Friday, May 23, 2014

This is Your Season


Seasonally wildland firefighters, lookouts and recreational staff fill the essential roles of protecting Oregon’s forests and enhancing recreational experiences in the State Forests.  Thank you for taking this job on. Memories of an Oregon summer day can last a lifetime. Be it stopping a forest fire or maintaining a picnic spot along a river, you will be a part of this.  Oregon expects big things of you.

This is your season, and you are not alone.

I just wanted to let you know that if times get tough, SEIU 503 and Forestry Sub-local 629 is a resource that you can turn to for help.  Stewards and SEIU Staff are available to answer contract interpretation questions, like what is “on-call” and “stand by”, boot allowances, vacation time around a holiday and the little known ability to carry over vacation leave when you are scheduled into a “back to back” season.  Contract language has been negotiated on your behalf to create an environment where you can excel and feel valued doing the all important work you will be asked to do.

This is your season, so join.

Please consider joining our Union.  The ability to negotiate a contract that goes from good to great depends in a large part on employee support.  One of the easiest ways of showing this support is by joining.  It is not that hard but you do need to complete a Membership Application which is available from your Steward, a Statewide elected officer or our SEIU 503 staff organizer Ross Grami at 503-581-1505 ext 191 or gramir@seiu503.org

This is your season, shine.