-3/6/26

Quick update: the Negotiations Committee met on Wednesday night to review and discuss the Tentative Agreement.

At the end of the meeting, the Committee voted unanimously to recommend that the TA be sent to the A&R Representative Assembly (our executive board) for approval.

The next step: the RA will meet on Tuesday and take a vote on whether to send this to the membership for a ratification vote.

If the RA approves the TA then we will hold a membership vote as early as the following week.  It will be an online member ratification vote and the details will be sent out to all members after

-3/4/2026 

More details forthcoming, but A&R has finally settled on contract terms with the State and completed negotiations on our successor agreement.

The A&R Negotiations Cmte will meet to review the tentative agreement and then vote up/down on recommending it to the A&R Representative Assembly (our executive board).

If the Negotiations Cmte votes to recommend the agreement to the RA, then the RA will take a vote on Tuesday March 10 whether to accept the tentative agreement and send it to the membership for ratification.

The main gist of the tentative agreement is 3 years of 2.5% General Wage

-2/27/26

I know it has been a while since our last update, so let's get caught up.  We have met with the State several times over the last few weeks and we are so very close to an agreement. Right now we have one "ask" on the table (that the State should agree to) and the State has one ask on the table and there is one contentious issue that was lingering but i believe is resolved but not yet officially conveyed to us.  We will meet with the State again on Wednesday and hopefully we can wrap this up.

If we do get everything finalized, we will first take a vote at the Negotiations Cmte.  If the

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 2026 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

UPDATE 1/26/26:  It appears that most agencies are shutting down all non-essential operations including any telework.  If your agency has given notification that teleworkers do not need to telework then follow that directive as you would follow any other management directive.  

After 24hrs of snow-mageddon, the A&R office will be closed on Monday 1/26/26.  We may be accessible via email.  Hopefully we will re-open Tuesday morning.

Governor Lamont has closed all offices so non-essential employees should not report to their office.

Remember: if it is an in-office day they you can decide if you wish to telework or not.

If it is a telework day then the expectation is that you telework as you normally would.

-1/22/26

Wanted to let everyone know that there has been some movement on the A&R Contract.  This week we were able to discuss with the State an acceptable wage package that we think could be the basis/path to a full contract agreement.  We are not close on the details beyond the basic framework for wage increases but, let's face it, wage increases and telework are the most important pieces and have been the main hindrance to attaining an agreement for A&R.  We will be meeting with the State a couple of times this week/next week and hopefully we can start coming to terms on the finer details