The 23 July 2011 Bargaining Conference is done. The bargaining delegates from all coalitions voted to send the Tentative Agreement (TA) Contract to the members with a recommendation to approve (ratify). This includes the Central Table (pay and benefits) and all of the Coalition Table negotiated agreements.
Some of the main points include:
Cost of Living Allowances, Article 27, 1.5% increase December of 2011; 1.45% increase January of 2013;
½ Step increase on your Salary Eligibility Date (SED) on or after July 2012 and the other ½ Step increase 6 months later, but no later than 30 June 2013. Employees who have received step increases as of 1 June 2011 will not receive another. They also will not be rolled back as in the last contract;
Furlough days, Letter of Agreement for Mandatory Unpaid Time Off (MUTO), much the same as last contract – 10, 12 or 14 days during the two years of the contract. There are some changes to how they are taken. There are two LOAs for furlough days: 191 for how many days – at which pay levels and 193 for implementation. In implementation those folks who work alternate shifts will no longer need to use vacation time to accomodate the 8 hour blocks. The 8 hour blocks went away. The letter lays out that you take your furlough days in your normal shifts. You will need to take the remainder of your furlough time in a partial day. So if you work 8 hour, 9 hour or 10 hour shifts that is how you will use your furlough days. There is also added flexibility in that “employees may volunteer to take unpaid holidays, unpaid vacation days, or a salary reduction. . .”;
In Coalition Bargaining (Article #.3) there are also some improvements. Article 36.3AC (Travel) now has the living language provisions so the non-commercial per diem automatically updates. All per diems used to require increasing or adjusting at the bargaining tables.
Article 58 and Article 58.3 (Holidays) both have some changes. The ‘each and every’ language has been deleted in 58. There is new comp time language in 58.3. Also, there was holiday language in our old 90.3; that has been deleted from 90.3, all holiday language is in 58.3. In theory.
Article 90.3A will have several changes. An LOA was written in 2009 regarding Penalty Pay for schedule changes without notice; most of that LOA has been moved into 90.3. Moved into base language was the LOA regarding missed breaks for the Transportation Operations Centers and the Interstate Bridge crews. There is new language for Motor Carrier Enforcement Officers when helping with road closures.
There is a new LOA regarding holidays and flexing work schedules to prevent loosing 2 hours of vacation on holidays.
The email I sent you will have bullet sheets as attachments so you can review the summaries of both the Central Table and Coalition table changes. There is more, much more there.
The bargaining conference was a little rowdy. Every bargaining conference has some vocal members who want to strike. Every new contract insults someone along the way. Fair and comprehensive negotiations rarely result in all persons, on both sides, being happy with the results. The Central Table bargaining team members are not pleased with some of the results. Frequently, when the State bargaining team does not want to agree to our point they claim to not understand. Some of the points our team made regarding pay and insurance were absolutely rooted in mathematical logic. Mathematics is either correct or incorrect. Our team showed mathematically correct ways to save money or make the same dollars do more. Many of the State bargaining team members have jobs that are number working jobs. For their leadership to have said they do not understand the numbers is to say they do not understand multiplication and division.
I believe the governor was always behind every decision. I know he has definite goals regarding health care and health insurance. In some way Our Union’s sense of fairness does not fit his goals. At Central Table Bargaining neither the Governor nor his Bargaining Team were straight forward about this. They would only talk about a finite dollar value that was not enough or they did not understand what we were saying.
Perhaps the bargaining table is not the place discuss matters in a straight forward manner.
There will be a ballot coming to you, coming to all members. The decision will be to ratify the contract. If you vote to ratify the contract, then you accept it. If you vote to not ratify the contract then you vote to possibly go out on strike. To fail to ratify does not guarantee a strike. It only guarantees that the bargaining delegates must come together and explore the options.
Look around you. Do you know your crew? Do you know others on crews around you? Can everyone afford to strike? How long can you & they afford to strike?
I want you to vote as you think is correct. I will vote to ratify. The next big fight in the Legislature and the press is our retirement. I want SEIU 503, OPEU to gear up and start on Monday to protect PERS, the 6% pickup (that we bargained for instead of a pay raise, in years past) and our member’s future.
