Wednesday, March 18, 2009

“Donation of Vacation Day”

Dear Member,
The Association negotiated a new contract in 2007. The Association was aware about a concern the members had which was donating 8 hours of their vacation to the Association leave pool. The Association’s solution for resolving this issue was to increase the number of personal leave days from (1) day a year to (3) days a year and reduce the hours that are donated.
The Association first negotiated to have (2) personal days a year for its members after Oct. 31, 2008. Effective Oct 1, 2010 members will receive (3) personal days. The association also reduced the number hours which a member can donate from 8 hours to 4 hours.
The Association also negotiated in its contract to have the association’s President on detached duties. This meant that the El Paso County Sheriff’s Officers Association would have the first full time President in its 30 year history. El Paso County was also the first County to have a full time President in Texas. Having a full time President has proven to be a valuable asset to members of the Association.
In Sept. of 2008, 95% of Associations members failed to comply with Article 26 Section 2 of the Articles of Agreement between the County and the Association. Specifically the part “except that should any member so notify the Association after September 1 and no later than September 15th of any applicable year that no deduction shall be made from his credited vacation time”.

The Association understands that there might have been some confusion on what the procedure was since last year’s form stated a “Donation of Vacation Day”. So to avoid future problems, the Association will require that any member that does not wish to donate 4 hours of their vacation must fill out the correct form which was approved by the Association’s Executive Board. The official form can be downloaded from the Association’s website or can be picked up at the Assoc’s office. No other form will be accepted. Members must have the President of the Association sign off on the form in order for the County Auditor to accept it. The Association provided the County Commissioners and the County Auditor with a copy of the approved form. Any form turned into the County Auditor without the Association’s knowledge will not be accepted. Failure to follow the correct procedure and use the correct form will result in the donation of 4 hours of leave time.


Jose G. Marrufo
President- EPCSOA

Association Grievance Form

Dear Member,
The Association would like to thank all of you for taking an active role in your union. If it wasn’t for you, the Association could not perform its job properly. Issues that concern our CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) both with the County and the Sheriff have been presented to the Assoc by you. This helps us keep within time limits which are contained in both CBA’s when filing a Grievance.
The Association has created a grievance form for you to complete when you have a grievance. This will ensure that your grievance is heard by the Grievance committee and there is documentation we can show just in case Management tries to say otherwise. This form can be printed off the Assoc’s website from the benefits tab. Once you fill it out you can mail it or leave it at the Association’s office. Thank you again for your support and I encourage every member to continue to fight for their rights under collective bargaining.

Jose G. Marrufo
President- EPCSOA