SWEB & Staff Update 5-28-2010
1) HUMAN SERVICES CAMPAIGN:
Phase 2 of the Human Services Campaign is in full swing. The Candidate Education Forums have all been held. Strategic Communications will provide a summary of those events for SWEB. I was pleased to see great member turnouts and member participation at these forums. A HUGE thank you goes out to the Chapter Chairs and staff who worked so hard to make these events a success. Our radio ads are up and running in targeted areas. The ads focus on revenue enhancement – funding for public services. Op Eds have been submitted, as well as, Letters to the Editor and radio interviews.
The 20th Annual Lobby Day will be held Tuesday, June 15th. This Lobby Day is all about the budget and funding for public services that will impact every member in SEIU 668. Be part of the “purple ocean” to descend on the Capitol in Harrisburg and have your voice heard. There is nothing more important that you can do to protect your job than participate in the Human Services Campaign. Without your help, we cannot be successful in our efforts to ensure the state budget is not balanced on the backs of our members and Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable citizens. Please step up to protect your job and the people who depend on our vital services.
Leadership Training will be held September 10 – 12, 2010 at the Harrisburg Holiday Inn East. The focus will be on Developing the Next Generation of Leaders. Please begin to recruit members in your shops to attend. We need the experience of the tenured leaders, as well as, new leaders to step up for the future of this union. Leadership Training will NOT be a steward training. It will be a challenging learning experience with some fun added in. We need this training to be all about developing leaders, engaging and growing leaders, and sending those leaders back home to raise an army that will be needed as we move into Phase 3 of the Human Services Campaign – the next state contract, the next Governor and the next House and Senate.
2) CLEAR COALITION (Coalition of Labor Engagement and Accountable Revenues):
Please continue to check the CLEAR COALITION website to keep up to date with all the activities we are participating in via the Coalition.
3) MARY KEY HENRY - The New SEIU International President:
Saturday, May 8, 2010, in Washington, D.C., Mary Kay Henry was elected by the 73 member International Executive Board as the first female President of SEIU. She replaces Andy Stern, who is leaving after 14 years of leadership. Mary Kay becomes the union’s 10th President. Henry is noted for working side-by-side with SEIU members – meeting them at 3 am on night shifts in hospitals, walking picket lines, leading members in contract bargaining, and helping them discover the strength they have when they stand together. She has vowed to maintain and strengthen the union’s political and organizing priorities. A three-decade veteran of SEIU, Mary Kay was an Executive Vice President and the head of the healthcare division. She will lead the 2.2 million member SEIU, the nation’s largest and fastest growing union.
Mary Kay has also been invited to attend and to speak at our Leadership Training September 10-12, 2010. The next meeting of the SEIU International Executive Board is June 10-12, 2010 in Denver, Colorado.
4) PENSIONS:
You will most likely be hearing much more about pensions as we approach the pension bubble of 2012 for state employees. Counties, municipalities and our private contracts have all been feeling the pinch of pensions for quite some time. Members of the CLEAR Coalition that are affected by state pensions have been meeting to try to take a proactive approach on proposed changes that we know are coming.
Pennsylvania has 2 major pension systems – the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) and the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) – as well as about 3,100 municipal pension plans in communities across the state. There are 547,000 PSERS members, for which it paid $4.9 billion in benefits for fiscal year 2009. There are 220,097 SERS members (the majority of state workers fall under SERS) with an average annual benefit of about $22,000. Both are defined benefit plans, meaning employees receive a retirement benefit based on years of employment and other factors. Pensions are funded by a combination of employer and employee contributions, as well as, returns on investments in the stock market. Due to some legislative juggling in 2003, employer contributions were kept artificially low in order to avoid a major contribution spike following a depression coupled by increased benefits granted in the preceding 2 years. The juggling pushed the spike off for 10 years, with the hope that an improved stock market would offset the need for higher employer contributions. But all did not go as planned, and with that 10-year pause ending in 2012-2013, employer contributions are again set to skyrocket.
In the 1990’s, there was a tremendous return on investment dollars, so much so that the pensions funds exceeded 100% funded. For every $1 that the state owed, it had $1.30. It was the perfect time for legislators to push through the long-sought after pension increases, which they received when Governor Tom Ridge signed Act 9 into law. The legislation gave most legislators a 50% increase in pension benefits, while state and school employees saw their benefits go up by 25%. The following year, the legislature responded to the wrath of retirees who had been left out of the deal by increasing cost-of-living allowances by 25%.
