Dear Sisters and Brothers,
You have all received Ms. Campanelli’s email regarding working from home and other emergency office protocols. About an hour before sending out the email and protocols to the general membership, management sent it to the board. We indicated that there are issues in the protocols and email that we object to or should be modified and we should discuss them. Ms. Campanelli felt it was important to set an initial structure to provide some information to people for the upcoming week. We agreed as long as it is understood that we will continue discussions on what Management sent out and the issues that you have been presenting to us to optimize everyone’s safety.
The Union is having an emergency board meeting tomorrow at 10 am. After that meeting we will be having a meeting with management where we will discuss our concerns. The PD, ASA, Sheriff and others in the court system have also presented questions to the Chief Judge after the Judge’s order was made public. It is our understanding that more information may be released from the CJ’s office Monday and we have a tentative meeting with management Monday at 3pm should anything new come out.
Some of the issues that we intend to discuss:
· Work from home should not be onerous to those that choose to do so
· Members within a high-risk group (over 60; immune system issues etc.) will not be put in harms way
· Essential duties that must be carried out will be assigned fairly
· Protective products will be present, available and used
· All areas of the office where there are concerns will be discussed. Police station, bond court, prelim courts etc.
· Concerns that are out of the office’s control should be vigorously pushed. I.e. lock up sanitation prior to return to status quo
· W.H.O and C.D.C. guidelines we be followed
We have every reason to believe that the Union and Management, together, will be able to address most of the concerns that you are feeling. Besides, you all know this Union has no problem throwing down if we have to, however I am optimistic that we will work through this together with management.
We understand that everything is up in the air right now and that people are scared for themselves, their families, friends and because we are public defenders the people that we represent. We have always given voice to the voiceless and right now our clients are even more voiceless than normal.
Be assured that even if you do not hear from us, we are listening and reading every concern that you send us. This includes your concerns about support staff.
Please have a good night and we will continue to work the problem tomorrow.