The State continues to bargain in bad faith and has rejected our last best and final offer!
AFSCME and the State agreed to begin negotiations for Essential Worker Pay on Tuesday February 22, 2022. Throughout the negotiation process we’ve been disappointed with the State’s lack of empathy and appreciation for our membership.
The meet and confer team has worked diligently to present multiple proposals to the State that were fair and showed our attempt to bargain in good faith. To date, the State has rejected each proposal presented to them.
Throughout this process, AFSCME’s position continued to be that all Bargaining Unit 19 classifications shall receive the Essential Worker pay and that the State retroactively pay Essential Worker pay back to when the pandemic first began. The meet and confer team decided to submit a last best and final offer to the State which included agreeing to the State’s proposal of a one-time $1500 “Health Care Retention payment.” However, our proposal was to provide the one-time payment to all Bargaining Unit 19 members. The State rejected our last best and final offer and they have continued to stand on their last proposal of a one-time $1500 “Health Care Retention Payment,” that would only be provided to those classifications in Correctional Facilities, Correctional Health Facilities, State Hospitals, Veterans Home, and/or Developmental Services Facilities.
At this time, we don’t believe there’s much more that could be done in negotiations, and we must now ask you, our membership, to stand up and take action. We are planning a rally at the Capitol on Friday March 17, 2023 from 10 am – 1 pm to have our voice heard and to send a powerful message to the State that we will not back down!
For those interested in participating in the rally, please click here and complete this form or scan the QR code below.
