11/5/2007

PS&T CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE No. 24

TABLE TALK

PEF's PS&T contract team continues to meet with a team of negotiators from the Executive Branch headed by representatives of the Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER).

With CSEA and GOER reaching a tentative agreement the state can now focus on the remaining 10 units with 'expired' contracts.

At the PEF table this past week state negotiators modified their health insurance demands by removing several onerous proposals. The parties discussed remaining union and management health insurance proposals in an attempt to further focus on areas of agreement. More work remains, but we are making progress in this important area. 

Besides health insurance, matters being discussed include inequities/needs specific to the PS&T population, workday/workweek problems, educational support issues, and dental and vision benefits.

PEF leaders are asking members to remain patient as the contract team continues to keep the major issues of the membership a priority in order to obtain the best deal.

Bargaining will resume this week. 

 
FAQ 1
Q. Now that CSEA has settled when will PEF settle its contract?

A. PEF represents one of fourteen bargaining units whose contracts have expired. CSEA has reached agreements for four of these bargaining units. Like CSEA and all the other unions to follow, PEF negotiators goal is to achieve a contract tailored to the specific needs of its membership; a membership comprised of the complex PS&T unit - 2000 job titles, salary grades 1-38, dozens of agencies, many hundreds of worksites.  Although there are clearly many elements of the CSEA/GOER pact which are applicable to our members there are many others which are not. Our negotiators need to map over comparable PEF centric issues to these areas of the deal. How long this process will take depends upon several factors not the least of which is which of the units the Governor's negotiators opt to move to the front burner.  
 

FAQ 2----
Q.Would you clarify for me (and my fellow union members) if sick leave accumulated under Article 10 of the tentative CSEA agreement would no longer be credited to an employee's retirement service credit? Does the side letter concerning sick leave accumulation open the door to reducing the amount of sick leave that could be banked for retirement service credit? I'm concerned about the underlying intent of this provision.

A. We do not know what CSEA and GOER intended with their agreement in this area. We can tell you that we have clarified with GOER that the state has not made a demand to alter the current construct for using accrued sick leave for retirement service credit and for retiree health insurance. As important, PEF internal rules would bar PEF from implementing any benefit reductions without ratification by our members.

PONDERABLE QUOTE

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd."

Bertrand Russell