UPDATED 4/27/22

Now that the contract has passed the Legislature it is officially in effect (no Governor signature is required).  We have attached the successor agreement here, it is in rough shape, but you can see the modifications highlighted within the document.  At the end of the document are the wage scales (FYI, longevity has not changed but it is not listed in this draft).

The obvious question is when will the salaries be adjusted and the retro-payments be made: the answer is we do not know just yet but we will certainly communicate that as soon as we hear.

IT PASSED!  Congratulations to the entire A&R Negotiations Team who started this journey way back in July 2019 and suffered through numerous night meetings and day meetings and for learning how to Zoom for the first time in our lives as we worked straight through the pandemic to arrive at a final contract!  Thank you to our 3 Chief Negotiators who guided us through this process: Lew Button, Alfredo Camargo, and Ryan Burns!  Thank you to every member who voted to ratify this agreement (we had a 99% approval vote of the membership) and thank you to everyone who reached out to their legislators!...We have a contract!!

UPDATED 4/21/22
The State House of Representatives voted in favor of approving our contract today (4/21/22)!  The final vote will be on the floor of the Senate and is expected to be on Friday 4/22/22.  If you need any further inducement to contact your State Senator, know that during today's debate on the House floor, the phone calls from State employees urging passage was mentioned...see below to find your Senator and give them a call.  Friday could be our final step so let's ensure this contract passes.

UPDATED 4/19/22
Our contract passed in the Appropriations Cmte on 4/18 and will now be scheduled for a full House vote and a full Senate vote.  The House will be voting on HR 11 (House Resolution) and the Senate will be voting on SR12 (Senate Resolution).

This is everything folks...if HR11 and SR12 don't pass then our contract will need to go back to the bargaining table and arbitration.  This means that we wouldn't see a contract until next February at best...yep, next February AT BEST.  There is one simple action that we ALL need to take: call your State Rep and your State Senator.

Follow this link to get the contact info of your State Rep and State Senator, this is just a drop-down list of your address to find your representatives, then click on their names and you can find their phone numbers...then call them!!

Most likely, you will actually be talking to a "staffer" in the legislative office rather than your actual Rep so you don't need to have a long conversation, the message is simple:

"I am [name], I live in your district and I am a State Employee working at [agency].  As State Employees, we have taken several wage freezes over the last 12 years.  My new contract is to be voted on soon as HR11 & SR12.  I am paying attention to this vote and I ask that you support me, my career, and my family by voting Yes to HR 11/SR12"

...that's it.  No need to further engage if you don't want to...but just do that little bit, it will make a difference.

 This final vote may actually happen this week (the Senate will take up SR12 on Thursday 4/22), there is no time to  contemplate this, everyone needs to do this quickly.

Monday April 18, the A&R Contract will be heard in the legislative Appropriations Committee.  This is a joint committee of State House Reps & State Senators.  The Appropriations Committee is taking ALL of the contracts in one bundle, it is not 30 different votes, it is one vote (technically there will be two votes as there is one seperate contract going first which was not connected to our unified agreement).  There is public comment time granted for committee hearings so you will hear all sorts of negative comments from state residents with less flattering views.  Once public comment is complete, the committee will take a vote on the contracts.  If there is a positive vote on our contract (it passes committee), our contract will then go to the full House and the full Senate floors within the next week for the final votes. 

However, if this passes today, this is where we will need assistance from every A&R member...we will need every A&R member to contact their House Rep and State Senator...that is everyone.  This is your contract, your wages, your hours of work, your working conditions...this isn't something you leave to your co-workers to handle, you need to handle this yourself; you need to call.  We will give you more info on how to connect with your legislators following the vote today, but this is vital.  Your Reps/Sens need to know you are involved and that this is serious to you, this is your livelihood.  You have a voice and this is the time you need to use it.

Today's hearing may be available on CT-N starting at 10:00.

-4/18/22

Some time has passed since A&R has held an in-person, social event. We did hold several "drive-thru" picnics and holiday parties; and those were unique and fun in their own way...but we feel like we've had enough of that stuff, we want to return to group events!  We know not everyone is ready for group settings and not all venues are fully functioning and prices are a wee-bit high right now...but we...need...to...march...on!!!  So we are lining up several events for this year.  Yes, things are a little pricier but we all need to socialize so a couple of dollars extra is well worth it.  This is what we are currently lining up:

...first, we are starting with another round of online BINGO, the first round filled up quick, so we are opening up a second round of online BINGO for those who couldn't attend the March event.  Yes, prizes included this time around as well!

