionals voted to join SEIU. "We're all in the same boat going in the same direction," said Robert Sanchez, a civil engineering associate II with Public Works.
   
   
3. A small group of celebrity activists tried to stop the LA Zoo from building its voter-approved new habitat for Billy and other Asian elephants.  SEIU 721's elephant keepers stepped forward as the true experts in a zoo press conference, an open letter to the City Council, council visits, rallies with hundreds of supporters and testimony to City Council. Their voice changed the debate and won Billy his new home.
   
   
4. After 18 months without a contract and eight years losing ground against rising living costs, Inglewood workers joined with community members to hold a candlelight vigil, rally with religious leaders at a City Council meeting and won a contract that rewards the quality services they provide city residents.
   
   
5. SEIU members walked precincts and manned phones to elect public officials who will partner with city workers for quality services in Baldwin Park, Duarte, La Puente, Los Angeles and San Fernando. In El Monte SEIU 721 members elected LA Deputy City Attorney Andre Quintero, also a SEIU 721 member, mayor.
   
   
6. As key partners in the Apollo Alliance, SEIU 721 members helped win a cutting-edge ordinance in the City of Los Angeles to retrofit city buildings and parks for energy and water conservation while creating good union jobs for members of underserved communities.
   
   
7. Members in Compton expanded their bargaining team to represent every city department and won Joint Labor-Management Committees to improve working conditions and enhance city services.
   
   
8. Palos Verdes Library District members held fast by not opening their contract to defer pay increases until the district found funding to honor the existing agreement and reward their service to library patrons.
   
   
9. LA Community College District workers appealed to the district's board to prevent cuts in education. They offered alternative cost savings instead of furloughs.
   
   
10. Santa Ana city workers stood strong against unequal impacts to SEIU from city budget cuts and against hurting services popular with the public in the parks and graffiti removal through contracting out. They presented alternative proposals for savings and revenue to City Council, and won council's public agreement that privatization is not in the long-term interests of Santa Ana.
    
    
    
11. SEIU 721 member Brian Hollenbaugh and other LAPD Detention Officers lobbied in Sacramento to win passage of a bill protecting their safety on the job by allowing immediate testing of inmates for blood-borne diseases if officers are exposed to their bodily fluids during the course of duty.
    
    
12. Los Angeles City Traffic Officer Pat Perry traveled to the SEIU Building Better Communities conference in Washington, D.C., to talk about how LA's traffic officers took over the recovery of stolen vehicles from LAPD, leading to speedier recovery of vehicles, saving the city millions of dollars, and freeing up police officers for patrol duties.
    
    
13. Members who work for Los Angeles World Airports came together to revive the Joint Labor-Management Committee that management abruptly ended three years ago. The committee has met three times so far to take on issues important to airport workers like a new bus washer and cross-training.
    
    
14. Golf course workers who run a successful golf cart concession in one city course convinced City Council to approve a pilot program with the goal of bringing all of the City's golf cart operations in-house.
    
    
15. Security Officers at the LA Harbor partnered with management to implement the innovative Threat Detection Center to prevent terrorism and other threats to shipping in LA's port.

"Our 7,000 Riverside region members need to be heard when it comes to the dues structure to prevent larger regions from drowning out our voice. That's why I'm voting yes."
Maria Ochoa-Flynn, Victim Services Advocate, DA, Riverside County



"Bylaws written by the rank-and-file are important because they give us a say in how things are to be accomplished and what we want to accomplish. They're a clear-cut reference as to how our union's supposed to operate."
Jennifer Chatfield, Steward and Bargaining Team member, LA Zoo



"With the formation of this new union body, it is important that all members are heard equally. Voting is our vehicle to be heard."
Sandra Allen, Administrative Assistant I, Coachella Valley Water District




"These bylaws mean Ventura County members will have a voice at the top of our union, and local control over what happens here."
Angela Portillo, Child Support Service Specialist/CSA, Ventura County




"These bylaws give us an opportunity to have an equal voice in our union and provide a structure to solve problems in our respective areas."
Ruben Garcia - Animal Control Officer II; Castaic Animal Shelter




"As President of the LACCD Chapter I believe that a yes vote on the bylaws will ensure the rights of all chapters of our union, no matter the size of the chapter. It gives us all an opportunity to share our knowledge, and as we all know, knowledge is power."
Reginald McCoy, President, LA Community College District Chapter


"In all of my 28 years as an SEIU member I've never witnessed anything like this. The magnitude of member involvement was impressive -- the process was truly democratic. A vote to ratify the bylaws is a vote in the right direction because members crafted these bylaws."
Tony Bravo, Supv. Children's Social Worker, Belvedere DCFS, LA County


"The Bylaws allow members from every region to be represented. I can look to our Riverside regional leadership and see that my concerns are being heard to improve our union."
Kevin Luke, CPS/DPSS Supervisor, Riverside County



"Every Ventura County employee should vote yes so we can make the decisions that matter most about our dues and representation."
"AC" Carbajal, Supervising Environmental Health Specialist/RMA, Ventura County




"I can't stress it enough that we need to have strong bylaws in place. That's why I support them so vehemently. We need to go on record and have things done professionally."
Cynthia Duprey, President, South Gate Mid-Managers



"I am asking my co-workers at Rancho to vote yes for these bylaws because I feel they will help protect us from unfair treatment on the job. A strong, united union is our best protection."
Angel Jones-Carnell, Intermediate Typist Clerk, Rancho Los Amigos Rehab Center, LA County



"The bylaws is the word of the members. We had a lot of input and that's exactly what should go through. We're stronger now that we're 721. We are united, yet we are different. That's why it's important that these bylaws preserve our Chapter board, because we need to be able to have local control over our own issues."
Gloria Alvarado, Vice President, Santa Ana Chapter Board

"I support passing the bylaws because this will finally unify our local and give us the guidelines to move forward."
Arcelia Lopez, RN, Harbor UCLA Med Center, LA County

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If you have any questions about how to read your contract or how to enforce it at your workplace, call the Member Resource Center at (877) 721-4YOU [4968].

In a moving letter to the Board of Directors, Chapter president and long-time Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) employee, Reginald McCoy detailed many alternative solutions to further slashing services and placing the budget burden on classified employees' shoulders.

"We have on a continuous basis, worked in offices that remain understaffed, yet we get the job done," McCoy wrote.

McCoy offered six cost-saving alternatives, including delaying filling administrative positions, increasing bulk purchasing and looking more closely at spending.

The Board agreed with McCoy and voted not to implement furloughs.