5-31-07 !!!! Contract to be sent out to members for vote by all four units. What happens if the Contract is rejected?

If the contract is rejected we may not have a contract in force on July 1. Bargaining would go to fact finding where the Union and the State make their cases. If no agreement is reached, the next step is arbitration and no matter what the findings; the State can refuse to accept the ruling. There is NO legal method to force the State to accept pay increases, or to pay retroactive pay. Not having a contract means that you will continue to work under the current contract while negotiations are continuing and that any money that would have been due on July 1 will have to be bargained for retroactively. UPDATE: If we have no contract the State cannot be made to give step raises when due. This is due to a legal decision handed down several years ago. The bargaining committee voted on Thursday May 31 and all four units voted to send the contract to the members for a vote.
There was a lot of disappointment with the legislature and the governor for not backing employees. The overall tone was that the negotiating team and the Union employees had fought a tremendous battle against attacks on health care, attacks to decertify the union, and politicians looking to make a name by breaking promises to state employees. This years negotiating team operated differently than ever before. Every proposal had to get 100% agreement to bring forward, modify,drop or to accept. The number of TAs at the table showed the strength of units working together. Now it is up to the members.

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What do you think about the State Employee Contract?

Remember only the members can pass or reject the contract and only if you vote.

What do you think about the possible Contract?

Do you like it? Hate it? Don't care? What are the best parts? What is the worst?

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We Can Hear You Now!

What do you want to know about. Are there health care issues you are concerned with? Do you want to know something and don't know where to go? Do you want to let out a complaint and not have it on any "official" Union web page. This is the place to go! You can post anonymously and I don't get any information on email addresses from your post. I would never share your information and this makes it even easier. Or you can join the mailing list by subscribing below if you want to be updated with new articles and news.

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Day One

I created this Blog to be a place to discuss Union issues in Maine. This will be a moderated Blog. There will be no Flaming and no obscene language. No one will be referred to by name unless I have contacted the person and gotten their permission. Name calling and obscene language don't scare me but I will insist that people receive respect on this site because as Union employees we get too little respect for the dedication and quality work we provide. If people must YELL they must use their imagination rather than rely on simple four letter words. Call some one the product of a matter transport experiment gone bad or the proof of reverse evolution if you must call names. In the future I look forward to suggestions for news articles and I will be posting surveys on line to do with Bargaining, your pay and your benefits. I think that we can get more people involved by asking "What do you want to say?" I have just gone through months of negotiations with some of the best people that ever represented their fellow workers. The "Union" did not run these negotiations. The "Union" provided excellent professional help, but your elected brothers and sisters were the negotiators and the people with the imagination to come up with a good contract while the Union was under direct attack by outside groups and by portions of the legislature. After seeing how much we can do in even small groups I can't help but think there are many good ideas we have not heard from people before. You can post your ideas here and get feedback here. Please remember that this is on the web and anything you say can be read and used for good or bad by anyone with access to a computer.

I am pro-union, but my ideas are my own, I am not run by the union, and I will present any ideas from any source. I don't have any big disagreements with my Union, but some people feel that they need a forum that allows anonymous comments can be helpful.

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