The pending layoffs will disproportionately effect the Civil and First Municipal Divisions. Therefore, the Union Executive Board has been negotiating with Management about a plan to fill these gaps in the Office that is fair and consistent with seniority.
Management’s current proposal includes an initial step of posting for volunteers to fill 7 positions in Civil and 7 in 1st Muni. Under Management’s proposal, any positions not filled by volunteers would be filled by involuntarily transferring the following number of attorneys from the following locations: 4 from Juvenile Justice, 4 from LRD, 1 from FSD, 2 from Markham, and 1 from each of the remaining suburban locations. Under Management’s proposal, the lawyers to be involuntarily transferred from each location would be the least senior at the particular location.
This proposal is unacceptable to the Union Executive Board because it would result in the involuntary transfer of lawyers in the Office with substantial seniority of 10+ years.
Therefore, the Union Executive Board formally submitted our proposal to Management on Friday. Our plan is simple and fair: 1) post for volunteers to Civil and 1st Muni, 2) involuntarily transfer the least senior lawyers in the Office to fill any spots not filled by volunteers, 3) post for transfers in any location that is disporportionately effected by the voluntary and involuntary transfers. Also under this proposal, any lawyer transferred to Civil or 1st Muni would be eligible to return to their original position when attorneys are returned from layoff, with the most senior transferrees getting the first shot.
While we are aware that some lawyers have been told that they must prepare to be moved pursuant to Management’s proposal, we are still negotiating with Management over this matter and we hope that Management will adopt our proposal in the near future. We expect to hear from Management on this issue in the very near future.
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