SWEB & STAFF Update 10-28-09
SWEB AND STAFF UPDATE
October 28, 2009
Submitted by Kathy Jellison
1. The State Budget – the Governor is AGAIN announcing furloughs via the media with no notification to the Union. To date, the commonwealth has not asked to meet with the Union nor have they determined if and where there will be furloughs. We were given a 30-day notice of “possible” furloughs on September 25, 2009. No other communication has been received. The Governor claims that because of recurring revenue in the new budget, he will only have to furlough “hundreds” of state employees and not the “thousands” that he predicted. The Union’s response to the press is that the citizens of Pennsylvania will suffer from not fully funding public services. The Governor should hold public hearings on our cost-savings ideas and listen to the audit of Auditor General Jack Wagner.
2. Auditor General Jack Wagner’s audit on vendor contracts – the audit was released October 21, 2009. It revealed what most of us have already known – that reform is needed on the process of awarding contracts to private vendors. The audit found that the state paid $592 million to Deloitte Consulting LLP for computer-related services over a 4-year period while also giving it an additional $2.25 million in economic-development grants to help it service those same state contracts. The 179 page special performance audit showed that $382 million worth of contracts initially awarded to Deloitte swelled by 55% due to flaws in the bidding process for procurement of services. A $750,000 grant was used to purchase furniture and office equipment and $1.5 million used to reduce state taxes ($1 million in violation of the law). The Auditor General called on the Rendell Administration to reform the state’s procurement process and to include proper reviews to ensure transparency and compliance with state law. Deloitte was awarded 84 contracts worth $592 million, including 7 sole-source contracts totaling $29 million. Deloitte provided information technology to 15 state agencies, including the Department of Public Welfare, the Department of Health and the Department of Labor and Industry. Wagner’s audit made 37 recommendations on how the Department of General Services can improve accountability, transparency and competition in the procurement process. While this is great news and a boost to our efforts on the Human Services Campaign, it does not address the fact that the systems do not work! As part of the Human Services Campaign, this continues to be part of the focus of exposing waste and cost-savings and listening to those on the front lines that do the work. Our question is very simple – WHY is there so much money for faulty technology and none to hire adequate staff to do the work?
3. The Human Services Campaign – your Leadership staff held an all-day planning meeting October 19, 2009 to focus on the next phase of the Human Services Campaign. While we do not have all the budget information and analysis, we certainly know that public services has been flat-funded for the 7th straight year and the impact this will have on every member of 668 - state, county, local and private. The next budget address for 2010-2011 will be in early February 2010, and this local needs to move in that direction. The current budget does add $300 million to education and $8 million to County Child Welfare for abuse and at-risk children. However, at $27.8 billion, it is $520 million less than last year. There will be $700 million less stimulus money in the 2010-2011 budget year and then it goes away completely; it drains the Rainy Day Fund; takes $708 million from medical malpractice monies; $150 million from the tobacco settlement monies; $100 million from the M-Care fund; $240 million in gaming and gambling (this issue has not yet been resolved). In addition, there will be deep cuts to the County Human Services Development Fund ($5.6 million); a $3 million reduction in the CAO line item; $1.5 million to the Department of Health for Drug and Alcohol treatment, $26.6 million from Labor and Industry, the probable closure of Allentown State Hospital and $8 million from DPW (all departments except the state police). We have little time and much to do before the budget address in February. The revenue forecast for the next budget is not good – the prediction is for 0 to 1% growth, less stimulus money, and it is an election year-compounded by the pension issue. We will need to make up $2 billion in the next budget year. Local 668 will be having a staff meeting November 17, 2009 to first go over the campaign, get input and plan next steps followed by a Human Services Campaign Budget Summit on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 (please mark your calendars!) for Chapter Chairs, Committee Chairs and staff to work together and move forward with the plan. It took 101 days to get this budget – a budget that falls incredibly short on the issue of funding and continuing public services. Attached please find the HSC Plan update with tactical timelines going forward toward the next budget.
4. COPE Blitz – thanks to the hard work of Legislative Director Bill Bacon, we will be continuing this very important program. We need our COPE dollars more than ever before! Thanks.
5. Election Day – Tuesday, November 3, 2009 – Pennsylvania’s judicial elections are of critical importance to working families, just as important as local and municipal elections. With a stroke of the pen judges decide about the quality of the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, our children’s access to quality education, our family’s access to healthcare, our right to worker’s compensation when we get hurt earning a living, our right to unemployment compensation when our plant or worksite closes……even our right to vote. Right now, with the recent payless paydays and last year’s “essential” and “non-essential” furloughs, we are in the midst of an appeal with the Pa. Supreme Court which will set a precedent on how workers are treated in the future. We need labor-friendly judges making these decisions. It is, as always, your individual decision to vote for the candidate of your choice. Do your homework and elect judges and others who have an excellent record on cases that affect our jobs, our healthcare, our pensions, our collective bargaining rights, as well as, other issues impacting the quality of life of our families and communities.
