Contract Wage Adjustments:

June 17 Paycheck: the $2500 Lump Sum along with the 2.5% GWI and any Step/TopStepPayment will be reflected in this paycheck.

July 15 Paycheck: will reflect all of the backpay for the 2.5% (from July 1 through May 19th) as well as the backpay for the Step Increase (December 31 through May 19th) [the increase from May 20 through June 3rd will be reflected in the June 17 paycheck]. 

July 29 Paycheck: will reflect the next 2.5% increase as well as the $1000 Lump Sum (these will therefore be made on-time).

Telework Schedule Requests:
Reminder, if you wish to Telework between July and December of 2022, you need to submit a Telework Schedule in May (the generic rule is that Telework Schedules need to be requested twice per year, 30 to 60 days prior to July and January).

• To submit a Telework Schedule Request use this webpage
• If your request is denied, you may use this webpage to submit an appeal

NOTE: DOT and DSS employees: although the resolution from the Labor Board does not require all employees of these agencies to re-submit a Telework Schedule Request, we STRONGLY encourage you to do so anyway based upon the past/recent conduct of these agencies in following and interpreting Telework agreements.

Healthcare Open Enrollment:
Reminder that the Healthcare Open Enrollment is occuring right now.  If you wish to make changes to your medical or dental plan for next year, you need to do it before May 27, 2022.  Changes can be made in CORE-CT or by submitting the CO-744A form.  If you have a dependent child over age 19 who was removed from the dental plan, you can now add them back on the plan until age 26, this is new!  You will need their SS# and a copy of their birth certificate.

View the Healthcare Options available to you, please visit the OpenEnrollment web portal here.
View the Medical/Dental Comparisons
View the Medical/Dental Bi-weekly Deductions
View the 2022 HEP Requirements

Social Events:

A&R has lined up several activities for 2022 hoping to bring everyone back together.  Below are a number of events we have lined up so far, hope to see you all at these events soon!

August 6 - Saratoga Races    flyer    register online
August 26 - A&R Summer Picnic at La Bella Vista in Waterbury   flyer    register online
September 24 - SOLD OUT! Yankees/RedSox at Yankee Stadium    flyer
November 20 - Radio City Christmas Spectacular     flyer    register online
December 2 - A&R Holiday Party at the Aquaturf (in-person!)     registration is not open yet
December 3 - Do Your Own Thing New York City (registration is not open yet)

Masks Recommended:
The CT Department of Public Health is recommending that masks be worn in all State buildings.  This is not a requirement, however, the COVID numbers are on the rise and pre-cautions are being recommended by DPH.

A reminder to all members that telework schedules must be resubmtted for consideration by management every 6 months.  The refresh period commences July 1.  If you want to continue teleworking, you must reapply well before July 1.  Below is the portal for Telework Applications as well as other important telework communication links.  Keep us informed of what is going on at your agency so that we can best represent your interests.

TELEWORK APPLICATION:  Telework Applications must be submitted every 6 months between 30 and 60 days prior to the start of each re-fresh period (July 1 and January 1) 

A stipulated agreement has been reached between the parties (SEBAC & The State) addressing the misapplication of the Telework Policy at DSS & DOT.  The direct result of this union action, over 430 union members at DOT and DSS are now eligible for four hours compensatory time per the stipulated agreement reached between the state and SEBAC.

The stipulated agreement provides that the agencies shall reevaluate the telework applications of affected employees.  The affected employees shall be credited with four hours each of compensatory time.  In the event the reevaluations take longer than

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