February 12, 2003
Contract teams exchange conceptual proposals
The PEF contract team met with negotiators from the Governor’s Office of
Employee Relations (GOER) on Wednesday, February 12 at the New York State United
Teachers (NYSUT) Conference Center in Albany.
At the meeting, PEF and the state exchanged conceptual proposals. PEF Lead Negotiator Roger Scales told the 16 members of the state’s team “that it was not PEF’s attempt to confuse the state” in his opening statement.
Scales stated the union’s stand on annual base-wage increases, job security, improvements in the health and dental plans. He cited examples of other unions getting raises, and spoke about realistic compensation in high-cost regions.
In the opening remarks by the state’s negotiator, Rebecca Caudle said, “the negotiations would be a long process, a journey for all of us.” She said the state does recognize the significant contributions made by PEF employees and that the state also recognizes the importance of benefits to the union.
Caudle noted there would be areas of disagreement, especially during a difficult fiscal situation.
For example, one of the health insurance proposals submitted by the state talks about “cost sharing opportunities in reference to co-payments, deductibles and co-insurance. Issues like these will be debated during the bargaining sessions.
PEF and GOER will continue talks on Wednesday, February 26
and Thursday, February 27.
Vision benefit extended to 2004
PEF leaders announced at the February 12 PS&T contract negotiations meeting that
the state and the union signed a Memorandum of Agreement extending the vision
benefit in Article 9.25(b) of the 1999-2003 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
This benefit was established as a pilot program and would have expired this April. It allows for new lenses if there are vision changes resulting from a medical condition. The person must be under the care of a physician.
“Since contract talks opened last month, PEF has already reached agreements with the state about equal sick leave time for all PEF members, and now we are glad to see the vision benefit extended for another year,” said PEF President Roger Benson. “Although we have a long journey ahead of us to properly satisfy our demands, these two accomplishments provide encouragement.”