When the market dropped, first after 9/11 and then the economic crisis in 2008, returns on investments dropped almost 30%. Today employers are contributing nearly $20 million per year LESS to pension plans than they did in 1980 and liabilities now greatly exceed assets. The shortfall is projected to exceed $13 billion by 2012.
The PA State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) approved the first of what could be more contribution increases in the employer contribution rate for the 2010-2011 fiscal year to 5.64%. That is up from the current 4%, an increase of more than $100 million over the expected contribution of $280 million this year. That could change if the Legislature adopts the Governor’s plan to cap the rate at 5%. The board cautioned that steeper increases are projected in future years as a result of investment losses, benefit enhancements and the 2003 law that suppresses rates until 2012. Current projections show rates rising above 20% for two decades.
5) GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT AND COSTS STUDY COMMISSION TESTIMONY:
Accompanied by County Assistance Office Statewide Chair for rank and file Gene Quaglia and County Assistance Offices Statewide Chair for supervisors Joel Levin, I testified in front of the Government and Costs Study Commission May 3, 2010. A copy of my testimony, cost savings proposals and CAO proposals are attached to my report along with a brief mention in the Republican Herald. Thanks to Gene and Joel for their input and responses to questions posed by the commission. We told the commission that some of these proposals go back to the Thornburg years and expect to hear from them for follow up. The commission is chaired by Senator Argall.
6) WORK SAFETY ISSUES:
We have all seen the disaster of the loss of 29 lives in Moncoal, West Virginia and the recent BP explosion that took 16 lives. Both were due to unaddressed safety issues and could have been prevented. Seems management would rather save a few bucks than save a few lives and they have shown utter disrespect for the workers, putting them intentionally at risk on the job. On a lesser scale, but still very important, we are seeing the same disrespect for our workers in 668, notably those at the Pittsburgh OVR (Office of Vocational Rehabilitation) and those at the CAO (County Assistance Office) in Philadelphia.
The members at the Pittsburgh OVR office have been making management aware of safety issues in the building even before they occupied it. Secretary-Treasurer Roni Hamiel addressed the Department of General Services about building safety issues from when the CAO was located in this building. There is a strong odor in the building, respiratory problems, eye irritation, rat and rat droppings and asbestos concerns. There are 45-50 worker’s compensation claims filed in addition to grievances, meetings with local and statewide meet and discuss and L & I Safety Committees. The members recently had a scathing spot on Team 4 action news with an investigative reporter and have written petitions to state officials running for Governor, Representatives, Senators and media outlets. I want to personally thank Chief Shop Steward George Yarnell, Alternate Steward Joe McCarthy, and Alternate Steward Joe Pulgini for their tireless work on this issue. I cornered Secretary Sandi Vito at the AFL-CIO Convention about these issues and was appalled at her response. She stated, “Did you know that staff didn’t want to move into this building?” NO WONDER! “Did you ever see the rats?” NO, BUT I SAW THE BUGS IN THE BASEMENT AND THE CEILING FALLING IN, THE POORLY AND HALF FINISHED ROOF AND THE LEAKS! I put her on notice that if anyone loses a life or is injured in that building that she is responsible and will follow up with a letter to her and to the Governor.
During the Candidate Education Forum in Philly, members were telling Roni and me that there is no paper at the West District County Assistance Office and LTIS. A member has been bringing in paper so that work can get done. There are no pens, only 1 copier in the office works and they are told this is because of the budget. Staff were told they could only use 2 fire exit doors – imagine a few hundred staff trying to get out 2 doors in a fire??? The other doors are broken. There is no toilet paper, paper towels or soap. The EAWs in Tioga complained about the ventilation and the carpets being filthy. Roni will be following up on these issues.
PLEASE make sure your steward and Business Agent are aware when issues like these arise. Make sure it is addressed at your local meet and discuss and safety committee meetings, and if not resolved, make sure it is taken to the statewide health and safety and meet and discuss. We cannot allow management to endanger the lives of our workers.
7) STATE CONTRACT BARGAINING:
The state contract will expire June 30, 2011. I am hearing all kinds of rumors that our sick leave is being taken away, we will lose our lump-sum rollover when we retire and on and on. Please pass the word that we have not had any discussions with the commonwealth about contract negotiations.