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Big Win on Life
Giving Leave Grievance!
On July 7, 2005, WPEA filed a grievance on behalf of
Revenue bargaining unit member Phil Christophers who was
told he could no longer give blood on paid release from
work--as per
Executive Order 02-01--because
this type of leave was not addressed in the WPEA
contract. He was told he would
now have to use annual leave.
The Labor Relations Office (LRO) had
made a determination that since "life-giving" leave was
not included in Article 15: "Miscellaneous Leave,"
of WPEA's
new General Government Master Bargaining Agreement, it was no
longer available to WPEA-represented
employees.
After discussing this issue with the LRO, WPEA made it
clear that the intent of the Executive Order regarding
life giving leave was that it be made available to ALL
state employees.
Both the LRO and WPEA agreed to this
Memorandum of Agreement, signed on
August 31, 2005, by Glen
Christopherson for the State and Leslie Liddle
for WPEA, which follows the
provisions of the Executive Order 02-01, applying it to
employees represented by WPEA:
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
BETWEEN THE
STATE OF WASHINGTON
AND THE
WASHINGTON PUBLIC EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
The parties agree that the terms of
their 2005-2007 collective bargaining agreement do not
conflict with Executive Order 02-01.
Article 15.1 of the Collective
Bargaining Agreement by and between the State of
Washington and Washington Public Employees Association
(WPEA) - General Government shall be modified to include
the following provision:
D. Life-Giving Procedures
In accordance with the provisions of Executive Order
02-01, employees will receive paid leave, not to exceed
five (5) working days in a two (2) year period, for
participating in life-giving procedures, upon approval.
"Life-giving procedure" is defined as a medically
supervised procedure involving the testing, sampling, or
donation of blood, platelets, organs, fluids, tissues,
and other human body components for the purposes of
donation, without compensation, to a person or
organization for medically necessary treatments.
Employees will provide reasonable advance notice and
written proof from an accredited medical institution,
physician or other medical professional that the
employee participated in a life-giving procedure.
Agencies may take into account program and staffing
replacement requirements in the scheduling of leave for
life-giving procedures.
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