Finally! The City has made their first formal offer of the AFSCME Contracts. Well, at least for the General Employees we have something in writing.
Keep coming back to this article throughout today and tomorrow, as we go through and figure out what the City is offering we will update it here.
And don’t forget…. tomorrow, Thursday Sept 12th, the negotiation meetings begin at 9:00 a.m. in room 215. You are welcome to sit in the audience, no that’s not quite right… You are encouraged! to sit in the audience and see first hand what the City is offering as they offer it.
First Item of Interest:
Article 10 – Wages:
Starting October 2013, 2.5% for everyone.
Starting April 2014, 3% for all non-enterprise funded employees.
AND in April 2014, a possible wage re-opener.
What this means for you:
For the year, 2.5% for enterprise employees, 4% for everyone else, with chance of having the wages dropped again in April because of the re-opener.
Edit – Sorry for the confusion…. the proposal includes a 3% starting in April, which is effectively 1.5% because it is only for 6 months. 2.5% and then effectively 1.5% makes 4% for the year. The following year it works out as 5.5%.
Second Item of Interest:
Article 11 – Assignment Pay:
Assignment pay will no longer be available for any period of work less than 40 hours.
What this means for you:
You will only be eligible for Assignment pay if you work MORE than 40 hours. That means if you cover for your boss for only a week you get nothing in return for working in the higher responsibility level.
Third Item of Interest:
Article 17 – Performance Review:
Probationary periods are increasing to 12 months. The two possible outcomes of any review is Unsatisfactory or Satisfactory. Part-timers probationary period is expanding to 2080 hours.
What this means for you:
If you are a part-timer it will be twice as long before you are eligible for any benefits. And there are NO MERIT INCREASES! Ever! You do your job, you pass or fail, and maybe if your boss likes you they can give you a raise. If they feel like it or something. So much for the Pay-for-Performance idea the City was promoting to improve our City for our residents.
Fourth Item of Interest:
Article 21 – Voting Time:
Removed.
What this means for you:
No leaving early or arriving late to cast your vote in elections.
Fifth Item of Interest:
Article 24 – Life and Health Insurance:
This one has a lot of If-Then-Before-After Clauses so it will be best to be addressed in its own topic. The very short version is Everyone’s Co-Pays will be $40, the amount your insurance costs you is going up, and Hearing and Vision are gone.
What this means for you:
More expensive insurance with less coverage. Some comments regarding the Affordable Care Act, more commonly called Obama-Care, that will be addressed by those more knowledgeable than me.
Sixth Item of Interest:
Article 36 – Anniversary Milestones (Formerly Longevity):
Again with some if-then-before-after clauses…. At the 5 year mark you get a one-time check for $500. At the 10 year mark you get a one-time check for $1,000. At the 15 Year mark you get 5% raise. At the 20 Year mark you get a 3% raise.
What this means for you:
You make it to the five-year mark, here’s a check. Make it five more years and here’s another check. While being handed $1,000 is pretty cool, it really pales in comparison to what the 5% raise would have been over the course of a year for most employees. In other words, here’s a nice token of our appreciation for working so hard for so long, don’t spend it all in one place kid.
Seventh Item of Interest:
Article 51 – Volunteer Day:
A pilot program allowing you take one paid day per year and volunteer somewhere approved by the City.
What this means for you:
Volunteering for the community is a good thing. Getting paid by the City to volunteer? Kind of makes it not volunteering, doesn’t it? And this isn’t going to apply to everyone because most volunteer opportunities are during the day when some of our shift-workers are trying to sleep. Meh.
And lastly, for today at least, here is the PDF version of the City’s Proposed Contract: AFSCME General – City Proposal 09-10-2013 (best to right-click and save as)