Maneeley's:  Deadline for registering for the A&R picnic is this week...Friday August 23, at 12:30pm. 

Telework: we continue to grind our way through the appeal process for those who have been denied telework.  A binding facilitation hearing was held on Tuesday, 8/13 to finalize the appeals of several employees at SEEC.  By way of binding facilitation, six employees who had been unreasonably denied telework won their appeals and now have access to their requested “situational” telework.  Another SEEC employee who had requested two days of “routine” telework and had both days denied was awarded one day of telework.  More appeals will be heard in late August.  Simultaneously, we will continue negotiating the successor Telework agreement.   Indications are that DAS/BEST is close to finalizing and issuing guidance regarding approval of "home equipment" for Telework.  Though yet to be finalized, the DAS/BEST guidance appears to rely on virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) which should allow secure access to agency networks from home equipment.  The more familiar VPN fob technology is sufficient for state issued laptops.  However the greater level of security provided by VDI is needed on "home equipment".  We look forward to DAS/BEST implementing the VDI as we believe it to be the best method to provide for wide-scale telecommuting while keeping the state’s expenses low.

HEP Chronic Conditions Payment: the $100 payment for HEP Chronic Condition compliance was in the 8/2 paycheck.  If you were expecting the payment, please look at your 8/2 paycheck to verify payment.

Retiree Healthcare Trust Fund:  Those who were hired between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010 will see the end of the 3% contribution once they hit their 120 month threshold.  This was established as a 10 year contribution, requiring 120 months of payments into the Retiree Healthcare Trust Fund (RHTF also referred to as OPEB [other post-employment benefit]).  These payments were to begin immediately for those hired on/after July 1, 2009 but there were delays in implementing the first payments, so if you were hired in July/August/September of 2009, you should review your paychecks to see when the first contribution was actually applied to calculate when your payments should end (120 months).

Anyone hired between July 1, 2005 and July 1, 2009 would have started these contributions on July 1, 2010 and therefore the 3% contributions will cease July 1, 2020.   Those hired prior to July 1, 2005 did not start contributions until July 1, 2013 so the end date will be July 1, 2023.

A&R at the Labor Board: Thursday 8/15, A&R was at the State Board of Labor Relations defending itself from a bizarre claim by 2 non-union, non-P5 employees.  We can't speak of it too much right now as the case is ongoing, with another hearing date scheduled for mid-September.  We will acknowledge that the first hearing date went just fine from our perspective.  The action against us, which we believe to be utterly frivolous, is being led by a national right-to-work group and was filed by a State Representative on behalf of two state employees not connected to A&R.  We will update you with details as the case proceeds.

Manager Raises:  We offer a kind "you are welcome" to all managerial employees who were recently given a 3.5% raise.  Clearly the amount of their wage increase wasn't random.  It is a reflection of what unionized employees attained through the power of collective bargaining.  Unfortunately for them, they have no contractual guarantees for next year’s raise of 3.5%, nor do they have contractual rights to top step payments or annual increments.  Fortunately, union members do have such contractual rights.  As a result of collective bargaining Union members are assured of another 3.5% raise next July as well as two top step bonus payments (or annual increments) in January of 2020 and 2021.

- posted 8/16

Local Elections:  if you are an A&R member and you are running for local office this November, let A&R know so we can send out endorsements in your area.  We have nearly 3,000 members and many probably live in your voting district.  A little boost from your A&R friends could certainly make the difference in your race.  We are interested in supporting A&R members for local races from mayoral candidates down to alternates on the local zoning board...the position sought is not relevent, if you are an A&R member and running for local office, then let us know.

If you wish to pursue an A&R

The terms of your working conditions, including hours, compensation rates, overtime/comp time rules, availability of AWS, availability of telecommuting, PL, sick time, vacation accrual rates, job security......and just about anything else you can think of related to working conditions.... all off these things are governed by the contract.  The conditions of employment for each and every A&R member is determined by the contract - basically the A&R contract is where the rubber meets the road as to your working conditions.  Our contract is not an immutable artificat set in stone - all terms within our contract are subject to negotiation.

Our current four year contract expires June 30, 2021.  In October 2020 negotiations will commence with the state over the successor contract.  We are gearing up to prepare for those negations now.  In the Fall of this year A&R's next Negotiations Committee will be holding its initial meeting.  Chaired by Chief Negotiator Lew Button (Lew is a Staff Attorney 3 at the Secretary of State), the committee will likely meet at least one evening per month over the coming year to prioritize our goals and to develop contract proposals.  We are seeking members from across the union to participate on the Negotiations Committee.  Ideally, we would like a member from each agency to be represented on the committee to best represent the interests of members.  If you want to have a say in your workplace, the Negotiations Committee can be your most effective voice.  Join us!!!!!!!!!!!

