When comfronted with truth Zombie stewards resort to foul language, idle threats

Warning: Brief occurrences of what some would call harsh language below.

While rummaging through my inbox looking for an address I came across this email from Sonoma County IHSS (homecare) Steward Karen Timmons.

To: "Karen"
Sent: Friday, September 11, 2009

Thanks, Karen! So do we have a 2 year contract?

To which she replied:

From: Karen
Sent: Sat, 12 Sep 2009

 Yes, we have a 2-year contract. If the economy changes, for better or worse, either the Public authority or UHW can open up the benefits or wages for conversation. If the PA wants to cut our wages, it's not going to happen. The contract must be ratified by the members.

She is mixing up the facts: the contract needs to be ratified by members, the wage reduction does not. Seven months later...

To: "Karen"
Sent: Monday, April 12, 2010

No, Karen. If you read the contract carefully our wages can go down without membership approval. The wage contingency part of the contract states:

7.2 WAGE CONTINGENCY

B. If, during the term of this Agreement, either State or Federal participation levels
are reduced or, either the State or Federal sharing formula is modified in any
manner, relative to the baseline numbers described below, that would result in
an increased cost to the County and/or the Public Authority to maintain the wage
level described in this MOU, wages will be reduced by an amount necessary to
keep the total cost to the County and/or the Public Authority the same as such
cost existed on the day prior to the effective date of such reduction or
modification.

So there you have it.  An automatic wage reduction if revenue is not sufficient to sustain our wages. One would be a fool to think the economy will recover enough before the contingency kicks in. Thanks a whole lot for jumping ship [switching from NUHW to Zombie UHW], sabotaging all the members including yourself, consumers and hiding this crucial bit of information until after the forced ratification! How does it feel to sell yourself out?

I guess that was more than she could handle and she lashed out at me.

The contingency you repeat below is standard in all IHSS contacts; it was also in the contract you bargained. We have a contract and it cannot be broken. The county tried to slip one past us and lower our wages, but we caught them and that is why we maintained our income. There in an injunction in place that will continue to insure us (and that includes you) $11.50/hr.

Now I will tell you this.

1. You are a sleazy bitch and a pain in the ass.
2. If you ever e-mail me again or get in my face, I will take out a restraining order immediately. This is not a threat.

Oh Karen, if you take a moment to look at the language in the preceding contract you will see there is no dependency on FMAP money. Yeah, and once that money, which backfills our wages until October 1, 2010 runs out, we're taking a pay cut. How much? I don't know, but I'm preparing for minimum wage.

Now, I'm not a lawyer, even so I wonder if Karen's offer to take out a restraining order would stick.