[UPDATE #2] What Local 2019 Is Doing to Organize Against COVID-19

The EBMUD Unions (Locals 2019, 444, 21, and 39) have been meeting regularly with Management in a COVID-19 working group to ensure that our employees are given the opportunity to remain safe and healthy with the current COVID-19 concerns and Shelter-in-place Order.

As you may have seen, the District has announced that telecommuting is now permitted and encouraged, starting Thursday 3/19. This is something Local 2019 leadership and members have been pushing really hard on, and we are glad that it is finally being rolled out. The intent is to maximize telecommuting at the District. The authorization to telecommute comes at the Supervisory level. We have been assured that there should be no Department-wide or Division-wide restrictions on telecommuting. If you have work that can be accomplished by telecommuting, and have the ability to complete that work from home, then you should be given the opportunity to telecommute from your supervisor. Even if you have not yet been fully set up to remote access your District computer, but believe there is work you can complete remotely, discuss with your supervisor. Please follow the guidelines in the GM’s Update #6 that was emailed on Wednesday 3/18, including the completion and adherence to the Temporary Emergency Telecommute Agreement (must be on District intranet for form to open).

If you have any issues obtaining telecommute approval, please contact a Steward or fill out the Coronavirus feedback form.

We understand that not all of our members will have the ability to telecommute. We are urging Management to finalize the classification of essential and non-essential work. Part of this effort is to attempt to gain approval for Paid Administrative Leave for our members. This will ensure that non-essential workers, or essential workers that are not able to go to work due to Coronavirus, are able to get paid while not being able to report to work. We are being told that this effort requires approval by the EBMUD Board. The GM is working on this issue with them. We hope that there will be an update on this soon.

If you feel strongly about this issue, we encourage you to reach out to the EBMUD Board of Directors to express your concern in this matter. Paid Administrative Leave will protect EBMUD’s employees, its resources, and the community as a whole. The Board needs to hear this message loud and clear.

Stay strong and healthy!