The former and current contracts: time to compare, contrast and shudder in fear.

Get a cup of coffee or possibly a sedative and set aside at least an hour to scrutinize the difference between the contracts. If you print them out save a few trees and make double sides printed outs. Here are the source documents:

• Sonoma County Homecare Contract 2007-2009 (pre-trusteeship, open bargaining process, mail in vote for ratification, etc)
• Sonoma County Homecare Contract 2009-2011 (post-trusteeship, secretive bargaining process, in person vote for ratification, etc)

Here's a nearly complete summary of what's in the new contract. As you can see the Purple Plague had good reason to hide this pile of garbage!

Pre-trusteeship Contract	Post-trusteeship Contract
SECTION V: UNION RIGHTS
Section did not exist.	5.5 C. NEW PROVIDER ORIENTATIONS All Providers are required to complete an orientation in conformance with applicable State law. The flier handed out during the 3 days of closely supervised and coercive voting states that “all [emphasis added] Providers are required to complete an orientation” but our new contract adds “in conformance with applicable State law.” To add to the confusion the section is titled “NEW PROVIDER ORIENTATIONS”. For many this is akin to being required to take high school driver's education and training classes after 10 years of flawless truck driving. So what gives? Did SEIU omit “new” accidentally or on purpose? Ugh...why am I asking? Also, the State is requiring homecare Providers and Consumers to be fingerprinted.  If SEIU were on it's game during the 2009-2010 budget cycle this would surely have been struck down at the state level. But an all out war in Fresno for homecare workers and the $10 million of our dues money SEIU squandered to barely win had SEIU distracted from what it should have been doing: fighting for members instead of fighting with members!
Section did not exist. This seems fair but what if the Public Authority doesn't agree with the message, or we with their message?	5.7 MAILINGS TO PROVIDERS The Public Authority will include official Union notices in mailings to the bargaining unit from the Public Authority if the Union provides such notices to the Public Authority ten (10) days prior to the mailing date. The Union will reimburse any additional mailing costs to the Public Authority in the event that Union materials increase those costs. The Union will similarly accommodate the Public Authority in its mailings. Not mentioned in Tentative Agreement summary.
SECTION VII: WAGES AND OTHER COMPENSATION
7.1 WAGES
Section did not exist	B. Ninety (90) days prior to October 1, 2010, [July 3, 2010] the parties shall re-open negotiations regarding the subject of wages and benefits only. Looking at page 1 of the flier the Zombies handed to voters before the consultation and vote it mentions the above wage re-opener, but doesn't indicate why a re-opener would occur at that time in the contract. Could it be that October 1, 2010 is when the Recovery Act funded FMAP money runs out? This is extremely dangerous because is years past when the State wanted to cut homecare wages during a deficit year the battle to preserve wages was fought at the state level, but now the wage reduction is in an iron-clad contract and therefore not subject to discussion if (and very likely when) our wages drop. This seems like the Zombies way of sneaking an almost certain and devastating wage reduction past unsuspecting homecare members which is very easy to do when no one is allowed to view the contract.
SECTION VII: WAGES AND OTHER COMPENSATION
A. The Public Authority shall set aside Twenty Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) per year during each full fiscal year of this Agreement to provide On-Call Relief services.	7.3 A. ON-CALL RELIEF Contingent upon available funding, the Public Authority shall provide On-Call Relief services. To me “[c]ontingent upon available funding” sounds like on-call relief is about to become a casualty of the State's budget ax, but I'll leave it to you to interpret this bit of euphemistic language.
SECTION VIII: BENEFITS
8.1 HEALTH AND DENTAL INSURANCE
8.1 A. 1. The Public Authority currently contracts with the Service Employees International Union Employees/Employers Dental and Medical Trust Fund to provide Kaiser Health and Enhanced Vision Care Insurance to eligible Providers. Under this plan, the co-pay for office visits is $15.00; the co-pay for brand name prescriptions is $20.00; and the co-pay for generic prescriptions is $10.00.	8.1 A. 1. The Public Authority currently contracts with the HealthCare Employees/Employers Dental and Medical Trust Fund to provide health and vision insurance to eligible Providers. In the event that either party proposes a change in the health insurance plan, the parties will meet and confer over the selection and implementation of a new plan. Not mentioned in Tentative Agreement summary. Why is SEIU changing who handles the trusts? More important: this seem like the decision to abandon Kaiser coverage for a yet to be named successor has already been made!
