Tuition Reimbursement: The Comptroller's Office is catching up on Tuition Reimbursements from 2015 through 2018. There was a long period of time where funding and payments ceased as we entered a prolonged contract negotiations. Since then, the race to validate and pay the reimbursement requests has been moving forward and we are at the point where the backlog is expected to be cleared within the next few weeks. For A&R, the 2015 and 2016 claims should be completely paid up and the 2017 claims are almost complete. We should have plenty of funding available to fill all valid requests through Spring 2019.
Telecommuting: The Telecommuting negotiations have begun again and we have several meeting dates scheduled over the next month. There is an established time-clock of 90 days before we can file this issue to arbitration. That time clock will begin if we meet as scheduled next week. This means we need to resolve the issue of "how to implement" by mid-January or seek an arbitrators decision on the issue. The good part: Telecommuting is part of our contract and an arbitrator can't strike this out, the arbitrator will be limited to the "how is it done" , not whether it is allowable.
Contract Books: The new "blue" contract books have arrived. The A&R Stewards will be picking them up over the next several days, so A&R members can stop visit a steward in their area and pick up the new book. The A&R Officers will also be distributing the books at our agency visits.
Kronos: This disaster continues to move forward but (of course) is behind schedule as would be expected with all bad projects. Kronos is an electronic sign-in/sign-out system which will cost the State millions to implement and maintain. DAS still expects to launch this in a few agencies early next year, but since it is a "change in working conditions" we can meet and bargain over this. An initial meeting was held 2 weeks ago with multiple unions and the State to get an idea of the scope of this project so we can have some idea of the impact. As an FYI, the impact is wide, it will entail every employee in every agency including employees who work in the field to be required to sign in/out daily (including lunch)...its plain stupid...my preference is to kill the funding in the legislature rather than waste time negotiating over a silly system that will bear little value (if any) and will create more problems than any amount it intends to resolve. This is a time when legislators (and Commissioners) should be narrowing State expenditures to only "needs", not "wants"...this is clearly a want, not a need, and no one really wants it anyway. Another meeting date between the parties is forthcoming.
Longevity: For those who qualify, the October Longevity Payment will be paid in the final paycheck of October which will be the 10/26/18 paycheck.
TopStepPayment: For those who received the $1000 payment in July, it was a lower payment (than the $2000 payment for those not on the top step) b/c you will also receive your TopStepPayment in January. The TSP should be paid in the 01/18/19 paycheck. Then there will be Longevity in April 2019 and then a 3.5% increase for everyone on June 21, 2019 which will be slightly offset by a 0.5% pension contribution.
Political Activity: This year is crucial as control of the Governor's Office, the State House, and State Senate are all up for grabs. Turnout will be critical in determining the outcome of these important government posts. A&Rs Political Committee has put forth a number of endorsements based on candidates who responded positively to the concerns of labor. Certainly, the willingness to honor the collective bargaining process and current labor contracts (both A&R and SEBAC) was a major concern for us. Unfortunately, there is an agenda that is coming down from the national level that has precluded many candidates from being willing to embrace the labor movement...this will hopefully change as the middle class should be a priority, but right now, it is not about the middle class for many candidates and that is why we endorsed those who are willing to protect the laws that protect the middle class and working families.
View The A&R Endorsed Candidates
There are walks to support the endorsed candidates in your area if wish to help...but the most important think for you to do is make sure you vote on Tuesday November 6th...support is great but only votes count.
For anyone interested in getting involved with the Conservative Caucus of AFT-CT, there is a meeting to be held at 35 Marshall Road, Rocky Hill, CT 10/16/18 at 5:00 pm. No need to pre-register, simply attend. Food will be provided.
