MAPE Board votes unanimously for contract ... Now, members asked to ratify new two-year agreement

MAPE Negotiations Update
April 24, 2009

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MAPE BOARD OF DIRECTORS VOTE UNANIMOUSLY FOR CONTRACT … NOW, MEMBERS ASKED TO RATIFY NEW TWO-YEAR AGREEMENT
MAPE’s Board of Directors voted Friday to send the package to the membership for a vote with the recommendation that they accept the offer for a new two-year contract. MAPE members are being asked to ratify a new two-year contract in voting that will take place next month.

The tentative agreement was unanimously recommended for approval to the Board by the MAPE Negotiations Team on Wednesday. Over the next few weeks, MAPE members will learn details of the contract offer at informational meetings held all across the state.

• Furloughs are gone. After MAPE shows governor’s team that furloughs will cost the taxpayers of Minnesota more than $4 million, furloughs are dropped.
• NO CHANGE IN INSURANCE COVERAGE. Saving $85 million in health care costs that the state wanted to shift to state employees.
• MAPE eliminated the governor’s team across-the-board wage cuts.
• Negotiations status – This is a mediated proposed settlement for the first time since Al Quie was governor.

Important dates to remember:

• Must be a full member by noon on May 15 to vote on the contract.
• Ballots will be mailed by May 29.
• Last day for locals to hold contract informational meetings is:  June 12. Can start after Board recommended contract to membership for a vote on April 24.
• Ballots must be sent back to the special Post Office box set up for this election by June 19.
• Ballots will be counted on June 22.

Click here for a list of region/local contract informational meetings.

FURLOUGHS ARE GONE!

MAPE’s Negotiations Team showed that 48 days of unpaid leave will not save the State of Minnesota money. Once the lost revenue due to furloughs is calculated, it will cost the State of Minnesota $4,330,000 to enact furloughs. That’s right. The state will run a deficit to enact unpaid leave.

• While the governor’s team insisted on unpaid leave claiming that it would save Minnesota taxpayers $66,650,000.
• Then the MAPE team presented the governor’s team with solid research that could not be refuted:
  • If furloughs occurred, the State of Minnesota would lose $70,970,000 in uncollected income taxes, lost federal money that the state receives in revenue, and reimbursement that Minnesota will have to pay the federal government. MAPE’s team ran through the numbers and by the end of the session, the governor’s team acknowledged that they had not taken the losses into account. The result of MAPE’s work showed that Minnesota taxpayers would have to PAY $4,330,000 to enact furloughs. 
  • To add to their case, the MAPE team provided documentation to the governor’s team informing them of the federal requests although the Social Security Administration sent their notice to the governor. The goal was to help keep the governor’s team informed of the consequences of imposing unpaid leave on jobs that are federally funded as well as services that are provided with federal funds. Again, the governor’s team was not aware of the federal agencies request for reimbursement and asked for copies of the information.

HEALTH CARE SAVINGS

• NO CHANGE IN INSURANCE COVERAGE. Saving $85 million in health care costs that the state wanted to shift to state employees.
• Health care premium costs are frozen for year one.
• There will be a $125 employer contribution to your Benny card in year two. In the second year, there will be a family premium increase of 6.7 percent or approximately $3.95 per pay period.
• The state wanted to raise the amount of the deductible at certain clinics as well as increasing other out-of-pocket costs for going to your clinic. MAPE fought back and made sure that there was a hard freeze at current levels so there will be no increases for the length of the contract.  

MAPE ELIMINATES WAGE CUTS

• MAPE eliminated the state’s take-back wage proposals. The governor’s team wanted to cut wages across-the-board by 1.5 percent for each year of the contract. The tentative agreement calls for a two-year wage freeze.
• The governor’s team wanted to eliminate step increases for both years. There will be one step increase for those who are eligible and meet performance standards in the second year of the contract.

MEDIATOR PROPOSED SETTLEMENT

• For the first time since the Quie Administration, there will be a mediator proposed settlement. Why? Well, as it turns out, the governor’s team was unwilling to come to a voluntary settlement with MAPE and AFSCME. 
• The good news is that with the solid research that the MAPE team produced regarding the cost of furloughs and other ways to eliminate bloated areas in government, the mediator proposed settlement used our information as a basis for a good settlement that will preserve public services and prevent furloughs.

Comments

[Keith]

Great job on using a 3rd party "Mediator".

The concept of a requiring a "Mediator" or "Forced arbitration" when either side is at an empass, is far better than strikes.

I highly recommend making sure all future negotiations start with a no-strike policy. The contract will be a "Voluntary Settlement" or it will be a "3rd Party Mediator" chosen settlement.

[Susanne Spitzer]

My wages were frozen for two years under Governor Carlson. This contract does the same thing. Why didn't MAPE leadership demand that lost wage and Cost of Living increases be reimbursed if the economy improves? For those of us eligible for retirement under the Rule of 90 in a few years, this contract means we will have lost FOUR years worth of wages, in addition to a sinking 401(k). My family will never get those back if this contract is approved. I'd rather strike or hold out any day than accept this. As for health insurance, the deductibles, co-insurance and copays have gone up so much that it's making a lovely hole already in our family budget at a time when kids are about to head off to college. Please, please, think again.

[A lifetime public servant]

Ditto Keith's post. No proposal was made to have a step added to the top of the range while the bottom step was eliminated thereby giving everyone at least something to look forward to in the second year? Did all the appeals run out on the Hay study after so much of MAPE's time and effort? We have givin so much in years past, I am worse off now than I was 10 years ago, especially now with family members unemployed. Sure, it sounds better to the public to say wage freeze. I understand that. But what about a provision to give the dedicated state workers a little something based on performance, more health care benny for first year, or more deferred comp match. Again with the hiring freeze and layoffs coming to our agency, we will be taking on more responsibilities with even less and less staff.