Mismanagemenf turning evaluation program from morale booster to morale buster

" I t is b e c o m i n g inc reas ing ly c l e a r t h a t t he adm i n i s t r a t i o n is unab le to a c t e ^ e c t i v e l y in imp l e m e n t i n g th is p r o g r a m , " t he union p r e s i d e n t sa id . " W h a t h a s r e su l t ed is confus ion in m a n y work loca t ions and even chaos in o the r s . We a r e u rg ing any e m p l o y e e s who fee l t h a t t hey w e r e un fa i r l y t r e a t e d in the eva lua t ions to a p p e a l t h e i r e v a l u a t i o n t h r o u g h t h e p r o c e d u r e p r o v i d e d . " CSEA h a s nego t i a t ed an ex tens ion in t he dead l ine f o r a p p e a l s of eva lua t ions to D e c e m b e r 21 fo r any eva lua t ions i ssued p r io r to D e c e m b e r 7. Any eva lua t ions i ssued a f t e r t h a t d a t e m a y be appea l ed fo r up to 14 c a l e n d a r d a y s f r o m the i s suance of t he eva lua t ion . " W e expec t ed t h a t t h e r e would be ques t ions and p r o b l e m s wi th th is s y s t e m when i t w a s c r e a t e d , " M r . M c G o w a n said , ' • tha t w a s why w e c r e a t e d an e f f e c t i v e a p p e a l s p r o c e d u r e . Any e m p l o y e e s who fee l they h a v e been w r o n g e d should fol low t h a t a p p e a l p r o c e s s by c o n t a c t i n g the i r local CSEA r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s or t he i r pe r sonnel o f f i c e w h e r e a p p e a l f o r m s can be obt a i n e d . " Th is i s sue of the P u b l i c Sec to r inc ludes a spec ia l f o r m to dea l wi th w h a t t he P r e s i d e n t c a l l e d , " t h e i n t o l e r a b l e p r a c t i c e of " r e e v a l u a t i n g " a n e m p l o y e e w i t h o u t j u s t c a u s e . " CSEA h a s r e c e i v e d r e p o r t s t h a t in s o m e ins t a n c e s e m p l o y e e s w e r e i ssued w r i t t e n , s igned eva lua t i ons which w e r e subsequen t ly r e c a l l e d and d o w n g r a d e d . In s o m e c a s e s , a second eva lua t ion f o r m w a s i s sued and an e m p l o y e e w a s i n s t r u c t e d to " d i s r e g a r d the f i r s t e v a l u a t i o n . " In those c a s e s , CSEA is a sk ing t he e m p l o y e e s to fil l out the f o r m on p a g e 11 of th is i s sue of T h e P u b l i c Sec to r and send it to union h e a d q u a r t e r s to be inc luded in an ac t ion to be t a k e n a g a i n s t t he G o v e r n o r ' s O f f i c e of E m p l o y e e R e l a t i o n s . \ " T h i s f o r m will he lp us dea l wi th those spec ia l c a s e s w h e r e an ignoran t a d m i n i s t r a t o r h a s dec ided to c h a n g e the s y s t e m to m e e t his o r h e r own n e e d s , " P r e s i d e n t M c G o w a n sa id . " I n o t h e r c a s e s w h e r e an e m p l o y e e f ee l s t he i r r i gh t s h a v e been v io la ted , they should c o n t a c t t he local CSEA of f i c i a l s and f i le an a p p e a l t h rough the a p p e a l s p r o c e d u r e w e nego t i a t ed into t he s y s t e m to dea l wi th j u s t t h e s e t ypes of p r o b l e m s . " T h e union l e a d e r b l a s t ed t he G o v e r n o r ' s Off i ce of E m p l o y e e R e l a t i o n s and i t s D i r e c t o r , M e y e r S. F r u c h e r , f o r f a i l u r e to p r o p e r l y adm i n i s t e r t he s y s t e m and f a i l u r e to p rov ide adeq u a t e t r a i n i n g f o r t he m a n a g e r . " W e a g r e e d t o t h i s s y s t e m c o n c e p t u a l l y b e c a u s e it p rov ided a w a y to a c c e l e r a t e inc r e m e n t s f o r ou r m e m b e r s in t he se uni t s a s wel l a s a w a y to ge t a round t h e w a g e and p r i c e gu ide l ines and b r ing $300 bonuses to s o m e 16,000 e m p l o y e e s who w e r e o t h e r w i s e inel igible to r e c e i v e any th ing but a n n u a l s a l a r y i n c r e a s e s , " M r . M c G o w a n sa id . " W e st i l l th ink it is a good concep t and I ' m s u r e m a n y of our m e m b e r s will a g r e e nex t m o n t h when t he c h e c k s s t a r t going out f o r inc r e m e n t s and bonuses , bu t e v e r y o n e could h a v e been h a p p y if t h e s ta te had done wha t it w a s supposed to do and p r o p e r l y in i t i a t e th i s s y s t e m . I t ' s f a i l u r e s h a v e h u r t e m p l o y e e m o r a l e and c r e a t e d an add i t iona l b u r d e n fo r t he a p p e a l s p r o c e d u r e , " he sa id . " W h a t w e nego t i a t ed in concep t w a s a f a i r and open s y s t e m of eva lua t ions w h e r e t he inev i tab le p r o b l e m s could be equ i t ab ly r e so lved and our people could ge t t he i r i n c r e m e n t s f a s t e r and ge t annua l a w a r d s t hey could n e v e r ge t b e f o r e , " P res iden t McGowan said. " I intend to see to it t h a t the s t a t e l ives up to t he l e t t e r o f ' t h i s a g r e e m e n t and t h a t t h e s e p r o b l e m s and a b u s e s a r e r e s o l v e d . "