Tuesday April 19^th - Online BINGO:To register, follow this link (important, write down your code when you register!  On game-night, click that link again and enter your code into the area that reads "Returning Player, Rejoin Game")

Saturday August 6^th - Saratoga Racing: This is Whitney Day at Sarasota, with three grade-1 races, the winner of the Whitney Stakes earns a berth in the Breeder's Cup, so this is a big day for Saratoga Racing.  View Flyer to Register

Friday August 26^th - A&R Summer Picnic: typically this summer classic was held at Maneeley's, but it wasn't going to work out this year, so we are going to try out La Bella Vista in Waterbury.  Same idea tho: games, raffles, food, drink, etc.   This year, wine & beer are free.  View Flyer to Register

Saturday September 24^th - Yankees v Red Sox at Yankee Stadium  View Flyer to Register

-4/5/22

The Comptoller's Retirement Services Division has announced they will be holding interactive meetings on MS TEAMS weekly, between now into June 2022 to answer your questions about retirement.  The meetings are open to anyone considering retirement.  To participate you must book your session through the online booking link below:

Link to register for Retirement Services Q&A TEAMS Meeting

Other helpful resources on the topic of retirement can be found here:

https://www.osc.ct.gov/rbsd/stateretire.htm

We are republishing the Comptroller's Retirement Services Division Memorandum 2021-03 in its entirety here.  It is an informative memo from the Comptroller's Retirement Services Division explaining the changes that will become effective July 1, 2022 as a result of the 2017 & 2011 SEBAC Agreements previously ratified by the membership in those years (the contract changes recently ratified by the A&R membership and currently before the Legislature awaiting passage do not impact retirement benefits).

The Comptroller's Retirement Services memo discusses the changes in three broad categories:

1. retirement age
2. retiree cost-of-living adjustments (COLA)
3. retiree healthcare rules changes.

As most members are aware, the changes are somewhat complex.  Intended to provide instruction to Human Resource and Payroll Officers, the memo is a good source for all state employees in the SERS (State Employees Retirement System).

Link to Retirement Services Division Memorandum 2021-03

https://osc.ct.gov/2022-retirement/memo.php

- posted 4/4

All of the 30+ unions have officially ratified their contracts and all of the union contracts were submitted to the CT General Assembly last Friday.  The contracts will be given a "fiscal note" and sent to a legislative committee for a vote.  Typically, the Appropriations Cmte will take up the contracts first.  If the contracts pass in committee, then they will move to the floor of the House and the Senate.  Both chambers need to seperately pass the contracts in order to attain final approval.  Full House & Senate votes must be done within 30 days of submission, this means the Legislature is supposed to complete its votes on our contracts by the end of April (a Governor's signature is not needed as it was the Governor's Office that achieved the contract agreements).
Proposed Contract Changes
Proposed Wage Scales

-04/04/22

THANK YOU:  A&R would like to congratulate all of the long-time State Employees who plan to retire on Friday 3/31/22.  We thank you for all of your years of service and for never letting down the people of CT who have unknowingly relied on you and your efforts throughout the years.  We thank you for all you have done and wish you the best in all that is to come.  Your union will continue to support you and your well earned benefits throughout your retirement just as you have supported your union throughout your career.  We truely hope that you enjoy the next stage in your life, stay safe and be well!

BINGO:...a tough transition here...but BINGO filled up fast, so we will set up another BINGO night for April 19 for those who couldn't join us tonight...but for those those who signed up for BINGO tonight, please remember to check your email to get your cards and to log into the Zoom site before 6PM so you can hear as we call out the numbers.  We will see how many games we can fit in tonight, but here is the planned order of patterns for tonight:

Double Bingo (2 bingos on 1 card)
"L" pattern
Triple Bingo (3 Bingo's on 1 card)
"%" (4 in the top left corner, 4 in the bottom right corner and a complete forward slash thru the middle)
"T" pattern
"X" pattern
"S" pattern
"$" pattern
2 Postage Stamps (block of 4 in 2 corners)
Block of 9
Jail Bars (all of the "B"s, all of the "N"s and all of the "O"s
Fill the Card

The membership has spoken in a unified voice and has overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the contract.

Thank you to all of the members of the A&R Negotiations Committee for all your hours of hard work to deliver this contract to the membership.  Thank you to the A&R stewards who rallied the members and got the message out.  Most importantly, thank you to all of the rank and file A&R members who turned out to participate in this contract vote.  Without your participation, none of these improvements to our contract would become a reality.  The union draws its strength directly from the membership.  We thank all members who participated in the process of making our contract a better vehicle for our employment.  We thank everyone who participated in the collective bargaining process.

This is not finalized. The next and final step in the process is for the contract to be voted upon by the Legislature - which is certainly not a given.  We are urging all A&R members to contact their State Repressentative and Senator to tell them to vote in favor of the state contracts.

- posted 3/25