A&R Scholarships

Every year, A&R awards scholarships to qualifying children of A&R/AFT Local 4200 members or children of former A&R members who are now members of the A&R Retiree Chapter. 

Ten scholarships in the amount of $1,500 each will go to 2020 high school graduates or seniors who have been accepted to and will be entering a post-secondary educational institution.  These are one-time only awards. 

Five awards in the amount of $1,500 each will go to post secondary students who are continuing their education.  The continuing student awards are also one-time only, but the recipient may previously have received an entering student A&R scholarship.

One of the applicants will receive a $2,500 Harry Zilber Scholarship Award presented in recognition of community service activities.  The name of the Zilber Award winner is displayed at the A&R Headquarters on a commemorative plaque.

If you have a qualifying child who is continuing their education and wishes to apply for a scholarship, please complete the application and return it to the A&R Office by the April 2, 2020 deadline.

2020 A&R Scholarship Application

 

In addition, there are scholarship opportunities provided by AFT-CT and AFT National

The AFT Connecticut Scholarship Selection Committee awards two $2,500.00 scholarships each year:
  • The George C. Springer Scholarship is for AFT Connecticut members; and
  • The AFT Connecticut Scholarship is for members' spouses or domestic partners or children of members.
  •  
  • AFT Porter Scholars Program - Application Deadline: April 14 (updated Feb., 2020)
This program offers four-year, $8,000.00 post-secondary scholarships to students who are dependents of AFT members, as well as one-time $1,000.00 grants to AFT members. A mix of national AFT contributions and voluntary contributions from AFT affiliates, members and allies make the Robert G. Porters scholars program possible.

Anthem As Only Healthcare Choice in 2020

Comptroller Kevin Lembo announced  that Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield will be the sole administrator of the State employee health plan beginning July 1, 2020.  We do not have any details of how this will impact those who currently utilize UnitedHealthcare plans but we will provide updates as we get them.  This will not impact Medicare Advantage for retirees over age 65; the Medicare Advantage plan will remain under UnitedHealthcare.

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Special Election Endorsement

A&R has endorsed Brian Smith for the 48th state house district.  This is a special election to be held on Tuesday January 14th covering parts of the towns of Colchester, Lebanon, Mansfield, and Windham.  This seat was occupied by Linda Orange, who sadly passed away at the end of November.  Her passing required a special election which will be held on 1/14/2020.  The polls will be open from 6AM to 8PM and we encourage anyone covered by the 48th district to support the A&R endorsed candidate.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Image of new years balloons

Two Surveys

We are seeking membership input for 2 areas of A&R: Contract Negotiations and Social Activities and we hope you take a moment to help us in our effort to solicit ideas from everyone, even if you can't attend the union meetings.

The first ask is regarding the A&R contract: although our contract won't expire until July 2021, we have started the process of formulating ideas for our successor agreement, so if there is anything in our contract that you would like to see or you would like to change or fix, please take a moment to complete the open ended question to let us know.  If you wish to attend our negotiations meetings (the next meeting is January 22, 2020) we certainly welcome all A&R members. You are not "locked in" if you attend one meeting, you can attend as your schedule allows, but everyone is welcome to give input and speak on any issue.

The second "survey" is for the Social Committee.  Every year we run at least a dozen events with great participation, but we are always looking for new ideas/events.  If you have an idea for an event or trip, we would love to hear it...keep in mind that costs and time are considerable factors in planning social events so we need to be reasonable (yes, a trip to Majorka would be great, but highly unlikely as a union sponsored trip)...so if you have an idea you think would be fun for a day or afternoon or want us to try a new venue for our current events, let us know. 

Negotiations Input

Social Committee Input

Supplemental Bonding Leave Revised

The DAS Family and Medical Leave Entitlements manual will soon be re-issued with a change to the formula for calculating Reduced Schedule Leave for Bonding (which is Chapter 17 of the manual).  The revised calculation corrects an error in the formula and impacts Steps 3 & 4 of the formula which will now factor in the days NOT worked rather than the days worked.  Anyone who is utilizing a reduced schedule for bonding leave should review the revised calculation as it may impact the benefit that was granted.  The revised formula for steps 3 & 4 are below:

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