Our Donavon Gardner and Terrence Martin talk about American's teacher shortage challenge.

CLICK TO  HERE TO WATCH http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/a-potential-teacher-crunch-looms.html

Be prepared! Get a headstart, June 2 - 4 are tax free days in Florida for hurricane preparedness supplies. 

View The
SEBAC Tentative Agreement and FAQs

SEBAC Summary
 

A&R Contract Tentative Agreement

A&R Contract Summary
updated 6/29

For those struggling to understand why we are again working with the Governor's Office on a labor agreement, this is why...

Attached is the press release from the Republican Senators who are calling for the end of collective bargaining for State Employees...remember, the GOP is tied for control of the State Senate...and they are only down 79-72 in the CT House.  Here is their plan for State employees:

Here is a snippet from the ctmirror article on the GOP plan:

Senate Republican leader Len Fasano unveiled a plan to achieve nearly $2.2 billion in savings — with or without union consent.

But it would require officials to:

• Suspend or eliminate arbitration for unionized employees’ wages;
• Replace all overtime with compensatory time;
• Increase worker contributions toward retirement health care and require more service before guaranteeing this benefit;
• And triple all workers’ pension contributions in future years.

“We have the power within the legislature to change statutes, prospectively and currently, to achieve savings,” Fasano said. “ … This is the power we have. We don’t have to sit back and wait.”

Attached is a Summary of the SEBAC framework which we hope can address many of the questions being asked.  This framework extends our benefits, at risk is having them completely eliminated.

-5/31/17

Take action: join our members in asking the U.S. Department of Education secretary if she will abandon her privatization crusade and fully fund public education.

Click here to sign and share the petition.

More often than not, teachers and principals come to mind when one thinks about the men and women who work in our public schools.

But other staff also help to make a positive impact on the lives of Detroit Public Schools Community District’s 45,000 students.

Katina J. Laird is one of them.

Laird, a state certified food service specialist, has worked for DPSCD for 16 years. She started as a satellite aide and then earned an opportunity to become a specialist. She currently supervises two assistants and group of about 20 current Drew Transition Center students. The two assistants are former DPSCD students.

Charles R. Drew Transition Center, located at 9600 Wyoming Road on the city’s west side, educates students aged 18 to 26. They attend the program, which is a unique post-secondary vocational center for moderate and severely cognitively impaired, visually impaired, hearing impaired, physically impaired, otherwise health impaired and students with autism.

Laird is part manager and part big sister. For a few hours a day she helps to prepare students to learn and develop work skills. 

The students learn commercial kitchen skills from “Ms. Tina” and also what she calls “tough love,” preparing them for the real world.

“I let them know what I expect in this kitchen,” she says. “We don’t play around in here. We’re working around hot food. This is serious.” 

They place watermelon slices in small plastic cups and scoop green beans on serving plates that were home grown in the school’s garden.  Drew is the largest Farm to School program in America, according to the DPSCD. Students help to harvest vegetables in the school’s garden and outdoor Hoop House, and then prepare meals onsite.

Donna Jackson, president of the Detroit Federation of Para-Professionals, calls food service specialists “Katina Laird is a diamond in the rough.”

“The focus is students,” Jackson says about employees like Laird who work behind the scenes. “She’s helping to shape those minds. She’s a jewel.” 

After several months of informal discussions between SEBAC leadership and representatives from the Governor's Office, the parties have produced a framework for a potential agreement.  Many issues were discussed.  Many tough choices needed to be made to arrive at the framework.  Unfortunately in the past few weeks a $450 million free-fall in tax revenue increased the projected biennial deficit past $5 billion, making our insistence on top step payments an untenable position.  We recognize the impact this has on many of our members and are exploring other avenues to address the issue.  We also recognize the sacrifice all members are again being asked of in the context of the framework.  Given the alternatives, we believe the framework offers the best opportunity to protect our pension and healthcare benefits long term while simultaneously providing job security over the next 4 years and reasonable wage increases during a time of $5 billion deficits.  Before the framework can be further acted upon by the membership, we need to settle some unresolved issues with the state involving the A&R union contract.

We are faced with many threats, the least of which may be the immediate threat of layoffs.  The very benefits that we are trying to preserve and protect for every member are at risk.   Had the members not made the unpleasant choice to extend the SEBAC agreement in 2011, the pension and healthcare contract would be expiring July 1 of this year.  There would be no automatic extension.  We would be negotiating under horrendous multi-billion dollar deficit conditions.  We also must take note that the political landscape of the state is in flux.  In 2022, we may face a different risk - not the risk of being asked to contribute more to maintain our benefits, but of having them replaced entirely with things of much less value - Discontinuance of our defined benefit plans, expensive insurance plans with high deductibles and sky-rocketing premiums.  Even those who are considering retirement soon must recognize that only pensions are secure upon retirement, healthcare is not.  There is a tremendous advantage to securing benefits through 2027.  If you need examples of what may be in store for us in 2022, please review the GOP House Concession Plan  which was unveiled a few weeks ago.  It is our hope that we can ride out this time of economic turmoil until the State returns to economic prosperity.  The State believes that these changes are necessary to end the shortfalls in funding our benefits and ensure that employee benefits will remain secure long-term.

A SEBAC Framework Slideshow has been produced by AFT CT.  It is much more readable than the actual framework and provides insight regarding not only the framework, but also describes how members (assuming all contracts are settled) will be asked to vote on two issues (1) the A&R union contract; and (2) the pension and healthcare agreement.  The slideshow describes what the implications are for "yes" and "no" outcomes for each vote.

Many members have asked about Medicare Advantage.  Here is an FAQ:
Medicare Advantage frequently asked questions.

Here is the ACTUAL FRAMEWORK that resulted from the informal SEBAC discussions.  This is not up for ratification by the members yet.  We are continuing to address A&R contract language at the table.

It is vitally important that all members inform themselves by reading the framework.  This document encapsulates every facet of what is being proposed.  Don't be mislead by rumors in the press.  If it is not listed within - it is just rumor and not a part of the framework.

We will be updating the website with a reader friendly breakdown of the framework in short order.

Read the framework.  Discuss it with your colleagues.   Call us and ask questions.  Email us your questions.  We will be conducting member meetings to address you directly.  We shall publish information for FAQs.  We will do all it takes to inform you.  If this progresses to a formal membership vote, we need an informed membership participating in the ratification vote.  Every dues paying member gets to vote.

Expected timeframe for a membership ratification vote is mid-July.

Highlight of the terms:

• Layoff protection through June 30, 2021
• Pension & Healthcare benefits remain unchanged
• Pension & Healthcare agreement extends 5 years to June 2027
• 1st & 2nd years of contract wage freeze (1st year about to end)
• 3rd year of contract $2k payment or $1k payment plus top step
• 4th year of contract 3.5% wage increase increments & top step on time
• 5th year of contract 3.5% wage increase increments & top step on time
• Longevity payments made each year
• Pension contribution 1.5% of wages effective July 1, 2017
• Add'l pension contribution 0.5% of wages effectve July 1, 2019
• Modest increase in healthcare contributions
• COLA delays upon retirement

We will continue to work on our contract language through June and possibly have a membership ratification vote by mid-July.

- posted 5/23/17

The Governor's Office was preparing to brief the legislature about its dealings with the Unions on labor savings for the current budget process.  In doing so, the document they prepared was released to the press.  While that document is not a document the unions are working from, the details in the document are reflective of the labor savings talks that the parties have been holding.