Collective Reprisal at CAL/OSHA?
22 Associate Safety Engineers Put on Notice: You May be fired or Demoted
Could This Happen to You?
The State Personnel Board (SPB), while conducting a regular audit, found irregularities in the exam used to recruit and promote 22 Associate Safety Engineers (ASE) in 2017. On June 18th 2018, the newly recruited and promoted ASE’s received letters or phone calls telling them that SPB ordered Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) to abolish the eligibility list they were placed on and hired from. DIR determined all these new appointments (made from July-October 2017) to be unlawful. If illegal appointees are conducting inspections the legality and validity of those ~600 inspections are all in question.
DOSH, DIR HR and DOSH HR have no idea when the other shoe will drop. DOSH leadership and HR state over and again that none of the new compliance officers (CSHO) had done anything wrong. It is conveyed that the irregularities were committed by DOSH examiners and/or the HR proctors. Yet those declared illegal appointees are the exam candidates; all of whom took their appointment in good faith and passed a six month probation.
The 22 appointees are being victimized for the alleged malfeasance of others. This is patently collective punishment and a violation of civil service rights and constitutional rights. Many of the new CSHO’s made life altering decisions to take the assignment and now their financial security is threatened.
After the departure of former DIR director Christine Baker and her nepotistically appointed family member’s from the Department moral is low across the department because the scuttlebutt by the coffee machine has always been about the questionable appointments across the Department and the State. Nepotism holds back honest rank and file workers and candidates while benefiting friends and family of persons of power. Ask anyone with any time in state service about this and watch their eyes when they answer. Human Resources must answer: Where were they when Christine Baker’s nepotism poisoned the Department. They must state if they were complicit or incompetent. There is no other possibility.
If there were exam irregularities the entire exam cohort of 65 (not only the 22 assigned positions) have been wronged and need to have their rights restored.
DEMANDS:
NO COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT!
REMOVE THE LETTERS FROM THE PERSONNEL FILES.
DEFEND ALL NEW 22 ASEs WHO PASSED PROBATION!
MAKE JUST RESTITUTION TO THE 43 REJECTED CANDIDATES.
FORM RANK AND FILE OVERSIGHT ACTION COMMITTEES TO END HR & MANAGEMENT NEPOTISM!
Ad Hoc Committee to defend the 22 ASE’s currently drafting this leaflet
United Public Workers for Action www.upwa.ino