• We need your input
• We need your ideas
• We need your perspective
• We need your knowledge
• Most importantly we need your participation!!!!

If interested in participating on the Negotiations Committee or if you have contract proposals you want the committee to consider  please email mmyles@andr.org.

We have our annual trip to Fenway Park scheduled for Friday August 9^th against the LA Angels.
There are still tickets available.  Tickets are $79 each and include the bus ride to/from the stadium.
Complete/Return the registration form with payment.

The Sox and Angels are fighting for a playoff spot and the Angels showcase two young stars: Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani....Shohei Ohtani was the 2018 Rookie of the Year and is both a star pitcher and an outfielder/DH for the Angels (he holds the record for the fastest pitch ever thrown in the Japanese league [102mph])...and Mike Trout is simply the best active player in the MLB.  Mike Trout has been 1st or 2nd for the A.L. MVP balloting in 6 of the last 7 years.  So join us to watch Mookie, JD, Xander, and Beni make their push to the playoffs from the friendly confines of Fenway Park.

Wednesday 7/24 was our first set of hearings related to Telework denials.  We were anticipating reviewing 3 agencies (SEEC, DCF, and DRS), however, the appeal process started off a little slow as "binding facilitation" is not a concept we have engaged in before.  There were some disagreements on how the process would work and who should be seated in the room, but we were able to move through those kinks and get testimony on the record from all of the SEEC telework applicants in attendance as well as the agency.  We will now wait for the facilitators instructions/determinations on these appeals

UPDATE 7/18/19:

SEBAC and the State have agreed to a pension re-amoritization plan.  This agreement only impacts the payments made by the State to fund the pension liability, it does not impact benefits.  This plan will go before the legislature for approval.  This wasn't a difficult discussion, this was the original recommendation from 2016, however, then-Governor Malloy sought a much more aggressive payment plan in 2016 so of course we agreed to that.  In an effort to stabilize the State's annually required payments, current Governor Lamont sought a new agreement reflecting the prior recommendation with an option to revisit the payment plan within a few years. 

SEBAC has released this statement:

SEBAC and the Lamont Administration have completed their discussions on pension re-amortization in accordance with the recently passed biennial budget and have reached an agreement. It keeps the parties’ commitment to make no change in pension benefits.

The agreement will be submitted to the General Assembly for approval.

This is part of our continuing effort to work with the Lamont Administration on “win-win” solutions for achieving efficiency that will benefit everyone. Completing the re-amortization of the state pension fund, adjusting the schedule to pay off Connecticut’s pension debt, will help stabilize state pensions and ensure obligations to current and future retirees are fully funded; it was included in the recently passed budget along with re-amortizing the Teacher’s Retirement Fund.

None of the proposed savings would result in changes to the pension and health insurance benefits of state employees or retirees.

SEBAC will not be part of asking for more sacrifices for state employees, who have already given so much for the people we serve. Our 2017 agreement is saving Connecticut taxpayers $25 billion over the next 20 years, helping to close the chronic budget deficits that imperil vital public services.
 

Attached —
July 15, 2019 Memorandum of Understanding

SEBAC released the following statement 7/10/19

"SEBAC and the Lamont administration met Monday 7/8 to work on the details of a re-amortization of the state pension fund.  Meetings will continue. This is part of our continuing effort to work with the Lamont administration on “win-win” solutions for achieving efficiency that will benefit everyone.  Completing the re-amortization of the state pension fund, adjusting the schedule to pay off Connecticut’s pension debt, will help stabilize state pensions and ensure obligations to current and future retirees are fully funded; it was included in the recently passed budget along with re-amortizing the Teacher’s Retirement Fund.  None of the proposed savings would result in changes to the pension and health insurance benefits of state employees or retirees.  

SEBAC will not be part of asking for more sacrifices for state employees, who have already given so much for the people we serve.  Our 2017 agreement is saving Connecticut taxpayers $25 billion over the next 20 years, helping to close the chronic budget deficits that imperil vital public services."

The above statement is accurate and I agreed to post it...to add a little more insight into what is occuring, pension "re-amoritization" is essentially re-financing the pension payments that the State is required to make annually...this does NOT change our benefits, it makes sense to re-finance the payment plan (for us, for the State, and the public), and labor savings were actually part of the State's budget and this fits that purpose.  So talks will continue as to how best to re-finance, but be secure that this will not cause changes to benefits or further increase contributions to the pension plan.