Response To Mr Ellis

Membership,

I am never disappointed; leave it to Bill to educate us feeble minded officers on how the county might come at the Association. The Association is more than capable of figuring out what the county might be up to. Ellis is premature on his view that this issue will go to the voters. Ellis is entitled to his opinions but the fact is that the Association does not like to be strong-armed or threaten. Historically the Association has been able to come to terms with the county on contract issues. The Association has no reason to believe otherwise.

As I mentioned before the Association’s E-Board is working together with CLEAT in anticipation of the county’s request. The E-Board will take its time to analyze and weigh all our options before making any decisions that affect our membership. We will formulate and execute a well thought out strategy in order to come up with a solution for any request the county makes. The Association would be irresponsible if we made a move without membership approval and input.

The Board and I appreciate all the calls we have received over the past few days. I hope we have managed to answer the questions you have. Some answers we do not have because the county has not made any request on exactly what they want from us.

The Board will hold an emergency meeting as early as Monday, March 15th. The hope is that the county will have made contact by then so we can present their request to the membership and get input.

The Association will not be threatened or coerced into making hasty decisions, as for Bill "It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things"

Jose G Marrufo

President-EPCSOA

County commissioner’s court agenda

Membership;

The Association Executive board found out last week that there was an item placed on the county commissioner’s court agenda to re-open our collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the county. After consulting with CLEAT, I called an emergency meeting of the E-Board late Friday afternoon to discuss our options. The E-Board and CLEAT are on the same page at this point. No matter what action the commissioners have taken we will not re-open the contract for any type of negotiation.

The Members of the EPCSOA have a CBA till 2014 with an evergreen clause to 2015. There is no good reason why the Association would come to the table with the county to discuss the re-opening of the CBA.

As you are already aware the only way the E-Board can re-open the contract is by a majority of the voting membership. The E-Board has not intentions on talking with the county without membership approval. As of Wednesday the 3rd the board has yet to be notified of the county’s intent.

The county commissioners will not nickel and dime us like they have done to the county employees. The solution to county’s problems will not be solved by making the county employees, to include us, pay for the county’s budget deficit.

The Association will continue to monitor the county’s budget talks and will report any other request they make to the membership. If you have any questions about this issue please do not hesitate to contact me or any of your Association reps.

Jose G. Marrufo

President-EPCSOA