On November 29, Local 21 members met with executive leadership in the Department of Technology to discuss concerns about recent changes to the Department’s after-hours Standby structure.

DT leadership has shortened the number of Standby hours available, and has limited the number of engineers assigned to the evening and weekend Standby rotations. Management’s changes to the Standby rotation have caused significant gaps in after-hours coverage. Without a comprehensive Standby structure in place, San Francisco's mission-critical systems are more vulnerable to network outages and issues.

During our November 29th meeting, Local 21 members made it clear that there are 2 sections from our MOU that address after-hours work: Standby and Call Back. Employees who receive the 10% Standby pay premium must respond immediately when paged or called to perform after-hours work. But the Call Back provisions do not require a response from staff.

In spite of this, DT leadership has started framing Call Back requests as mandatory requirements, and DT engineers have been told that they are “expected to respond,” that “it’s not optional” and “the team must respond favorably to Call Back,” but we know this is not in alignment with our union contract.

We, the undersigned, are IFPTE Local 21 Department of Technology employees and supporters, and we are united around the following demands:

1. Deputies and managers must immediately cease framing after-hours Call Back requests as a mandatory requirement for engineers. We request this clarification in writing from Department leadership, to confirm that no reprisals or disciplinary actions will be initiated if an employee is unable to respond to an after-hours support request made under Call Back;

2. The Department of Technology should immediately revert back to the Standby structure that was in place prior to August 2022, including the Department’s past practice of allowing engineers to opt-out of the evening and weekend Standby rotation(s); and

3. Should DT management wish to make any changes to the Standby assignments and structures, they should first communicate with IFPTE Local 21 to work directly with DT engineers, to ensure that these modifications are sustainable and won’t result in major coverage and/or knowledge gaps. We request that any proposed changes to DT’s Standby assignments and structures are issued to all impacted staff in writing, with a copy of the Department’s proposed changes posted centrally in the employee intranet portal.

While management has indicated the recent changes to our Standby assignments were implemented as a cost-saving measure, we are committed to working collaboratively with DT leadership to create an after-hours Standby rotation that attends to the Department’s budget concerns while making sure there is adequate support for our City’s mission-critical systems.

As members of IFPTE Local 21 and proud Department of Technology workers, we ask you to strongly consider these requests and work with us to build a more resilient San Francisco.

Respectfully,

Undersigned Members of Local 21 and DT Supporters