Post by Logan on Feb 12, 2016 19:56:15 GMT -6
Walker administration and union reach tentative 3-year deal with furloughs, no raises
JUNEAU — The administration of Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and the leadership of the state’s largest public employee union have reached a tentative pact on a three-year contract with no raises and two days of furloughs a year — in effect a wage cut.
Top lawmakers were notified this week of the deal between the negotiating teams for the Walker administration and the union, the general government unit of the Alaska State Employees Association. The proposal, which comes with the state’s massive budget crisis as a backdrop, must still be approved by the full membership of the union and the Legislature.
The union had 8,800 members as of June, but Jim Duncan, the executive director, said it lost about 300 members over the last year due to retirements and layoffs. Total annual pay for all members is about $440 million, and the furloughs should save the state about $9 million over the length of the three-year contract, which would take effect in July.
Over the contract’s lifetime, state payments to the union’s health-care plan would average the same as the current contribution of $1,389 a month per member — though that number will dip down for the first year before rising over the following two years.
Read more: www.adn.com/article/20160212/walker-administration-and-union-reach-tentative-3-year-deal-furloughs-no-raises
JUNEAU — The administration of Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and the leadership of the state’s largest public employee union have reached a tentative pact on a three-year contract with no raises and two days of furloughs a year — in effect a wage cut.
Top lawmakers were notified this week of the deal between the negotiating teams for the Walker administration and the union, the general government unit of the Alaska State Employees Association. The proposal, which comes with the state’s massive budget crisis as a backdrop, must still be approved by the full membership of the union and the Legislature.
The union had 8,800 members as of June, but Jim Duncan, the executive director, said it lost about 300 members over the last year due to retirements and layoffs. Total annual pay for all members is about $440 million, and the furloughs should save the state about $9 million over the length of the three-year contract, which would take effect in July.
Over the contract’s lifetime, state payments to the union’s health-care plan would average the same as the current contribution of $1,389 a month per member — though that number will dip down for the first year before rising over the following two years.
Read more: www.adn.com/article/20160212/walker-administration-and-union-reach-tentative-3-year-deal-furloughs-no-raises