Negotiations Update
May 21, 2008
The contract between NAGE and the Commonwealth covering employees in bargaining Units 1, 3 and 6 will expire on June 30, 2008.
Our bargaining team has been preparing for negotiations since October 2007 and has been in active negotiations with representatives of the state since February of this year.
Progress has been very slow. The Patrick administration advised our team (and all of the other state unions as well) that they were not yet prepared to engage in serious negotiations over economic items until the budget and revenue situation became clearer. Although we have indicated clearly to them that there are limits to our patience, we have tried to take advantage of this lull by getting them to bargain seriously over a number of items that are important to us that have not been satisfactorily addressed in the past.
Among the many proposals we are pursuing are significant gains on items like the Family Medical Leave Act and the ongoing abuse of 03’s, 07’s, temporary-help contracts and other fiscal conduits used by some agency to avoid hiring regular state employees.
We are also pressing hard on eliminating abuses in recruiting new employees in some positions at higher salaries than existing employees with more experience. In addition, we have been pressing for an immediate increase in the mileage reimbursement rate. Although we have had a number of exchanges on these topics, progress has been disappointingly slow.
In order to maximize our bargaining power, we have been consulting with and coordinating with other SEIU locals (SEIU Local 509 and SEIU Local 888), as well as with other Unions representing state employees.
In the event that we fail to make significant progress at the table during the month of June, we will be reporting that fact to the membership along with recommendations about the next steps we will collectively need to make.
We will continue to provide you with updates as they become available and we appreciate your patience during these slow initial negotiations.