Have you ever had a chance to sit down with your State Rep or State Senator?  AFT-CT has set up Lunch Meetings with local State Reps/Senators.  These are low-pressure meetings where you and many other union members in your area get to grab a meal and talk to or listen to their State Legislators.  The meeting and lunch are free to all A&R members and we actually have a very important item that we need the legislature to support this session: our wage increases!!!

One of the worst things we can put forth is a message to the legislature that we really don't care enough to show up and tell them

Everyone is aware that the Governor closed Executive Branch offices due to the snowstorm...unfortunately, he also continued his streak of improperly applying the State's Telework agreement with the Unions.

The Governor's written directive states: 

          All level 2 executive branch state employees whose job duties can be completed remotely should telework, or they may request use of accrued leave

The actual Telework Agreement states in item 8.3.2.:

          In addition, teleworkers may be requested to telework on non-telework days as operational needs dictate or in the event of an

This isn't new news, but we can confirm that the state employee pension fund did hit its target of a 6.9% return rate for calendar year 2023.  As such, the 2% surcharge that went into place on July 1, 2023 will cease on July 1, 2024.  This means that all Tier 4 employees will not have the 2% pension surcharge deducted from their paychecks starting July 1, 2024.

The next evaluation period for the pension return rate will be at the end of calendar year 2024.

A&R is still conducting discussions related to a General Wage Increase for July 1 as well, we will keep you posted as this process moves along.  If you want to have a say/vote in the July GWI for A&R, you must be signed up as an A&R member...if you are a fairly new hire into state service and haven't signed up with A&R, the process is simple, just follow this link

Today, the A&R Convention Call was mailed out to all members (non-members will not receive the Convention Call mailing).  The Convention Call is a notice to members that our elections for Officer, Member Representative, and Delegate positions are forthcoming.  It is important to note that ONLY A&R members can vote in the union elections.  If you are not signed up as a member then you cannot vote...so how do you know if you are signed up as a member?  Basically, most people are signed up (we only have 150 people who have not signed up and the VAST majority of those are recently hired employees

We want to ensure A&R members that we are working diligently to secure a good wage package for the one year reopener which will cover July 2024 – June 2025.  As a refresher, the current A&R contract runs from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2025 and includes a “reopener” provision for the final year of wages, meaning that wage increases (including steps) for the one year period covering July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025 are subject to collective bargaining and yet to be determined.  Virtually all of the state employee union contracts have similar reopener provisions, with identical timing.  As a