May 6, 2021

Dear APCs,

At yesterday’s bargaining session, we presented our petition to Sutter’s bargaining committee. Initially the response from the lead negotiator was dismissive, but as the reality of the power and unity that come with a petition signed by 87% of the ESC Represented APCs sunk in, their tone changed, and they eventually agreed that the completion of bargaining has taken a long time.

The petition worked. Because so many APCs took action by signing on to the petition, we had the power we needed at the bargaining table to make more progress! We pushed with a comprehensive Union proposal that seeks to improve pay and maintain benefits. Sutter is now asking for time to compute the costs associated with our proposal — until now, Sutter had not even calculated the costs of our financial proposals. Their willingness to perform this financial review is a direct result of the petition you all signed and puts us one step closer to a final TA.

We are now scheduled to continue bargaining on May 26th and were told this is when we will get a concrete response to our financial proposal to move this contract forward to a full agreement. As a reminder, once we reach a full Tentative Agreement, you will all receive a complete copy of all the agreements, and we will hold meetings to answer any and all questions prior to your vote to ratify the contract. However, if Sutter goes back to their old ways and gives us the run-around, we will have to be ready to take more action to get this contract settled swiftly and fairly.

We are extremely grateful to our Captains who were able to quickly reach all of the APCs and answer any questions surrounding the petition. We are thankful for everyone’s support in signing the petition and making your voices heard. Your comments were very powerful and were passed on with the petition, unattached from your names. Please keep up the great communication with each other, your Captains, and your negotiations team. We are here for you. 

Your Bargaining Committee,

Scott Merlo

Debbie Smallwood

Adolfo Riedel

Stephanie Ruby

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Engineers and Scientists of California, Local 20 IFPTE

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