State Employees
SEBAC Leaders Vote to Bring Framework to Members
The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) voted Tuesday, May 23rd to open formal discussions with the Malloy administration around a framework that will save jobs and save costs to help address the ongoing revenue shortfalls that have caused Connecticut’s budget deficit.
Click here for union leaders’ framework.
Voting will begin Monday, June 23rd. Click here to find your voting location
This framework and potential savings are a clear example of why collective bargaining is so imperative for our state. Without collective bargaining, the billions of dollars in savings from years of agreed upon state worker concessions would not have been realized. This was an important first step as middle-class workers are doing their part to help solve the budget deficit. Now is the time for legislators to ask the same of the state’s most wealthy and billion dollar corporations.
A final SEBAC agreement will rescind the layoff notices that have been issued since April, provide four years of layoff protection and extend state health care and retiree health care benefits for five years.
Within this framework, the administration must complete all unit negotiations before SEBAC can move forward towards a membership vote.
There are critics who have already come out against this framework because they believe that it does not cause enough pain for working families. These critics would undoubtedly stand against any agreement with SEBAC. Those individuals need to be reminded of the fact that state employees continue to save the state $1 billion annually through concessions.
Helpful links
Next steps Questions and Answer
Medicare Advantage Question and Answer
Medicare Advantage Information
Update Healthcare Question and Answer
Future Retirees Question and Answer
SEBAC UPDATE for 1199 MEMBERS
The SEBAC unions are in engaged in informal discussions with the Malloy administration. The administration is seeking $700 million in savings in each year of the budget.
The state’s budget deficit is now at $5 Billion–so high that there is no possible way to resolve it without increasing revenue. We cannot cut our way out of this crisis.
To protect our clients, our services and our jobs, all 1199 members should contact their legislators and urge them to increase tax revenue to balance the budget.
You can contact your legislators by clicking here and filling in your name and address. If you are reading this webpage on your mobile phone you can also send your message as a text, If you are reading this page on your computer, you can copy and paste the link to strengthen your voice by sending that legislator a text as well. (The full link is: https://advocacy.seiu1199ne.org/co/ctrevenue.)
We will update you as new information becomes available.
Results of 2017 District-Wide Union Elections
On Monday, May 1, 2017, the American Arbitration Association counted the ballots for District-Wide 1199 union elections for Officers, Elected Organizers and Executive Board.
Click Results of District Elections – 2017 to see who was elected to serve for the next three years.
1199 Members Featured in New TV Ad
The Associated Press covered 1199’s new television spot that begin airing in February featuring state members. Read the article here!
Sue Haigh, Associated Press
February 29, 2016
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Amid worsening state budget deficit projections and a threat of more than 1,000 job cuts, one of Connecticut’s largest state employee unions launched a television ad campaign on Monday attempting to portray state workers as more than a “budget cut” or “political football.”
The 30-second spot was released by SEIU District 1199, a union that represents more than 7,600 state employees, including nurses, direct care workers and others. It marks the first public salvo in what could be a contentious debate in the coming weeks among Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the General Assembly and the state employee unions over how best to address the state’s current and projected shortfalls.
The ad is part of the union’s “One Connecticut” campaign. It appears to underscore the frustration of some state workers following successive years of budget deficits and cuts to state services they provide.
“I’m not sure how the state employee is actually driving that cost as much as they say that we’re driving it. I’m just not seeing it on our end,” said Darnell Ford, a direct care staffer at the Department of Children and Families who works with children with mental health issues and appears in the TV ad. “It’s frustrating and concerning that we’re being blamed, we’re being targeted.”
Vivian Riera Llantin, who oversees the HIV prevention program at the Department of Public Health, says in the ad, “I am not a budget cut.” She said there is a misperception in the public that state employees are “always the ones damaging the budget.”
The ad comes as new figures from the legislature’s Office of Fiscal Analysis show the deficit in the current $20 billion fiscal year general fund budget has grown to $266 million, and the following fiscal year beginning July 1 could be $900 million in the red.
Last week, Malloy, a Democrat, told reporters that those figures could either improve or worsen. But in the meantime, he promised “state government is going to be substantially smaller in the not too distant future.” On Monday, his administration canceled expected pay raises for managers, saying the state’s fiscal situation has “deteriorated significantly.”
Denise Bystrek is a head nurse at the Department of Veterans Affairs health center in Rocky Hill proclaims in the ad that she is not a political football. She said she has already seen support services such as respiratory therapy, X-rays and laboratory services reduced in recent years.
“We’re at minimum staffing, so it’s hard to imagine what layoffs would look like, because it seems like every budget year they cut more and more and the services get cut back more and more. And really, what’s left?” she asked.
While Malloy’s administration is negotiating new contracts with most of the state employee unions, the governor has also called on union leaders to consider making changes to the pension and benefits package for unionized state employees that is not set to expire until 2022.
Ford said state workers would likely be willing to talk about possible changes, but not before others, such as wealthy citizens and corporations, are asked to help to solve the budget problem.
“You need to take a look at someone other than just us,” he said. “Whoever is not paying their fair share, we should be looking at them also.”
http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/APNewsBreak-Unions-launch-TV-ads-to-address-job-6860634.php
1199 Members Vote to Make Our Union Stronger
This past week 1199 members voted on two important issues facing our union. First, members had to decide whether our newly organized child care members would be added to the list of workers in our union’s jurisdiction. Secondly, members voted on whether to give our union increased resources so we can take on the challenges and adversaries that threaten our union.