2. Effective May 1, 2008 or as soon as possible thereafter, the parties agree to provide health and dental insurance through the Kaiser Fidelity Health Plan. Effective May 1, 2008, the Provider Health Plan premium contribution shall increase from Seventeen Dollars and Fifty Cents($17.50) per month to Twenty Five Dollars ($25.00) per month.	2. Effective May 1, 2008, the parties agree to provide health and dental insurance and the Provider contribution shall be Twenty Five Dollars ($25.00) per month. The Co-pay amounts shall be in accordance with the Health Plan provisions.
3. Effective July 1, 2008, the Public Authority shall contribute no more than Sixty Cents (60¢) per hour to the total cost of providing a health/dental plan.	3. Effective May 1, 2008, the Public Authority shall contribute no more than Sixty Cents (60¢) per hour to the total cost of providing a health/dental plan. Whoa! May instead of July? Does anybody hear “Back in Time” by Huey Lewis and the News here? Hmm, well when you're under pressure from your Zombie boss to nail down a contract ASAP, certain details escape your attention.
8.4 A. The payment of insurance premiums shall be processed as follows:	8.4 A. Effective as soon as possible following Union ratification and Board approval of this MOU, the payment of insurance premiums shall be processed as follows: Not mentioned in Tentative Agreement summary.
8.4 PROCESSING AND PAYMENT OF INSURANCE PREMIUMS
A. 1. The Public Authority will forward the full amount (Public Authority and Provider share) of insurance premiums to the Service Employee International Union Employees/Employers Dental and Medical Trust Fund each month of this Agreement.	A.1. The Public Authority will forward the full amount (Public Authority and Provider share) of insurance premiums to the Healthcare Employees/Employers Dental and Medical Trust Fund each month of this Agreement. Not mentioned in Tentative Agreement summary. Again there is change in the way the premium payments are being handled. Why?
3. Once each month, the Public Authority shall forward to the Union a listing of the Providers who have qualified for benefits and for whom payroll deductions or direct payments shall be processed. The Union shall forward the payroll deduction information to the State Controller’s Office, collect individual payments and, shall forward the full amount deducted/collected to the Public Authority once each month. The specific processing procedures to be followed by the Union and the Public Authority are contained in Appendix A of this Agreement.	3. Once each month, the Trust shall forward to the Union a listing of the Providers who have qualified for benefits and for whom payroll deductions or direct payments shall be processed. The Union shall forward the payroll deduction information to the State Controller’s Office, collect individual payments and, shall forward the full amount deducted/collected to the Trust once each month. Why?
8.4A 4. If payroll deduction services become available to the Public Authority during the term of this Agreement, the Public Authority and the Union shall meet to reevaluate these processing procedures. Modifications shall be by mutual agreement only.	Deleted. Direct deposit has been available on a statewide basis since 2008 for all union represented homecare workers. If you're interested, print the following form to start direct deposit to your checking or savings account: Direct Deposit Application. I was unable to find the same form on the UHW website.
SECTION IX: REGISTRY
9.1 B. Registry services will include an on-call relief service to provide emergency relief and to provide short-term temporary respite replacement for Providers.	9.1 B. Contingent upon available funding, Registry Services will include an on-call relief service to provide emergency relief and to provide short-term temporary respite replacement for Providers. Not mentioned in Tentative Agreement summary. Grrrr! There's that slippery wording the bargaining team members were taken in with.
SECTION XI: HEALTH AND SAFETY
11.1 The IHSS Public Authority will make available standard gloves (including non-latex gloves), masks and disinfectant hand wipes at no charge to Providers and consumers who request the supplies	11.1 Contingent upon available funding, the IHSS Public Authority will make available standard gloves (including non-latex gloves), masks and disinfectant hand wipes at no charge to Providers and consumers who request the supplies. Stock up now on gloves and such, folks...while you still can!
SECTION XIV: FULL UNDERSTANDING, SAVINGS CLAUSE, STATE MANDATES, TERM
Section did not exist.	14.3 STATE MANDATED CHANGES In the event the State makes changes to the terms and conditions affecting the employment of Providers, the parties will meet and confer over the implementation of such changes. The parties will complete the meet and confer process no later than thirty (30) days following the effective date of the State-mandated policy or provisions.