By CSLEA Supervising Counsel Dave De La Riva
Each year, millions of people visit Exposition Park in Los Angeles. The Park is home to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the California Science Center, BMO Stadium, the Space Shuttle Endeavour Exhibition, and the Science Center School which is a Kindergarten through 5th grade public elementary school which consists of 28 classrooms, a library/media center and multi-purpose dining room.
Bargaining Unit 7 Museum Security Officers and Exposition Police Officers are part of the Park’s Department of Public Safety and are responsible for patrolling and enforcing the law within Exposition Park’s 160 acres. Officers often assist allied agencies such as the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol with surveillance and investigation of criminal activity. Since 2015, CHP has provided on-site command staff including a CHP Captain, to help manage the DPS staff.
For decades, the Officers at the Park worked eight hour shifts, which included meal and rest periods, when possible. In January 2023, the Office of Exposition Park Management modified the shifts, moving from eight hour shifts to eight-and-a-half hour shifts to allow for an unpaid half-hour lunch period. This move caused an overlap of each of the three shifts by one-half hour at the Park. As such, Officers were prevented from exchanging days off as is permitted under Article 7.3 of the BU 7 Memorandum of Understanding. CSLEA was then forced to file a grievance to preserve the rights of staff under the MOU. On May 31, 2024, after several discussions between the parties, CSLEA, on behalf of the Officers, and the California Department of Human Resources, with the Office of Exposition Park Management entered into an agreement to move the Officers back to eight hour shifts. When the initial modification occurred, DPS was under the supervision of a different CHP Captain and a different Park Manager. Management’s change in its position may have coincided with this change in leadership. This agreement allowed for the cancelation of an arbitration hearing that would have undoubtedly cost both CSLEA and Cal HR thousands of dollars in time and resources, not to mention arbitrator fees.
Over the past three collective bargaining agreements, CSLEA has moved to eliminate provisions which call for officers working for various agencies to stay anywhere from one-half to a full hour beyond their regular shifts for a designated unpaid meal period. Many of the Exposition Park staff affected by the shift increase reside in excess of one hour from the Park. The one-half hour added to each shift at Exposition Park reduced the time staff had to rest between shifts, especially when working double shifts. The extra time spent at the Park also cut into the time they had to spend with family. This settlement agreement puts the Officers back into the position they were in before the schedule change occurred, and will allow them to continue to exercise their rights as bargained for under the terms of Article 7.3.
CSLEA thanks the Officers for their patience and will continue to enforce the terms of the MOU, when called upon.
