Union supports bill to improve vets’ services/budget Update

Union supports bill to improve vets’ services

By SHERRY HALBROOK

PEF is working hard to head off proposals in Washington that could lead to privatization and undermine the quality of services to military veterans.

PEF Executive Board Member Dennis Beagle, who chairs the union’s labor-management team at the state Labor Department, is in the vanguard of those efforts and went to Washington on April 28 to speak out on these issues and support legislation that would improve services to vets.

Beagle testified before the US House of Representatives Veterans’ Benefits Subcommittee on HR 4015 — a bill to strengthen benefits, instead of undercutting them as a proposal under consideration by the Bush Administration would do by transferring responsibility for employment services to vets from the Labor Department to the US Division of Veterans Affairs, which is already overwhelmed.

Beagle told the congressmen he spoke for PEF and both of its international union affiliates — the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Teachers — in saying of HR 4015 that the unions find: “Especially comforting ... the retention of veterans’ employment and training services in the public-employment service and one-stop centers where assets are concentrated to provide a labor exchange.”

Overall, he said, “We are very pleased with this legislation and .... feel it will ensure that our veterans are afforded better job-finding services. The concerns we had with previous legislative initiatives on this topic in recent years are, for the most part, favorably changed.”

Among the provisions of bill HR 4015 that Beagle praised were:
• The high priority it would place on service to veterans, which would “correct omissions in the Workforce Investment Act;”

• The listing of jobs with the local employment service, one-stop centers and America’s Job Bank in federally funded contracts to accomplish affirmative action on behalf of veterans;

• The redefinition of ‘covered veteran’ to be more inclusive of today’s veterans; and

• The modernization of services to veterans by using the Internet and other means of instant communication with overseas military personnel who are preparing for transition to civilian employment.

However, Beagle emphasized that performance-incentive awards (for employees providing services to veterans) mentioned in the bill must be based on objective criteria, and that local economic conditions be taken into account.”
He also said the unions oppose a provision that would make part-time many of the staff positions that service veterans.

“We have found ... (they) can be more easily diverted to other activities when they are working on veterans’ services on a part-time basis,” Beagle said.

And, he added, the unions “strongly prefer the appointment of veterans to these positions, as veterans understand the unique problems and requirements of other veterans.”

Lawmakers OK budget bills, retirement incentives

By SHERRY HALBROOK and
DENYCE DUNCAN LACY

Bills for the 2002-03 state budget are being voted on in the Legislature as this issue of The Communicator goes to press, and a combined early retirement incentive (ERI) and 25/55 retirement option is part of the mix.

PEF lobbyists have been working with other state labor leaders to persuade lawmakers to enact the best retirement provisions possible.

The result was a two-part compromise bill, offering eligible employees the choice of the targeted Early Retirement Incentive or the 25/55 retirement.

The ERI will be similar to recent incentives. It will be available only in agencies and positions designated by the director of state operations. Employees must be at least age 50 and have 10 years of service. Those targeted will receive one month of additional pension credit for each year of service up to a maximum of 36 months added credit.

The ERI will be authorized throughout the 2002-2003 state fiscal year but management will offer it during a 30-90 day window period at its discretion. That time frame has not yet been announced.

Unlike previous ERI bills, this measure does not require agencies to abolish the targeted positions. Instead, the bill simply requires an employer to file a report showing that the incentive will produce savings.

A second part of the retirement bill provides a temporary opportunity for nearly all employees in Tiers 2, 3 and 4 who are at least 55 years old and have 25 years of service or more to retire without penalties.
The 25/55 retirement option is not targeted. It will be available to all state employees who qualify by age and years of service.

However, the bill allows managers to withhold this option from a few employees deemed critical to the public health or safety. The employee could challenge that denial in court.

With that exception, this will be available to state workers at all agencies and in all positions, however they will likely have only a 90-day window in which to accept it. Exactly when that window would open and close is not yet known.

The bill stipulates that employees cannot take both the targeted ERI and the 25/55 retirement. Employees who are eligible for both options will have to make a choice.

More details about the retirement package and the budget will be provided in the next issue of The Communicator.