Library workers have been serving our community in front-facing positions throughout the pandemic.  We need vaccines in order to safely serve our patrons.  Protect librarians, protect our communities!

Click Here for the minutes.

The following received the top three votes for the 2021 Election Committee Election:

Click Here for the February, 2021 Newsletter.

Telecommuting, the Pandemic, and other such questions.

Clocks are changing this weekend, winter is slipping into Spring, vaccines are going into arms and COVID-19 restrictions are easing.  So it is reasonable that employees begin asking the questions about if or when state office buildings will start to open up full-time.  Honestly, we are not sure of that answer.  We do know that “easing restrictions” and “re-opening” are not the same thing.

We also know that telecommuting works!

Throughout the pandemic, the workforce has been operating under Governor Lamont’s emergency directives, which included more liberal telecommuting guidelines than the 2017 SEBAC telework agreement.  As statewide restrictions are lifted, it is likely that the workforce will be asked to be onsite at their agencies with greater frequency.  While terrible in every respect, the pandemic provided the opportunity to demonstrate that telecommuting works.  The A&R workforce has done just that – successfully carrying on the state’s business remotely over the past twelve months.

We have shown that telecommuting works! 

So at this point, telework will continue under the directive of Governor Lamont.  There have not been discussions on when or how or if this will change.  At the very least, we do expect that the Governor will grant us enough respect to hold those conversations with the unions and address the myriad of issues faced by the workforce if a return to the offices is under consideration (child care issues, health concerns, working conditions, the success and benefits of teleworking). 

We will remind the Governor that telecommuting works! 

As the world slowly returns to normal, we will do all that is necessary to ensure employee health and safety concerns are addressed.  We will also continue to push the point that telecommuting works, and that it should be maintained across the workforce wherever feasible.  At the very least, we still have an operable Teleworking Agreement with the State that allows telecommuting up to 2 days per week.  We expect that as the transition to normalcy progresses, how things are handled will vary from agency to agency.  While we expect a reasoned approach by the Governor’s Office and the Office of Labor Relations, we also expect that at various agencies such a reasoned approach will be ignored.  And of course we can predict how this will be handled by certain managers.  We will work through those situations as they arise.

A Few Upcoming Events That May Be Of Interest:

Saturday March 13, 9:30AM – Senator Steve Cassano will hold a Town Hall for A&R members to discuss the State Budget and other current  pending legislative issues.  If you would like to join this Zoom event, please follow this link  

https://zoom.us/j/96429809470

Meeting ID: 964 2980 9470

Monday March 15, 11AM – SEBAC will be hosting a Facebook Live event on the State’s “Re-investment Budget”.  If you would like to watch this press event live, follow this link  https://www.facebook.com/connecticutSEBAC/live/

Tuesday March 23, 6:00PM – SEBAC will be holding a seminar on the COVID Vaccine and Roll-Out.  If you would like to register to join this learning session:  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScG59I9IdnwS9AlMV4jK1uoGs8j2Tt7Cf3Ekl5m3jzMDXibqQ/viewform

-posted 3/12/21
 

AFT Healthcare-Maryland's bargaining team negotiated a successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for employees in Bargaining Unit E effective January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2023. All employees in Bargaining Unit E are entitled to participate in the ratification vote for the contract. We have scheduled a ZOOM meeting for Wednesday, March 24, 2021 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Please register below by COB on 3/23/21. The  tentative agreement can be found here.

We will have a presentation of changes to the contract with an opportunity for members to ask questions at the meeting.

TO REGISTER & FOR MORE INFO, CLICK THROUGH FOR 

Please click the link, March 2021 General Membership Meeting Agenda, to view and download the agenda. 

Co-Sponsors: AFT St. Louis & SLPS Foundation.

6 P.M. March 11. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/601650530675712/permalink/886817765492319/

Please click the link, March 2021 Executive Board Meeting Minutes, to view and download the minutes. 

Please click the link, February 2021 General Membership Meeting Minutes, to view and download the minutes.