Volume 1 • Issue 22 • 22 November 2019
And the Winner Is . . .
You. Chapter 262 members used online voting for the first time this month to ratify the tentative agreements from negotiations, and the results were overwhelmingly positive. Every person responding to the survey (100%) strongly agreed or agreed they prefer online voting. While a few people were neutral, all other responders agreed online voting is more accurate and more trustworthy than paper ballots. The question about online voting increasing participation produced the same results. Oh, and by the way, the first online vote resulted in ratification of the tentative agreements!
Results for the experience questions were even better. Almost 25% of responders replied they had trouble logging in (due to the password errors sent out with the first e-mail), and one person was neutral about the instructions being clear and easy to use, all other questions resulted in a unanimous 100% agreement. So the final word is that online voting is awesome!
The next online voting will begin very soon for Chapter Officer elections. There are four offices up for election, but one office had only one nominee who accepted the nomination, so that person is automatically elected for that office (sorry, you will have to wait for the identity of the person and office with the official results at the December 11 Chapter meeting).
With a short month due to the Winter recess, online voting for this election should make voting much easier for all members. You will not have to walk out to a voting location. You will not have to worry about the weather. You won’t even have to haggle with your manager about leaving the office to go vote because you don’t have to leave the office! During your regular break (voting will take less than five minutes), click the link on the login information e-mail, go to the voting web site, enter your login and password, and cast your vote for the three offices. Easy as pumpkin pie for holiday dinner!
Winners will be announced at the December 11 Chapter Meeting and by special e-mail announcement soon thereafter.
Data Security: A Breach Too Far
Humans like to label just about everything. It helps us understand. It helps us remember. Giving something a name, a label, gives us power over that thing. If you want power over something, you need to know its name. You know how this works if you have ever heard the fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin.
In the modern age of information technology, someone can gain a tremendous amount of power over you simply by knowing your “name,” or, more accurately, your username and password. Once a hacker has your username (which is relatively easy in most cases) and password, your life can be turned upside down.
In September, San Diego Community College District was hacked. Cyber criminals hacked into 90 of the District’s servers, locked out District personnel from accessing the computer systems, and left a ransom note asking for money in exchange for releasing the servers. Fortunately, San Diego CCD restored their systems from the previous night’s backups with little loss of data and took action to secure their servers even more.
Just last month, in October, Network Solutions was hacked. If you don’t know who Network Solutions is, it is the organization that registered the very first domain names or web addresses. In the early days of the world wide web, Network Solutions was the only registrar of web addresses (like www.mtsac.edu). With millions of customers world-wide, a breach of their data security could potentially result in billions of dollars of identity theft. Fortunately, hackers were only able to obtain account information, but no financial records or credit card numbers. This is still far from being “good news.”
If this scares you, it should, because in many cases, hackers often have an unwitting ally in gaining access — users! Computer users are often the source of breaches, often by unwittingly signing into a fake web site designed to look like a bank or some other known and typically trusted organization, thus giving the hackers their usernames and passwords. This practice is sometimes called “phishing,” and we have seen many of these messages here at Mt. SAC, which is why our I.T. Security team instituted a notice at the top of messages that come from off-campus to alert you to be cautious when reading these messages.
No organization is safe. In fact, even our own CSEA recently suffered an unauthorized intrusion, which was briefly explained in the November 16 CSEA Board of Directors meeting minutes. The sad part of this breach, though, is that the breach was conducted by a CSEA employee. Although no member information was compromised, and the hack was malicious in nature (meaning it was meant to destroy data, not to steal financial information), the incident demonstrates that data safeguards are critical to any organization that has servers with information stored on them that hackers could use. A thorough cyber investigation was conducted, and the employee has been terminated and may face criminal prosecution.
Which brings us full circle to this. To ensure hackers cannot have power over you, change your passwords often! Do you use the same password for logging into Mt. SAC’s network as you do for your home network and your smartphone, laptop, and even your ATM machine? Very probably many of you do. One reason is because remembering all those passwords for all those systems is difficult enough, so then we end up using simple passwords that are far too easy to guess, which gives hackers easy access to your data.
When Mt. SAC Information Technology personnel suggest you change your password at least once a month, and not use simple passwords like birthdates, the name of your favorite pet, or the word “password” (which unbelievably is still often used), and to use strong passwords that use random numbers, letters, capitals, and special characters (such as wqF#*64auuglfSGhb), and use a different password for each system, please do it. Yes, these are difficult to remember, but there are also tools you can use that will store all your usernames and passwords for you.
Do not let hackers have power over you by learning your “name.” Do not be a Rumpelstiltskin.
CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS, both at work and at home, and change them to strong passwords, and change them monthly!
Falling Short at Retirement? Planning Can Help Bridge the Gap
By Beverley Heasley, CSEA Chapter 262 Pre-Retirement Resource Specialist
Did you know that the average monthly service retirement for school employees is $1688 per month? Saving additional funds in a 403B, Roth 403B or 457 plan can help ensure that you meet your retirement goals. The contribution limits for 403b, Roth 403b and 457 are increasing too from $19,000 to $19,500 per year in January 2020. You may also contribute an additional $6,500 per year in 2020 if you are at least 50 years of age.
