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PS&T bargaining begins Time to talk, at last
By DEBORAH A. MILES
For those members wondering when the PS&T contract negotiations will begin, the
wait is over.
On April 20, PEF’s contract team had its first face-to-face meeting with Gary
Johnson, the new director of the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER)
and the state’s negotiating team.
PEF’s team also met with GOER Director of Research Peter Sennett who was
appointed to chair the state team.
“Mr. Sennett is well known to PEF and we look forward to working with him in
this new capacity,” said PEF President Ken Brynien.
What’s on the table
Now that the appointees are in place and the formalities over, PEF negotiators
plan to advance 250 proposals in the coming weeks. A fair across-the-board raise
is one issue.
Other top issues include defending against concessions, assuring the
continuation of affordable quality health insurance, achieving restrictions on
mandatory overtime, improving the dental program, expanding salary grade parity,
and improving location pay for members who live in high-cost areas of the state.
The PEF team held more than 60 town meetings across the state to determine what
issues matter most among members.
“PEF Vice President and Contract Team Chair Lou Matrazzo assures me the team is
prepared,” Brynien said. “As with most things, bargaining is an evolving
process. This round brings to the table, not only new faces, but a higher level
of solidarity with other unions that have joined with us on certain issues, such
as location pay.”
They are the Civil Service Employees Association, United University Professions
and DC37.
What’s not
PEF’s director of labor relations, Roger Scales, said not all issues could be
addressed through the bargaining process.
“By law, there are mandatory, permissive and prohibited subjects of bargaining.
Issues pertaining to your job title and the salary grade assigned to it, for
example, are addressed with the state Department of Civil Service. Retirement
benefits are a prohibited subject of negotiation and must be addressed
legislatively. And certain agency practices are addressed through contract
enforcement and the labor-management process,” Scales said.
For updates on future meetings, visit the PEF Web site, and sign-up for Active
Informed Member (AIM) e-mails, or call the PEF weekly hotline.
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