From December 1st- December 7th members cast ballots at voting locations across the state. Below are the voting results.
| QUESTION #1: Add child care workers to the list of workers in our Union’s jurisdiction? | ||||||||
| YES | NO | VOID | ||||||
| CT State Employees | 1391 | 321 | 27 | |||||
| CT Community Programs | 189 | 25 | 3 | |||||
| CT Hospitals | 339 | 5 | 2 | |||||
| CT Home Care | 112 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| CT Nursing Homes | 1582 | 65 | 8 | |||||
| Rhode Island (All) | 496 | 47 | 3 | |||||
| TOTAL # | 4109 | 464 | 45 | |||||
| QUESTION #2: Establishes a new dues schedule and increase the minimum and maximum dues levels | ||||||||
| YES | NO | VOID | Provisional Ballots | |||||
| CT State Employees | 1127 | 612 | 8 | 70 | ||||
| CT Community Programs | 139 | 77 | 1 | 19 | ||||
| CT Hospitals | 315 | 27 | 4 | 20 | ||||
| CT Home Care | 112 | 1 | 1 | 14 | ||||
| CT Nursing Homes | 1445 | 192 | 16 | 196 | ||||
| Rhode Island (All) | 426 | 100 | 8 | 17 | ||||
| TOTAL # | 3564 | 1009 | 38 | 336 * Provisional ballots were not determinative in any division | ||||
Both questions were passed overwhelmingly by the membership. Question 2 having been adopted will reflect an increase in dues effective January 1, 2016. This new structure will set us on the path toward building a stronger union that is equipped to be successful in the 21st century.
SEBAC V. ROWLAND CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT UPDATE
Class counsel has now reached a settlement of the SEBAC lawsuit with the Connecticut Attorney General. The settlement has been approved by the General Assembly.
The Court presiding over the case has also preliminarily approved the settlement and has scheduled a hearing to consider whether to give final approval for the settlement. That hearing will take place on October 1, 2015 at the United States District Court at 450 Main Street, in Hartford.
Class members will receive notice before the hearing – either by mail, email or workplace posting, or through publication in several newspapers throughout Connecticut – which will advise them of the date of the hearing and their rights with respect to the settlement. It is expected that the notices will be mailed, emailed or published on or before August 1, 2015.
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
To be a class member, you must have been employed by the State of Connecticut and a member of a bargaining unit (or, if you were under a working test period or training program, designated for membership in a bargaining unit when you completed the test period) as of November 17, 2002.
Class members will receive different compensation from the settlement depending on whether they were laid off from their State employment, bumped to a different position in the State workforce, or suffered some other adverse job consequence as a result of the layoffs.
In addition, all members of bargaining units will be entitled to receive compensation for the chilling of their union membership rights as a result of then-Governor Rowland’s targeting of union members for layoff.
We need to make sure that we have accurate information about each class member to make sure that you receive the proper award from the settlement.
If you believe you were a member of the class, have questions, or want to retrieve important documents or information about the lawsuit, please click on this link: www.sgtlaw.com/class-action-sebac-v-john-g-rowland/
Wage Increases for State Employees
State employees will be receiving a wage increase effective July 1, 2015.
First, determine your bargaining unit: you are either a NP-6 (10) or P-1 (11)
Second, determine your weekly hours of work e.g. 35, 37.5 or 40 hours
Third, determine your pay range. The pay range is the number to the left of the wage scale; e.g. PR 16 mental health assistant 1
P 1
HC 35 hours
XC 37.5 hours
FP 40 hours
NP-6
HN 35 hours
XN 37.5 hours
FX 40 hours
Dentists DX -35 hrs; DY-37.5 hrs; DZ-40 hrs.
Physicians/Psychiatrists RX- 35 hrs; RY-37.5; RZ-40 hrs
Part time physicians
State Contract Negotiations Begin September 2015
Negotiations for a new contract for the P-1 and NP-6 bargaining units will begin in September 2015. Our contract expires June 30, 2016.
Our negotiations committee will be comprised of about seventy-five (75) union members. There will be approximately one negotiating committee member representative for every 75 – 100 members.
Petitions for nominations to run for the negotiating committee will be available beginning June 25, 2015, through your organizer and delegates. Completed petitions must be in the 1199 Hartford Office at 77 Huyshope Avenue, by July 8th.
After this nominating process is concluded, elections will be scheduled beginning July 14, 2015 and will be completed by August 13, 2015.
On May 22, 2015 contract surveys were distributed to all members through email, the delegates and the Union website. These surveys are a critical tool in developing our proposals and strategies, so if you haven’t yet, please take the time to fill these surveys out. They should be turned into your delegate or organizer by August 15th or can be completed here on our website.
We are looking forward to hearing from all 1199’ers as we prepare for the challenges – and the opportunities – that await us in the next months.
1199 State Members: On-Line Contract Survey
The 1199 Contract covering 8,000 state employees expires on June 30, 2016. Although we are more than a year away from our contract expiration, we are starting the negotiation process now. It is our intention to begin negotiations with the State of Connecticut in September, so that we have a contract ready for a vote by the General Assembly during the 2016 legislative session.
This contract survey is an important first step. We develop many of our contract demands from these surveys. To take the survey on-line, please click here. If you prefer to download and fill out the survey on paper, please click here and, when you have completed your survey, return it to your delegate or organizer by Sunday, August 15th, 2015.