There was a "budget" press conference held on Monday 2/11/19 and the reporting from that conference seemed to infer that Gov. Lamont has held informal talks with the unions regarding concessions...this is absolutely not true. A&R is one of the 15 members of SEBAC so we can clearly assure everyone that there has been absolutely no such talks.  Gov. Lamont has asked for savings ideas from labor (we have been more than happy to recommend the sacrificing of Kronos and that the State improve our tax collection resources through improved staffing levels and priorities), but there has been nothing

At our February RA meeting:

Lew Button (Staff Attorney 3 at SOTS) was nominated and accepted as our new Chief Negotiator.
and
Nicole Godburn (Principal Cost Analyst at DSS) was nominated and accepted as our new A&R Secretary.

Congratulations to both.

Also...the next Telecommuting meeting with the State is scheduled for Feb. 22.  There is an arbitration date set for March 27 if an agreement is not reached by that time.

A&R was hopeful that impact bargaining with the State could be completed earlier this week as it relates to the newly unionized managers.  Most of the items under discussion were

We would like to congratulate A&R Secretary Kristin Campanelli who has been appointed to serve as Associate General Counsel to the Governor's Office!  Kristin was always an amazing person with a great strategic and legal mind, so we are not surprised by this appointment.    Due to her appointment, Kristin Campanelli had to resign as A&R Secretary and as an A&R Steward since she is no longer an active member of A&R.  We are sad to lose her but glad her strengths were recognized and that she will now be working on behalf of the Governor for all residents of this state.  We will, of course

Every year, AFT-CT hosts a legislative conference at the LOB.  It is a private event held at the LOB for A&R/AFT-CT members to meet and listen to State Senators and Representatives about the current legislative agenda.  This year, labor unions did a fantastic job of getting-out-the-vote during the elections, now we can hear and interact with them directly to see what they intend to accomplish in this legislative session.  The event is free and runs from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM on Saturday, February 2, 2019 (this Saturday).  Breakfast and coffee are served and this is a relaxed event to just chit

Article 16 Section 6 of the A&R contract incorporates lateness due to inclement weather.  When there is inclement weather, hazardous driving conditions or a mass transportation failure, then tardiness for up to 1 hour is not to be charged to an employee.  There is then discretion given for an additional 1-1/2 hours (for a total of 2-1/2 hours) based on the severity of the conditions.  New language to our contract states that If the additional 1-1/2 hours are not granted or you exceed the 2-1/2 grace period then you may opt to either make up the excess time during the payperiod or charge it to

Just a reminder: last payperiod was to be the first installment of our TopStepPayment in three years and there were some "hiccups".  Some agencies forgot about the payment, some used an out-of-date table and one agency did something that defies any logical explanation....in any case, the corrections should be found in the paycheck we receive on Thursday 1/31/2019.   Also, there is a correction to the payout for the AR-32 level, our chart shows a TSP of $3081 when in fact the payout is $3091; this too should be accounted for in the adjustments made in this paycheck.  We do have a grievance