Thank you for your time. Thank you for sharing this information with your crews. I am sure 503 will have more information on the 503 website next week. Everyone was tired and went home after the meeting on Saturday and the actual bargaining until eleven or twelve Friday night. As always it will take several months to proof read and publish the contracts. Hopefully they will be available on-line at the 503 website before then. I continue to insist that hardcopies be available for worksites where employees do not use a computer to make a living.
We, you and I are the face of Our Union. This hard work is Member Organizing. Thank you for your work. mac
Showing posts with label furlough day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label furlough day. Show all posts
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The 560
Tuesday, 25 May 2010, around noon Governor Kulongoski held a press conference to announce that Oregon’s budget shortfall had increased to $560 million. That would amount to 9% of the state general fund budget.
That explains why he has asked all state agencies to cut 9% from their budgets. I will say a little more about that later. The Governor has also asked all unionized state workers to continue the step freeze until the end of the current contract. In addition he has asked all employees and agencies to explore reduced workweeks or additional furlough days.
The reason for this blog post is to look at these requests. Obviously, the Governor has a responsibility for directing state government. His personal philosophy will guide him; so will state law which requires a balanced budget. The effect of such a statute is to not allow our state government to run a debt, unlike our federal government.
The 9%. The governor has directed all agencies to come up with a 9% cut list. That is an order for agency directors. There is no doubt the governor has that authority.
The first thing for ODOT folks to understand is that this is a 9% shortfall in the General Fund budget. Therefore, agencies must cut 9% of their budget that comes from the General Fund. ODOT’s total budget for 2009 -2011, as approved by the state legislature in SB5548-A was $4,136,780,779. So let’s say 4.1 billion dollars. Of that $4.1 billion, there was no (0) money from the General Fund (In SB 5548-A of January 2009).
9% of 0 is 0.
There is some general fund money in our agency for programs funded in some other way; programs that the agency administers outside of the responsibility for Transportation. It is possible that some of the money used for small business contracts for fences, new facility roofs, job training, etc. may be general fund dollars. That would be outside of the Transportation Bill SB 5548-A.
Matt Garrett, ODOT Agency Director, in a memo released Tuesday May 25, has said that he does not anticipate the need for layoffs nor budget reductions in ODOT.
The Step Freeze. The governor has requested us to return to the bargaining table and negotiate increased furlough days and a continuation of the step freeze.
The governor has ordered all non-unionized employees (managers, executive service & unrepresented employees) to continue the step freeze for the rest of this budget cycle. This cycle ends June 2011.
Because we are a Labor Union with a negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) the governor has not ordered us to continue the step freeze past August 2010. The CBA is a contract between Us (WE ARE THE UNION) and our employer, the State of Oregon. If the governor decreed that we lose our step, he would have broken our contract.
More Furlough Days. Governor Kulongoski in his letter to state employees has asked labor organizations to discuss options, such as increased furlough days and reduced workweeks. His stated reason for asking is to reduce the need for lay-offs.
This discussion is the same as above regarding the step freeze. Our furlough days are set in our Collective Bargaining Agreement, a legal, binding contract.
For those of you who want to read this for yourself: In our ODOT Coalition CBA, 2009 – 2011 (orange), look on page 67, Appendix A. There you will see a Letter of Agreement for Article 27 – Salary Increase. On page 68, paragraph 5 it shows that the freeze will last through August 31, 2010. Paragraph 6 tells when our next step increase will happen. Read it carefully; there is a lot of misinformation out there.
There are 3 Letters of Agreement for Furlough days, starting on page 79 and going through page 82. Again, Furlough Days are a matter of contract.
It is up to members what we do. As members of ODOT Local 730 & SEIU 503 we elected bargaining delegates for the 2009 round of bargaining. Kermit Meling, Senior Motor Carrier Enforcement Officer, out of Portland is the head of the ODOT Coalition bargaining team. He also leads the Central Table bargaining team. The central table bargaining team will be meeting next week (first week in June) to discuss the governor’s request.
I do not know anyone who wants more unpaid days off. I do not know anyone who wants to be laid off. I do not know anyone who wants to watch his pay stagnate. My Email address is below. Drop me a line & tell me what you think is the right thing to do. You can also respond on this blog.
We should not let this ruin our day. Nor should these requests cause us to lose concentration on our jobs. There is danger in all of our jobs, from admin specialists on the 4th floor to maintenance specialists standing in traffic. Pay attention to where you put your hands. Pay attention to where you put your feet.
