February 15, 2023
Brothers, Sisters, and Union Siblings, we are living in unusual times—and to win the contract we deserve, we can’t carry out bargaining as usual. We need to take a different approach, and that’s exactly what we did today.
First, we told the Commonwealth again today that their ground rules are unnecessary for a fair and good faith bargaining process. We stood strong and let them know if they committed to a date for final proposals we would be willing to agree to a version of the ground rules that meets our needs.
We also made several key proposals that showed we are united for real improvements to our wages, paid time off, and a contract that honors our dedication and skills:
- Wages: We proposed a 2-year contract with 21.24% wage increases across the board, for a total of 42.48% raises for all our members by 2025. This number is the difference between what elected officials including the Governor received in pay raises during the last 6 years (2016-2022) and what state workers received (55.8% versus 12.6%).
- Paid Time Off: We proposed 5 paid days off available to every employee on their first day of work.
- Bilingual Differential: Our proposal has two parts: an increase to bilingual differential from $50 to $125 per biweekly pay period, and changing the requirements to receive the differential to make it available to anyone who provides bilingual services regardless of whether it is a significant component of the job.
- Longevity: Over 40% of our bargaining survey respondents have been working for the state for 12 years or more. We let the Commonwealth know we want a meaningful longevity incentive that counts towards retirement contributions.
- Grievance Procedure: The current grievance procedure isn’t functioning well for our members. We proposed a monthly arbitration date and a set panel of agreed-upon arbitrators to move the process along.
- Chapter Supplementals: We let the Commonwealth know that we are planning to open the supplementals for CCJ-CPO, IST, DESE, DDS, DPH, DOR, MCB, & MRC. We will also be creating a new supplemental for CCJ-TPO, CCJ-DYS, and DHCD.
We are also excited to announce we have scheduled our first evening bargaining session on March 9! RSVP now to show up strong & get insight into the process:
Thursday, March 9, 2023 • 4:00PM
Location TBD (Marlborough area)
Finally, make sure to check out our NEW digital toolkit with Zoom backgrounds and printable signs to show solidarity!
Onward,
Your Local 509 Bargaining Committee
