TENTATIVE AGREEMENT 

NFT will update this COVID-19 dashboard as we receive information from NUSD regarding positive student and staff cases at school sites. NUSD updates their dashboard weekly.

RC 43 TRIF-ic News is the newsletter of NYSUT Retiree Council 43, Teacher Retirees In Florida. It is published quarterly. 

Brothers and Sisters,

Happy New Year from FOSCEP!  This will serve as official notification of the General Membership Meeting, which is scheduled for February 8, 2021 via ZOOM at 12 noon.  

Please RSVP by February 1^st to foscep@comcast.net .  The ZOOM information will be provided upon receiving your RSVP. 

If you do not RSVP you will not be able to gain access into the meeting. 

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Tina Weaver – President

Kevin Mock – Vice President

Dara DeRoiste – Treasurer

Coronavirus Vaccinations: Connecticut has started to roll out phase 1A of the Coronavirus vaccination process.  Phase 1A includes employees who are healthcare workers, long-term care facility employees, and first responders. For State Employees, the following agencies have established a schedule for 1A employees:  DMHAS, DDS, DOC, DCF, and OCME.   The vaccinations for 1A employees within these agencies will begin Wednesday 1/6/21 and will be administered "on-site" according to a schedule released by the Comptroller's Office.  This does NOT mean all employees at these agencies will be eligible for the vaccination at this time, ONLY employees who meet the qualifications for phase 1A (basically 1A is for "patient-care" employees).

Each agency will be communicating with employees as to the eligibility for vaccination as well as the site-location and time for vaccination.  The vaccine being used is the Moderna vaccine (although this can change).  Vaccinations are not mandatory.

The qualifications for the next phases of vaccination are not yet finalized.  The vast majority of A&R employees will not qualify for vaccination in Phase 1A so we will let you know as the situation evolves.  The hope is that we can begin to put this craziness behind us soon, but we are still in this mess for at least several more months.

Related Topic:  If you do contract COVID19 and you believe it is likely that you contracted it from your work environment, please don't forget to complete and submit a Worker's Comp claim (WCC Form 30C).  We do not know how this will play out, but by completing the Workers Comp Claim form you will preserve your right to make a claim if there are long-term impacts from the disease.

Unrelated Topic: A&R has secured two dates in January 2021 for contract negotiations (our current contract expires June 30, 2021).  As with all negotiations, we are prohibited from discussing details as the process plays out, but we will do our best to communicate the progress as we move along.  Financial proposals will not be exchanged for several months.  Keep in mind, we are only negotiating the A&R/P-5 contract, we are not negotiating anything around Pension/Healthcare as those items are controlled via the union coalition (SEBAC) and that contract is in place through June 2027.

A&R Convention:  The A&R Annual Convention will be held on Thursday April 22, 2021.  It will be held at the union office in Rocky Hill (805 Brook St, Rocky Hill, CT).  Most likely, this will be another event in the parking lot.  The Convention will begin at 6:00pm.

posted 1/4/21

Please see the Spring 2021 Adjunct Pay Schedule

HCCC Support Staff Unit Local 6026 members,

I think you all agree that the second half of this year has been full of surprises that none of us could have ever imagined going through.  We can say that for the most part we all hung in there through thick and thin and came out stronger for it. We’ve had some challenges in 2020 and know that in the new year we will still have to work even harder to make sure that we stay the course and face those challenges head on and we will.   You have a strong union and we are all here for each other.  As long as we stick together we will win! 

That being said, we just wanted  to wish you all a happy, healthy, safe and peaceful holiday season and new year before we all go our separate ways.  We look forward to a much better 2021 and believe strongly that we will come out a better stronger organization.

Enjoy your holiday break and we’ll see you in 2021!

In Solidarity,

Your HCCC Support Staff Union Local 6026 Leadership Team

Dorothea, Patrick, Daisy, and Hope

DUE TO COVID-19, THE UCPEA OFFICE IS CURRENTLY CLOSED AND STAFF ARE WORKING REMOTELY. TO CONTACT THE OFFICE PLEASE CALL THE MAIN OFFICE AT (860) 487-0850,  EMAIL THE GENERAL MAILBOX AT UCPEAOFFICE@UCPEA.ORG OR THE STAFF PERSON YOU ARE WORKING WITH DIRECTLY. THE LIST OF STAFF EMAIL ADDRESSES CAN BE FOUND UNDER THE CONTACT US MENU. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES.

03/08/2021

The UCPEA Executive Board asks our members to stand in solidarity with our colleagues in the Asian American Cultural Center, UConn’s Association for Asian American Faculty and Staff (AAAFS), and the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute (AAASI) in supporting the Asian and Asian-American members of our community, following news reports of increased anti-Asian violence across the United States, including a front page story in today’s Hartford Courant.

The attachments to this message include a statement from AAAFS describing the increasing incidents of hate crimes, bias incidents and racist bullying against Asians and Asian Americans. There is also information about a virtual panel discussion on March 18 at 5 p.m. that will provide perspectives on today’s climate and its impact on UConn’s Asian and Asian American community that will include UConn students, faculty, and staff to help galvanize anti-racist efforts that will benefit us all.

Personal Leave:  Please don't forget to use your PL time before the end of this calendar year, there is nothing we can do to recover the time for you if you don't use it by 12/31/2020, it is "use it or lose it".

Step Increases/Top Step Payments:  Step Increments will occur on January 1, 2021 and show up in your 1/29/21 paycheck (yes, this is that very rare year when the start of the payperiod is actually January 1 so we will get the increment later than we normally would expect to receive it).  Those already on the 9th Step who can't receive a Step Increment will receive a 2.5% Top Step Payment on 1/29/21.

Paid Family Medical Leave Insurance: this is a new law passed in 2019 which establishes pay and job protection to all Connecticut employees relating to medical or family leaves.  The key takeaway from this: currently, this program does not apply to unionized State Employees and we will NOT have the 1/2% contribution withheld from our paychecks.  Unionized State Employees can negotiate for inclusion in the PFMLI, but we currently are not covered by this act and therefore not required to make contributions.  There are aspects of the PFMLI that are beneficial (and arguably there are situations where the PFMLI is advantageous to what we currently have), so it is intriguing as to whether we would want to join, but understand that we are currently exempt and we are not looking to change that at this time.

Telecommuting and Winter Weather:  A reminder to those on telecommuting schedules that major winter weather events do not automatically impact your work day.  As a general rule, if you have the capability to telework during the weather event, you should do so, regardless of the impact the weather event has on office operations.  Think of it this way: shift cancellations, late openings, and early dismissals are usually made to keep us off of the roads during hazardous conditions.  Those hazardous conditions will not be encountered by telecommuters. If you are deemed "essential" for snow storms and required to leave your home to report to work under a Governor's closing of the offices, you will qualify for Comp Time.

Contract Negotiations:  Our collective bargaining agreement expires June 30, 2021.  Preparations are underway to negotiate a successor agreement.  The union's negotiations team held its first meeting with our counterparts from the Office of Labor Relations in early December, at that meeting ground rules were established for the coming negotiation sessions, which will commence in early 2021.

Have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year's celebration!

-12/23/2020