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Much has been happening since the beginning of July….when our contract expired.
First, the state administration imposed a $54 per month health plan premium increase beginning July 1st on each ASEA/AFSCME Local 52 member’s paycheck. Such an action created an economic impact to our membership…particularly affecting those ASEA members in the lower salary ranges. Attempts by our union’s bargaining team to avert this hardship have been rejected by the state administration thusfar.
On July 9th, the Alaska Labor Relations Agency (ALRA) issued a “Notice of Preliminary Finding of Probable Cause” that the State of Alaska had violated state law governing collective bargaining when it reneged on an offer that was taken off the table on the $54 per month health plan cost increase with state workers in ASEA. The ALRA finding was in response to an unfair labor practice (ULP) filed by our union.
Although negotiations continue through the month of July and early August, the state administration continues a “dug-in” position of NO WAGE INCREASE and NO HEALTH CARE CONTRIBUTION.
This has precipitated a series of events:
A number of questions are being asked by our membership on the issue
of a possible strike and it’s impact. I would recommend you look up the
ASEA/AFSCME Local 52 “Bargaining 99” Webpage:
http://www.arctic.net/~ASEA1/bargaining.htm#Q&A
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There is an excellent “Question and Answer” section that addresses these concerns and represents the official position of your union (ASEA/AFSCME Local 52). PLEASE READ IT!!!
On a lighter subject, a contest announcement was made in our July newsletter for a design for our Anchorage Chapter logo. I want to remind our Anchorage Chapter members that logo designs need to be submitted to our ASEA union office (Attn: Larry Nakata) by no later than September 1st. The winning design will receive $150 in movie pass certificates to Century 16 Theaters.
Finally….while congratulating this year’s scholarship winners (in last
month’s newsletter), I should have pointed out our chapter scholarship
program is named in honor of Linda Laflamme…a fine lady who passed away
last year. Linda was a good friend of our union who was always there volunteering
her time through “thick and thin” to better our union. We could always
count on Linda to help out no matter how difficult the task. She will be
missed….but will always be remembered through “The Linda Laflamme Scholarship
Program”………Your Editor.
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ANCHORAGE CHAPTER PRESIDENT’S LETTER
(This is the opinion of your Chapter president, Larry Rabideau,
and not that of the Chapter).
The last paycheck I had was missing $27. The envelope
contained an insert from my employer. The insert told me to contact my
union for an explanation of why my employer has stolen my money. Actually,
stolen is not the proper word because what they did was immoral and it
may be illegal.
They could have used reserves to pay for the projected cost increases
in Health Benefits – they didn’t. They could have paid for them but they
said they can’t because the mean ol’ Legislature won’t let them. They could
have adopted any of the alternative plans our union gave them to keep the
state out of your take home pay – they chose to take the money from you.
Now they are telling you not to fill the Notice of Pay Problems
(NOPP).
Well….I went to my union, as they asked me to, and my union says
to file the notice. So that is what I am gonna do. It may not do anything
but then again it may. Who am I gonna trust? The people who chose to take
away my money or the people that are trying to help me get it back?
Some of the members have expressed concern over having to go
out on strike – what will happen to the people who need help? The supervisors
won’t be able to do the work and people who need state help will suffer.
We need to take care of the people who depend upon us.
We need to take care of ourselves and our families too! The State
is making a choice by forcing you to take this action. They know you are
dedicated to the people you help, whether it is a welfare mom or someone
who needs their permanent fund dividend. They are counting on it.
The State has an obligation to serve those people and they have
ways of meeting that obligation. The Administration could actually bargain
in good faith! The Administration could give us the same amount of raise
the Legislature gave themselves. But in reality the State can, if it deems
the public health and safety is in peril, force the Class II employees
to come back to work by means of a court order. So there is a safety net.
Will the State do it? I don’t know. You see there is a down side
to the State doing the decent thing (getting a court order to get Class
II people back to work). If you force your workers to go back to work,
they are then eligible for binding arbitration. That means a neutral third
party decides what they should be paid and what benefits they should have…and
you can’t just sit at the bargaining table and “just say no” anymore.
You need to make the State take responsibility for what they
are forcing you to do. We have been saving them for 15 years, it is time
to stop and take care of you and your family.
To those of you concerned about the public and the job – let
the State take the responsibility of the actions it is forcing you to take.
The State has the power to end this right now, we don’t! We cannot afford
to give in this time…….Larry Rabideau.
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