State employees stand to lose millions of dollars in wages because of a quirk in switching state pay periods from twice monthly to biweekly, according to the findings of an employee grievance.
Thousands of people came to the West Virginia Capitol building in Charleston on Saturday to hear from the leaders of America’s most prominent labor unions at a rally to protest against the agenda of the new Republican majority in the Legislature.
UE Local 170 state hospital members are stepping up the fight for better wages and working conditions at the state's hospitals and nursing homes, staging informational picketing outside of William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital in Weston and Jackie Withrow Hospital in Beckley over the past two months.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin has called for an investigation into allegations of staff shortages at the West Virginia Veterans Nursing Facility in Clarksburg.
From the vantage point of a state employee, the current attempt to eradicate consideration of seniority from public school employment is both familiar and saddening. There's a recent television commercial that questions the practice of banks offering special teaser terms to attract new customers that says: "Even kids know it's not fair to treat new friends better than old friends."
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State employees rallied at the Capitol on Monday for higher wages, better worker safety and protection of benefits. The rally was made up of about 30 member of the United Electrical Workers Local 170, based in Charleston. At its seventh annual Presidents Day rally, UE Local 170 displayed posters stating: "End Favoritism, Honor Senoirty," "Raise Our Pay, Not Our Workloeads" and "Low Wages Hurt West Virginia."
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Duke Bloom rejected a last minute motion in early December from the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) which sought to avoid giving pay raises to direct care employees at the state's two psychiatric hospitals. Judge Bloom instead threatened to hold DHHR in contempt of court and fine the department $50 per employee per day if the employees didn't receive their pay raises beginning January 1, 2013.
Charleston Daily Mail, Charleston, WV - Thursday, October 18, 2012
The state Department of Health and Human Resources spends millions of dollars on overtime at two state-run psychiatric hospitals and asks staffers to work 16-hour shifts on consecutive days, according to testimony and evidence presented Wednesday in Kanawha County Circuit Court.
The Dominion Post, Morgantown, WV - August 16, 2012
Ten-year tandem truck driver Gene Pickens earns $10.80 an hour with the Division of Highways.
That’s a mere $2.49 more an hour than he was paid fully a decade ago, and a union leader says this is unfair.