6. Healthcare Reform- Bill Bacon also spearheaded the efforts on the National Call - In Day for Healthcare. In the wake of the terrible stories emerging, babies being denied healthcare because they are too fat or too thin and women being denied coverage as pregnancy or domestic abuse are considered “pre-existing” conditions, we need everyone to finally move legislation through Congress to make healthcare affordable and assessable to all. Local 668 committed to 100 calls by October 9, 2009. We surpassed our goal and made 175 calls. Thanks to everyone for your help and participation. Collectively across the nation, we made over 300,000 calls. There will be an event this Thursday, October 29th at the Capitol. The Grim Reaper will take 122 souls – the number of deaths everyday associated with the lack of healthcare. The event will be on the Capitol steps from 4:30 – 5:30 pm.
7. H1N1 News – there are reports of shortages of the vaccine, please visit the web site at www.H1N1in Pa.com or call 1-877-PA-HEALTH for locations of the nearest vaccine location.
8. Pensions – after the 4-week struggle pitting unions against lawmakers over collective bargaining rights for municipal pensions, Governor Rendell signed Act 44 into Pa. law on September 18, 2009. Act 44 is an important piece of legislation – not just for what it contains, but also for what it could have contained as the Senate tried to add dozens of pages of pension “reform” ideas that would slash municipal pension benefits. As we are hearing of pension nightmares across the state, some states are increasing the member contributions; creating two-tier systems for new employees; shifting employees from traditional defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans AND a balloon payment due in Pa. in 2012. We will be spending some time at the December 2009 SWEB to look at pensions and the impact of them on upcoming contract negotiations.
9. U.S. Department of Labor decision – on September 30, 2009 AFSCME (who we were working with and supporting) was informed that the U.S. Department of Labor will not pursue litigation against the commonwealth regarding payless paydays based on the fact that employees have since been paid. This is not the outcome we wanted, but our demonstrations, calls, meetings and letters and emails through the Human Services Campaign put the needed pressure on the politicians to get the bridge budget passed. Our statewide grievances on the issue are still pending.
10. Ethics Training – If you have not completed your on-line Ethics training, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you to those who have completed the training, and I hope it was informative.
11. Shuman Center – all 8 of the Shuman Center members have been returned to work under a confidential arbitration award. The eight workers were fired for alleged “falsification of records” regarding room checks at the facility. They were terminated with no just cause and many with no prior discipline. Their names and addresses were announced to the media. Joan Bruce and Rick Grejda did a fantastic job in making sure justice was done at Shuman.
12. International News –
· On October 22 the Federal Reserve announced a plan to cut executive pay by, as much as, 90% at companies like Bank of America, Citibank and AIG who received hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer buyouts since their risky deals brought the economy to its knees last year. This comes after months of lobbying by SEIU. A Consumer Financial protection Agency was created to help rein in the greed on Wall Street. The poster boy for bank execs gone bad, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis steps down and plans to retire.
· Over 5000 people from 20 states converged on the bankers’ conference in Chicago to demand big banks stop using taxpayer money on big bonuses and lobbying.
· Puerto Rico – our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico are demanding a roll back of the 16,970 government employees laid off by the Governor. After being blocked from access to the Senate, hundreds of public employees turned their frustration into an act of civil disobedience as they sat on the floor and sang the national anthem. The layoffs will shut down entire agencies, cut back social services and bring a devastating rise to unemployment.
13. Indiana cancels IBM’s $1.3 billion welfare contract. Indiana fired IBM Corp. as the lead contractor to automate food stamps applications, Medicare and other benefits. Federal officials, some members of Congress and the government services industry have scrutinized Indiana’s welfare automation effort after a similar one run by Accenture in Texas failed in 2007. According to the Associated Press, House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D- South bend, stated, “I think it is the right thing to do, to recognize when you make a mistake, to adjust, to regroup, because there are too many people suffering, too many people’s lives in danger.” AMEN. The state of Pa. could learn a valuable lesson from the state of Indiana. But Indiana and Texas are not the only places that learned the expensive lesson that privatization is not the answer. A recent scandal right here in Pa. involved 2 judges receiving over $2.6 million in the past seven years from a private company operating a juvenile detention center. The judges, who were instrumental in closing the county-run facility, assisted in securing a 20-year, $58 million contract for the private company, used public money to finance the lease, and aggressively sentenced children for minor infractions in order to fill slots in the center. This and many other illustrations show that privatization is a recipe for disaster, particularly when providing services to vulnerable populations, such as youth, the elderly and the poor, where public accountability is necessary.
14. Union-Made Halloween Treats – when the little ghosts and goblins come collecting on Halloween, make sure you have a full supply of union-made-in- America candy on hand. Here is a brief list of candy products made by members of the Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM), snack foods by members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and fruit and nuts from the United Farm Workers of America (UFW):
· Hershey products – kisses, chocolate bars, Kit Kat, Rollo, Carmello, Cadbury, Symphony
· Necco – Necco Wafers, Sweethearts, Sky Bar, Clark Bar, Thin Mints, Mary Janes
· Ghiradelli – chocolates
· Gimbals – jelly beans, cherry hearts, scotty dogs
· Jelly Belly – jelly beans, gummis, candy corn, licorice, malted milk balls, Sunkist gel slices
· American Licorice – licorice
· Nestle – Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Treasures, Laffy Taffy
· Frito-Lay – chips and snacks
· Orville Redenbacher – popcorn
· Kraft – snack products
· Anabelles Candy Company – boston baked beans, Jordon almonds, rocky road, U-Nos, yogurt fruit and nuts
· Sconza – jawbreakers, chocolate, chocolate covered cherries
Please look for the Union Label to be sure as some products now come from Mexico and other countries.