CONTRACT RATIFICATION VOTE

At the end of this week a membership wide contract ratification vote will commence.  The ballot will be open from Friday March 18th at 12:01 AM through Thursday March 24th at 11:59PM.  Members should look in their snail-mail for a postcard from A&R.  The postcard contains your unique voting credentials and instructions on how to go online to access the electronic ballot.  It is very important that you type in the web address exactly as it appears on the postcard.  We anticipate that most postcards will be delivered to members' mailboxes on Friday and Saturday, some may arrive a day earlier, some a day later.  Voting will be open for one week only: March 18 - March 24!!!

In order to vote on the contract ratification question, you must be an A&R union member.  If you are not already enrolled as a union member, there is still time to enroll as a member of the union to participate in the vote.  To enroll as an A&R member, follow this link (ensure your personal email address is correct as we will send your credentials via email).

ONE MORE ZOOM MEETING ON THE CONTRACT AGREEMENT

We held several membership meetings via zoom last week.  We are going to hold another membership meeting at noon on Friday, March 18.  In order to join the Zoom meeting, you must be a member of the A&R union and you must register for the meeting by this Zoom Registration Link:

LEGISLATIVE PUSH

Lastly, if the A&R membership ratifies this contract proposal, it then needs legislative approval.  One of the best ways to do that is by directly interacting with your Senator/HouseRep...fortunately there is a Legislative Zoom Breakfast this Saturday March 19th (being hosted by AFT-CT).  This is the perfect event to let your legislators know that you want them to support your contract!  You want to support them and they need to support you!  If you are in the Greater New Haven area, please jump on this Zoom with other A&R members and let your Reps know you want their vote!

WHAT: Greater New Haven Regional Legislative Meeting
WHEN: Saturday, March 19 from 11:00AM to 12:30PM
WHERE: Online via Zoom
HOW: Click here to register to join us -  it's not too late to RSVP to attend, if you haven't already

- posted 3/16/2022

It has been quite a long ride in negotiating this successor contract.  A&R's first negotiations meeting with the state was held back in December 2020...yep, December 2020.  And prior to that, our Negotiations Committee first met back in 2019 (pre-pandemic, in-person!!).  Despite the long road, we have finally resolved our contract discussions and reached a tentative agreement which we are free to share with the membership.  We have arrived at a negotiated contract, so A&R members will be asked to ratify (vote to approve) this Tentative Agreement before it heads to the Legislature for final approval.

Details of the Agreement will not be posted to the website just quite yet, but they will be emailed Tuesday, 3/8/2022 to all A&R members at their personal email address.

We have scheduled Zoom meetings to update the members at the following times. In order to join the Zoom meeting, you must be a member of the A&R union and you must register for the meeting using one of the associated links to one of the time slots below:

Wednesday March 9   Noon
Wednesday March 9   5:30 PM
Thursday March 10   Noon
Friday March 11   Noon

Final Note:

Our Contract Ratification process is not yet officially set but we are targeting an online vote between March 18 thru March 24.  You must be an A&R union member to vote on the contract. If you are a fairly new employee and have not yet signed up as an A&R union member, the cut-off date to register and vote will be Friday March 11. Use this link to register as an A&R union member if you are not already a member.

- posted 3/8

Unfortunately we have run into a situation where an agency has ignored the Telework Agreement and the arbitration award which established the final agreement.  As such, many A&R employees are looking to file an appeal and some members are having trouble with the link to the "Telework Denial of Request Appeal Form" (especially at DOT where they released a very nice guidance book on Telework and then completely ignored the agreement [insert confused emoji face]).  As an FYI, as of Feb 20, 2022, A&R has transitioned over to the common SEBAC Telework Denial of Request Appeal Form and we prefer that everyone use this common intake form.

If however, you are having trouble loading the common SEBAC form, our prior A&R Telework Denial Form is still available and can be used.  This is JUST A BACKUP!  We really need everyone to use the common SEBAC form if possible, but if that fails for you, you can still use this link and your appeal will be received.

If you are denied your Telework Request and wish to file an appeal use only 1 of the 2 links below:

Primary and Preferred Denial Form

Secondary/Backup Denial Form only if the Primary Form does not "load" for you on your device.