We have a good Union to work for us. I’m sure of it because We Are The Union.
mac
Cameron M. McGinnis odotmac@hotmail.com
TMS2 Meacham Section
ODOT Local 730, President
.503's Response is in the "What Are Your Thoughts?" accessed below.
That explains why he has asked all state agencies to cut 9% from their budgets. I will say a little more about that later. The Governor has also asked all unionized state workers to continue the step freeze until the end of the current contract. In addition he has asked all employees and agencies to explore reduced workweeks or additional furlough days.
The reason for this blog post is to look at these requests. Obviously, the Governor has a responsibility for directing state government. His personal philosophy will guide him; so will state law which requires a balanced budget. The effect of such a statute is to not allow our state government to run a debt, unlike our federal government.
The 9%. The governor has directed all agencies to come up with a 9% cut list. That is an order for agency directors. There is no doubt the governor has that authority.
The first thing for ODOT folks to understand is that this is a 9% shortfall in the General Fund budget. Therefore, agencies must cut 9% of their budget that comes from the General Fund. ODOT’s total budget for 2009 -2011, as approved by the state legislature in SB5548-A was $4,136,780,779. So let’s say 4.1 billion dollars. Of that $4.1 billion, there was no (0) money from the General Fund (In SB 5548-A of January 2009).
9% of 0 is 0.
There is some general fund money in our agency for programs funded in some other way; programs that the agency administers outside of the responsibility for Transportation. It is possible that some of the money used for small business contracts for fences, new facility roofs, job training, etc. may be general fund dollars. That would be outside of the Transportation Bill SB 5548-A.
Matt Garrett, ODOT Agency Director, in a memo released Tuesday May 25, has said that he does not anticipate the need for layoffs nor budget reductions in ODOT.
The Step Freeze. The governor has requested us to return to the bargaining table and negotiate increased furlough days and a continuation of the step freeze.
The governor has ordered all non-unionized employees (managers, executive service & unrepresented employees) to continue the step freeze for the rest of this budget cycle. This cycle ends June 2011.
Because we are a Labor Union with a negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) the governor has not ordered us to continue the step freeze past August 2010. The CBA is a contract between Us (WE ARE THE UNION) and our employer, the State of Oregon. If the governor decreed that we lose our step, he would have broken our contract.
More Furlough Days. Governor Kulongoski in his letter to state employees has asked labor organizations to discuss options, such as increased furlough days and reduced workweeks. His stated reason for asking is to reduce the need for lay-offs.
This discussion is the same as above regarding the step freeze. Our furlough days are set in our Collective Bargaining Agreement, a legal, binding contract.
For those of you who want to read this for yourself: In our ODOT Coalition CBA, 2009 – 2011 (orange), look on page 67, Appendix A. There you will see a Letter of Agreement for Article 27 – Salary Increase. On page 68, paragraph 5 it shows that the freeze will last through August 31, 2010. Paragraph 6 tells when our next step increase will happen. Read it carefully; there is a lot of misinformation out there.
There are 3 Letters of Agreement for Furlough days, starting on page 79 and going through page 82. Again, Furlough Days are a matter of contract.
It is up to members what we do. As members of ODOT Local 730 & SEIU 503 we elected bargaining delegates for the 2009 round of bargaining. Kermit Meling, Senior Motor Carrier Enforcement Officer, out of Portland is the head of the ODOT Coalition bargaining team. He also leads the Central Table bargaining team. The central table bargaining team will be meeting next week (first week in June) to discuss the governor’s request.
I do not know anyone who wants more unpaid days off. I do not know anyone who wants to be laid off. I do not know anyone who wants to watch his pay stagnate. My Email address is below. Drop me a line & tell me what you think is the right thing to do. You can also respond on this blog.
We should not let this ruin our day. Nor should these requests cause us to lose concentration on our jobs. There is danger in all of our jobs, from admin specialists on the 4th floor to maintenance specialists standing in traffic. Pay attention to where you put your hands. Pay attention to where you put your feet.
We have a good Union to work for us. I’m sure of it because We Are The Union.
mac
Cameron M. McGinnis odotmac@hotmail.com
TMS2 Meacham Section
ODOT Local 730, President
.503's Response is in the "What Are Your Thoughts?" accessed below.
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