UPDATE 7/18/19:

SEBAC and the State have agreed to a pension re-amoritization plan.  This agreement only impacts the payments made by the State to fund the pension liability, it does not impact benefits.  This plan will go before the legislature for approval.  This wasn't a difficult discussion, this was the original recommendation from 2016, however, then-Governor Malloy sought a much more aggressive payment plan in 2016 so of course we agreed to that.  In an effort to stabilize the State's annually required payments, current Governor Lamont sought a new agreement reflecting the prior recommendation with an option to revisit the payment plan within a few years. 

SEBAC has released this statement:

SEBAC and the Lamont Administration have completed their discussions on pension re-amortization in accordance with the recently passed biennial budget and have reached an agreement. It keeps the parties’ commitment to make no change in pension benefits.

The agreement will be submitted to the General Assembly for approval.

This is part of our continuing effort to work with the Lamont Administration on “win-win” solutions for achieving efficiency that will benefit everyone. Completing the re-amortization of the state pension fund, adjusting the schedule to pay off Connecticut’s pension debt, will help stabilize state pensions and ensure obligations to current and future retirees are fully funded; it was included in the recently passed budget along with re-amortizing the Teacher’s Retirement Fund.

None of the proposed savings would result in changes to the pension and health insurance benefits of state employees or retirees.

SEBAC will not be part of asking for more sacrifices for state employees, who have already given so much for the people we serve. Our 2017 agreement is saving Connecticut taxpayers $25 billion over the next 20 years, helping to close the chronic budget deficits that imperil vital public services.
 

Attached —
July 15, 2019 Memorandum of Understanding

SEBAC released the following statement 7/10/19

"SEBAC and the Lamont administration met Monday 7/8 to work on the details of a re-amortization of the state pension fund.  Meetings will continue. This is part of our continuing effort to work with the Lamont administration on “win-win” solutions for achieving efficiency that will benefit everyone.  Completing the re-amortization of the state pension fund, adjusting the schedule to pay off Connecticut’s pension debt, will help stabilize state pensions and ensure obligations to current and future retirees are fully funded; it was included in the recently passed budget along with re-amortizing the Teacher’s Retirement Fund.  None of the proposed savings would result in changes to the pension and health insurance benefits of state employees or retirees.  

SEBAC will not be part of asking for more sacrifices for state employees, who have already given so much for the people we serve.  Our 2017 agreement is saving Connecticut taxpayers $25 billion over the next 20 years, helping to close the chronic budget deficits that imperil vital public services."

The above statement is accurate and I agreed to post it...to add a little more insight into what is occuring, pension "re-amoritization" is essentially re-financing the pension payments that the State is required to make annually...this does NOT change our benefits, it makes sense to re-finance the payment plan (for us, for the State, and the public), and labor savings were actually part of the State's budget and this fits that purpose.  So talks will continue as to how best to re-finance, but be secure that this will not cause changes to benefits or further increase contributions to the pension plan.

We have added 3 new social events to our calendar...

August 30, 2019 - A&R Member's Picnic at Maneeley's $15/person (view flyer)

October 19, 2019 - A trip to Salem, MA for the Haunted Happenings $79 (view flyer)

December 7, 2019 - Our annual trip to NYC, Do Your Own Thing for the day $32 (view flyer)

Then get a baby-sitter ready for October 25...we are looking to sponsor a fund-raiser for an unforgettable night of laughs...more details to come, but you will definitely want to be there.

There are 4 items of interest to bring to your attention:

1)  General Wage Increase: All A&R members are getting a long awaited 3.5% raise effective today (6/21/19).  This will be slightly offset by an increase of a 0.5% contribution to the pension fund.  Both changes will show up in the July 19^th paycheck. 

2)  Pension Funding Discussions: The State has asked SEBAC to discuss the pension funding agreement in place since 2016.  This is an effort to re-amortize the pension debt and re-structure the state's payment plan.  We want to be clear as to what this represents, and what this does not represent:  This is about impacting the timing and level of the annual payments made by the state into the SERs pension fund.  This is NOT about changing pension benefits.  Regardless of the pension funding agreements, the pension benefits will remain in full force.  SEBAC unions have no interest in modifying the benefits or any other aspect of the SERs plan or the SEBAC 2017 agreement.  This is a pension funding issue only.  The state is seeking to achieve annual savings by re-structuring the debt and would need the approval of SEBAC leadership to modify its current payment plan.

3)  Pharmacy Agreement:  Comptroller Kevin Lembo announced on Wednesday, June 19^th that the Healthcare Cost Containment Committee has reached a landmark agreement with CVS/Caremark which will capture the rebates and savings typically offered by the pharmacuetical industry which historically have not been passed on to the State.  The Healthcare Cost Containment Committee is a joint labor/management committee overseeing the administration of our medical benefits and costs.  This agreement was unanimously approved by the joint HCCC and will produce savings without impacting our phamacy benefits.

4)  Newly Accreted Members/Job Titles:  Guidance has been given to the impacted agencies to apply the Accretion Agreements passed by the Legislature in the 2019 Session.  This means that the agencies should begin implementing the terms of those agreements which include:  3.5% General Wage Increase, the $1000/$2000 payment, and retro-active Longevity Payments for 2018 and April 2019.  The TopStepPayment or the 2% increment (in lieu of a Step) will be on time, in January 2020.  Lastly, accreted members will be responsible to take one furlough day (if no furlough days were taken between July 2017 and June 2018).  The General Wage Increase and retro-active payments should be reflected in your July 19^th paycheck.

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DAS acknowledges that the Telework Work Plan document which it posted is NOT a required document, it was a sample document.  A work plan in general is a required element of the Telework process, but the Telework Work Plan document sighted was only a sample, it was not a mandatory document. 

