Real Advocacy

“No money” — before bargaining

Our contract expired April 1, and formal state negotiations still haven’t begun. Yet the President Belmar's June 2 letter relayed management’s claim of “no money on the table now”. Are we being buttered-up not to expect much from the negotiations? When your union repeats the boss’s “no money” before bargaining even starts, what does that signal about how hard they’ll fight? Members deserve a leader who challenges that line, not one who passes it along.

For every member

1. A real cost-of-living adjustment. Workers have lost about 12% of their buying power over six years; other titles received nothing.
2. Tier 6 pension reform: stop paying in until retirement, make overtime pensionable, and push for earlier retirement.
3. Bereavement leave.

Clericals

1. Higher pay.
2. More affordable health insurance; better and cheaper dental and optical.
3. A larger public-transit discount.
4. More Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Interpreters

1. Raises that at least catch up with inflation.
2. A multi-language premium of $3,000 a year for each additional certified language.
3. Location-based pay increases.

Court reporters

1. Higher page-rate compensation.