403B Compare is a website provided by CalSTRS that contains 403(B) vendors and fee information in addition to general retirement planning and educational materials — https://www.403bcompare.com/.
Sources
IRS News Release — https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/401k-contribution-limit-increases-to-19500-for-2020-catch-up-limit-rises-to-6500
CalPERS Facts at a Glance 2017-2018 — https://www.calpers.ca.gov/docs/forms-publications/facts-pension-retirement.pdf.
CSEA Pre-Retirement Seminars
By Beverley Heasley, CSEA Chapter 262 Pre-Retirement Resource Specialist
Looking for information you need to maximize your pension benefits? CalPERS will be presenting and will provide informational booklets at the upcoming CSEA Pre-Retirement Seminars listed below. Additional information will be provided on Social Security and the CSEA Retiree Unit. All seminars are on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to Noon.
January 25, 2020
California School of the Arts
Performing Arts Center
1401 Highland Avenue
Duarte, CA 91010
Gordon H. Beatty Elementary School Auditorium
8201 Country Club Drive
Buena Park, CA 90621
February 8, 2020
CSEA Regional Training Center
Santa Fe Field Office - 2nd Floor
4600 Sana Anita Avenue
El Monte, CA 91731
March 14, 2020
Upland Jr. High School
Multipurpose Room/Gym
444 E. 11th Street
Upland, CA 91786
Register online or browse the complete list of all upcoming CSEA Pre-Retirement Seminars at: https://www.csea.com/web/Training/Pre-Retirement-Seminars.
CalPERS Home Loan Reminder
Please be aware that companies advertising home loans for CalPERS members or state employees aren’t directly affiliated with or endorsed by CalPERS. CalPERS stopped offering home loans in December 2010.
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Welcome to Mt. SAC: New Classified Professionals
At the November 13 Board of Trustees meeting, the college welcomed the following new or promoted classified employees:
Permanent New Hires
Daniel Hernandez, Printing Services Technician (Printing Services)
Donna Rutherford, Lead Printing Services Technician (Printing Services)
Randy Sanchez, Community Services Officer (Police and Campus Safety)
Promoted Classified Professionals
Amanda James, Administrative Specialist IV (Counseling and Guidance)
If you happen to see any of these colleagues during your day, extend a warm welcome, invite them to lunch, show them around, and make them feel welcome. Bring them along to the next Chapter meeting so they can introduce themselves.
A Clean, Well-Lighted Place
On January 1, 2020, a new law goes into effect requiring employers to provide reasonable break time, a clean, safe, hazard-free and private lactation room (or location that meets certain requirements) as well access to a sink and refrigerator in close proximity to the employee’s workspace.
Mt. SAC’s Facilities Department is already developing plans for lactation stations across campus. While these locations are mostly intended to be available to students, employees will be able to use them as well. However, there will be a limited number, and as large a campus as Mt. SAC is, their limited number and locations may not meet the requirements mandated for employees.
Mt. SAC will be installing lactation stations across campus similar to this one at Union Station in LA.
Mt. SAC will also be required to provide access to a sink with running water and a refrigerator suitable for storing milk in close proximity to the employee’s workspace. If a refrigerator cannot be provided, Mt. SAC will have to provide another suitable cooling device to store milk. Even if no Mt. SAC employees are lactating and need a lactation station, Mt. SAC will be required to create these spaces. If a permanent lactation space cannot be created due to operational, financial, or other limitations, a temporary space may be provided, but the space cannot be a bathroom, must still be in close proximity to the employee’s work area, and must be private and otherwise compliant with this law.
Complying with the law may become a challenge considering Mt. SAC’s size. With the law stating the lactation areas must be “in close proximity” to the employee’s workspace, it may become necessary to define “close” and “workspace.” As yet, the District has not discussed the issue with CSEA 262, and no known plans for addressing the new law have come forward.
There may also be consequences for failing to comply. Under Labor Code Section 226.7, if the Labor Commission determines this law was violated, a citation may be issued of $100 for each day that an employee is denied reasonable break time or space to express milk. Employers are also prohibited from terminating employment, discriminating or retaliating against an employee for exercising or attempting to exercise lactation accommodation rights.
The new law will also require Mt. SAC to create a new Board Policy and Administrative Procedure regarding lactation accommodations and provide new employees and employees who make ask about or request parental leave. The policy must be made available to current employees (our policies and procedures are listed on the Board of Trustees web page). The policy must include a statement about the right to request lactation accommodation and the process by which an employee makes a request for such an accommodation and the employer’s obligation to respond to the request.
“To improve the lives of our members, students, and community.”
CSEA Chapter 262 • 1100 N. Grand Avenue Walnut, California 91789 • 909.274.6262 • www.csea262.org