Thursday, February 19th, 2009...1:43 pm
SEIU Files Injunction Today
SEIU held a rally at the Maricopa County Court House to announce that they are filing a lawsuit alleging that the state violated its own rules with its recent round of layoffs. Press release after the jump.
SEIU Arizona, the State Employees’ Union, Will File an Injunction Today
With hundreds of state employee layoffs planned for this week, SEIU Arizona will file a lawsuit today against Gov. Jan Brewer that calls for an immediate injunction against the job cuts.
State officials have said they intend to throw more than a thousand state employees out of work. Hundreds have already lost their jobs. Now, state employees are pushing back.
“This lawsuit reflects the state’s failure to listen to employees, to parents and to all Arizonans and that needs to change,” said Randolph Murray, a state employee in the Department of Economic Security.
The lawsuit was prompted after the state failed to abide by its own rules for “Reductions in Force” and violated the constitutional due process rights of state employees.
The state has refused to meet with SEIU Arizona to resolve these issues and has failed to fully consider alternative solutions that would have had less of an impact on state employees and less of an impact on essential services like child protection, child care, health care and unemployment services.
7 Comments
February 19th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Well, Barack Obama WAS elected president, the Cardinals DID go to the Super Bowl…..might this have an impact?
February 20th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Should be titled, “Union Bosses Sue Arizona”
Hey, I lost my job because the state is almost bankrupt, so I’m going to sue them for money which they didn’t have to pay me to begin with.
The lawsuit-loving left no doubt plans on shopping for a Lefty judge to side with them and extort some settlement from the state.
“Ask now what you can do for your state, but what your state can do for you.”
February 20th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
And the state is almost bankrupt because your buddies still think it’s 1982 and repeatedly cut taxes to force privatization of services. Because we all know how much corporate America cares for the little guy, right?
February 20th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Thomas,
As a state employee you were afforded certain rights by the state constitution. Most of your colleagues seem hellbent on seeing those rights observed (like any good citizen) and I can’t understand for the life of me how that makes them “lawsuit loving.”
Our system works because people aren’t willing to roll over and take it when their rights are being trampled. Fighting this kind of corruption is something to be lauded, not discouraged.
You will someday realize that Brewer and the rest of the gang really don’t care that much about you. They know they can treat you however they want and you will still vote for them as long as they keep vomiting out the same republican stump lines (hell, they canned you and you are DEFENDING them). Republicans would just as soon watch you starve. The sooner you realize this, the better off you’ll be.
February 21st, 2009 at 8:18 am
Que lejos estoy del suelo donde he nacido…
February 21st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Many people stand to lose thier meger wages! You need to ask why AZ is BK?!?!? The suit was not about money but rather to fight for the rights that should in this day and age not even be questioned, where are we the USSR 1980? Truth, Transparency and fair notice. Hey I got a question, why is it in the eleventh hour the State is out of money? Maybe the crap was shoved under the rug while Nappy got her feet in the White House huh? Why have the Furloughs and layoffs managed to avoid Legislator Staff? This should not have been something of a surprise after watching all the large companies here go under. Who and what kind of forsight committee didn’t see this coming? Where are all the funds? I know they wouldn’t be working for me… I know we are not cared about by the general public but without the basic functioning of these many agencies there will be no one to take care of those effected by this economic condition and there will no one to collect the funds that are disparately needed. Stop and think before it’s too late!
March 1st, 2009 at 9:14 am
Unfortunately, SEIU did not read the statutes and personnel rules relating to state workers subject to a RIF. They do have an administrative remedy, and all records necessary to achieve that remedy are available to the employee. The two employees who were actually let go had 5 days under DOA to assert their rights and did not. Since SEIU did not advise them of their rights or file the necessary request for review, and assert all other rights afforded to them – those two employees have lost forever their right to a review, alternative placement or reinstatement. That is the sad thing. The case will be dismissed and these two employees are out in the cold, again.