As the telework program rolls out, we are trying to organize any denials so we can bring them forward for review by the Telework Committee.  Any A&R member denials should be sent to the A&R telework email address: telework@andr.org and cc’d to the SEBAC telework email address of teleworksebac@gmail.com.  Please include in the email a copy of the application forms and include any stated or written reason for the denial.  This will begin the appeal process.

We are also able to appeal unreasonable delays in the application/approval process.  For this initial starting phase, anyone who submitted their application prior to June 21^st and has not received an approval/denial by July 10^th, please notify us at the above email addresses along with your:

1. application forms
2. proof of your submittal date
3. any follow-up communications to/from your manager

Going forward (beyond this initial start-up phase), an unreasonable delay would generally be any determination taking longer than two weeks time from date of submittal.

The rights obtained under this agreement are not limited to a managers personal feelings regarding Telework.  If any A&R employee/supervisor is being instructed to hold-off or simply deny requests in a manner that is inconsistent with the Interim Telework agreement, please follow your directives, however, memorialize the instructions given to you by email to your supervisor/manager (e.g., "You have instructed me to X, please correct my understanding if in error") and inform us via the telework@andr.org address along with the memorialized instructions. This would include any directives that encourage members to either not apply or to apply for only 1 day rather than 2.

Attorneys who practice law in the State of CT are assessed an annual fee of $75 for the Client Security Fund.  As this fee is a requirement to practice law in CT, A&R attorneys can have this cost covered/reimbursed by the State in accordance with Article 24 Section 7 Licensing Fees.  If your agency does not make the payment on your behalf, you should submit your payment receipt for reimbursement.

Additionally, it is now a requirement that attorneys complete Continuing Legal Education courses.  These courses are also available for reimbursement under Article 31 Section 8 (Professional

A few items...

Telework:
We wanted to clarify some things.  The Interim Agreement specifically references 3 forms required to be completed as part of the Telework approval process.  The required forms are: (1) Interim Telework Application; (2) Interim Telework Security Addendum; and (3) Interim Telework Agreement.  Electronic “fillable” versions of these forms can be found on the A&R website under the Resources|Telecommuting tab or on the DAS|Telework site.  These 3 forms must be completed or your application will be denied.

We have become aware of a fourth document making the rounds at some agencies.  The document is being referred to as a Telework Work Plan.  This is not a required document under the terms of the Interim Agreement.  The Agreement specifies that “the manager shall establish methods and standards for measuring the work performance, including productivity and efficiency, of the teleworking employee….”  This language rightfully leaves the method for monitoring work performance to the manager.  The DAS Training Manual says: "A Sample Work Plan is found in Appendix B.  However, work plans will vary depending on the nature of the work involved."  Based on conversations with members, it appears that some agencies are erroneously under the impression that this unofficial fourth document (Telework Work Plan) must be completed.  Your manager may or may not choose to utilize a Work Plan document.  It is their choice – and while acceptable under the Agreement it is not a requirement of the Agreement.  Our advice is that if your manager asks for such a Work Plan document, that you provide one – while at the same time pointing out to the manager that he or she can avoid this fourth bureaucratic hurdle because it is not required under the Agreement. 

We have identified a handful of titles needing corrections to the list of Eligible/Ineligible titles (Appendix A, B, C of the Agreement).  The titles of Supervising Special Investigator, Librarian, Librarian Tech, and Library Tech Assistant were all listed as Ineligible.  With the exceptions of Supervising Special Investigators at OCME, and Librarians, Library Techs and Library Tech Assistants at DOC, these titles should be eligible (the exceptions are made because of the 24/7 nature of work and working environment OCME and DOC).  We expect to have these titles corrected and a new appendix A to be issued in the coming weeks.

The A&R Officers are scheduling member meetings at agencies throughout the state to discuss/explain the Interim Telework Agreement and other issues of importance to members.  The Telework program is a significant new benefit members now have a right to in the workplace.  As it was when AWS first came into existence, it will take time to fully implement teleworking.  We work for a large bureaucracy and such organizations take time to implement significant changes.  In time teleworking will become as commonplace as AWS, but first we need to work out the wrinkles.  We encourage people to complete/submit the 3 required forms and to work with your agencies to make teleworking a reality.  As always, if you encounter problems, notify an A&R steward or contact the A&R office directly.

SEBAC Statement
SEBAC issued a press release Wednesday, 6/5/19 which has prompted some to ask if negotiations are taking place between SEBAC and the Governor.  To be certain, no negotiations have occurred and none are scheduled.  To clarify, the SEBAC statement referred to the pension funding proposal included in the state budget.  Any changes the Governor or Legislature is contemplating will not impact our current or future benefits.  The issue being discussed in the public square is pension funding.  Modifications to pension funding would have no impact on present or future member benefits.  More to the point, we have not negotiated nor agreed to any such changes.

For reference, here is the SEBAC press release:  

 “While we have made clear that we are not open to a penny of further concessions beyond the $24 billion in savings we are already providing through the SEBAC 2017 agreement, we have indicated our willingness to consider ‘win-win’ changes, including the pension funding proposal included in the budget.  We don’t consider it unreasonable for the budget to assume the parties will agree to this change.”
- Dan Livingston, Chief Negotiator for the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition

Legislative Session Ends
The 2019 legislative session ended with relatively little fanfare.  The A&R Accretion agreements passed, and once again we welcome those newly minted A&R members.  Beyond the accretion agreements, there is not that much to report out of the legislative session (typically this is good news).  Many legislators were hostile to the accretion agreements, with several taking the opportunity to blame state employees for the state's fiscal problems while at the same time forgetting the $24 billion in savings derived from SEBAC 2017.  Fortunatley, after some legislative grandstanding, the accretion agreements passed.