-2/28/22

MEMBERSHIPE CONTRACT VOTE ANTICIPATED
BE CERTAIN YOU CAN PARTICIPATE

Contract negotiations are nearly finalized.  A&R has reached tentative agreement with the state on a variety of contract language changes.  With no outstanding issues concerning our contract left to resolve, we expect that final talks over wages will occur in the coming week(s) at SEBAC.  Although nearly finalized, coalition bargaining will not continue until all issues are resolved at all bargaining tables.  We remain confident in the process and support those unions in our coalition still fighting for a fair contract at the table.  In the meantime, A&R is making preparations to hold a membership vote on the contract.  The vote will be held on line.  Voting credentials will be physically mailed to your home.

IMPORTANT!
All active members of the A&R union get to participate in the ratification vote.  We want to ensure all A&R members have the opportunity to vote on the contract so if you have not enrolled as an A&R member, please do so by using this link to our online registration.  We will be communicating with A&R members via this website, and via email blasts to your home email.  If in the past, you have not been receiving A&R e-blasts, it is for one of two reasons:

• because we do not have your personal email address  link to simply update your email
• because we do not have you listed as an A&R member link for membership enrollment

Prior to a membership vote, in addition to the e-blasts and web publications, we will hold several informational meetings via Zoom.  These Zoom meetings will be interactive, allowing members to ask questions of the leadership team.  As always, we are available by phone or email to respond to your questions.

Although House Bill 5047 (which passed the CT House and Senate) extends Governor Lamont's Executive Order 13G (the Vaccination/Testing Mandate for State Employees), HB5047 excludes provisions concerning State Employees who are not in a state hospital setting...this appears to mean that the vaccination/testing mandate for the vast majority of A&R employees has expired as of today, February 15, 2022.

Be cautious with this, however. This does not necessarily mean that testing can't still be required.  The State, as our employer, still has the authority to re-introduce testing.  For now, the Executive Order has expired and it appears that weekly testing will most likely cease, but this has not been confirmed.

This brings us to a little reminder: in March 2021, the State announced they would award Comp Time to employees who showed proof of COVID vaccination.  Each employee who verified with their agency that they had received a COVID vaccination dose was awarded 1 hour of comp time for each dose received...this Comp Time expires after 1 year from the date it was credited to the employee.  If you received 1 or 2 hours of Comp Time as a result of this policy, please make sure you use that Comp Time within 1 year of it being credited or it will expire.  This time will not be compensable upon separation from the State; it is use or lose it. VaxCompTimeAgreement

The latest set of COVID-19 guidelines for State Employees has been released and there are some noteable changes from prior guidance.  The key take-aways:

Testing:

The State will currently accept "home test" results to support quarantining and/or compliance with the Testing Mandate.  Those required to test should upload a picture of their test result to WellSpark.

Those who are under the Testing Mandate and Teleworking 100% do not have to test until their 100% Telework period ends.

Those who test positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic should immediately isolate for 5 days and may return to the office after 5 days but wear a mask and social distance for an additional 5 days.

Illness:

Those who are showing symptoms (even if not yet tested) should isolate and contact their agency about teleworking.  Those showing any symptoms of illness should get tested quickly.  For those who need to isolate due to symptoms or a positive test, the 80hrs of LOPD is still available (if you have utilized your 80hrs of LOPD, there may be an additional allotment of LOPD allowed under certain circumstances before utilizing your own accrued time)...but the default option is to telework if possible and to supplement that time with LOPD if necessary.  You can return to the worksite no sooner than 5 days from the start of symptoms but not until there are no signs of a fever for 24hrs.

Exposure:

If you have been in close contact with someone who tested positive but you have received your booster shot, you can still report to the office but should wear a mask for 10 days and social distance at all times.  Get tested 5 days after the exposure.

If unvaccinated or vaccinated but not boosted, you should quarantine out of the office for 5 days then you are able to return to the office (if asymptomatic) but continue to mask and social distance for an additional 5 days.  Get tested on day 5 from exposure.

The CDC continues to recommend vaccination/booster, wearing a mask in congregate/public areas, social distancing at all times, and washing/sanitizing hands.

Lastly, you may start to hear the different terms "isolate" and "quarantine"...in non-scientific language,  "isolate" refers to how a person with confirmed COVID should conduct themselves, while "quarantine" refers to the period of pre-cautionary separation prior to a confirmed result (either positive or negative).

View the guidance document released by DAS/OPM for more details.

-1/4/22