Welcome to AFSCME Local 1368
Welcome to the web site for AFSCME Local 1368, Massachusetts Department of Youth Services Employees. Most of the content on this website is only visible once you are logged in, so please be sure to register here to receive our updates. Be sure to take some time and go through the entire site, as you will find a great amount of information. Be sure to send your comments and suggestions directly to me. Thank you.
In Solidarity,
Paul Faria, President
ASFCME 1368 News
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INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
ATTENTION AFSCME LOCAL 1368 MEMBERSHIP!!
Nominations to attend the International Convention which will be held in Boston, Massachusetts from July 15th - July 21st, 2018 will be held on April 9th, 2018 at our Union Hall Located at 84 Broadway, Taunton, MA 02780 from 9am-1pm. Anyone wishing to attend as a delegate must be nominated during this time and be a member in good standing of AFSCME Local 1368.
Should Elections be necessary to elect delegates: Elections for International Convention Delegates will be held on April 19th, 2018 at our Union Hall Located at 84 Broadway, Taunton, MA 02780 from 9am - 1pm.
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Contract Ratified!!
Congratulations to everyone, the contract ratified by a margin of 85%
Here are the official results of the ratification broken down by polling location:
Berkshire Community College 13 Yes 4 No 17
Western MA Hospital 101 Yes 24 No 125
AFSCME Council 93 Western MA Office 83 Yes 15 No 98
Templeton 49 Yes 2 No 51
Holyoke Soldier’s Home 74 Yes 12 No 86
WRCH 163 Yes 63 No 226
Hogan Regional 91 Yes 8 No 99
Framingham State Police HQ 27 Yes 4 No 31
Tewksbury State Hospital 163 Yes 25 No 188
Shattuck Hospital 119 Yes 35 No 154
AFSCME Council 93 Boston Office 11 Yes 10 No 21
Wrentham Developmental 261 Yes 17 No 278
Taunton State Hospital 116 Yes 23 No 139
Pocasset 18 Yes 5 No 23
Corrigan Mental Health 21 Yes 2 No 23
Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital 85 Yes 4 No 89
Chelsea Soldier’s Home 68 Yes 6 No 74
Total Yes 1463 Total No 259 Total ballots 1722
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Contract Ratification Vote and Locations!
CONTRACT RATIFICATION INFORMATION FOR THE ALLIANCE - UNIT 2
Contract Ratification Voting Sites
Date: Tuesday, February 13th, 2018
7 a.m. to 5 p.m., unless otherwise indicatedAFSCME Council 93
9th Floor Conference Room
8 Beacon St, BostonAFSCME Council 93
Western MA Office
21 Wilbraham St, Bldg 51
PalmerBerkshire Community College
Room G9
West St, PittsfieldChelsea Soldiers Home
Chelsea auditorium
91 Crest Ave, ChelseaCorrigan Mental Health Center
Steven’s Conference Room
49 Hillside Street, Fall River
(Please note 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)Holyoke Soldiers Home
Conference Room B
110 Cherry St, HolyokePappas Rehab Hospital
(Formerly Mass Hospital School)
Fish Bowl
3 Randolph St, CantonMassachusetts State Police
General Headquarters
470 Worcester Road,
FraminghamHogan-Berry Regional Center
Auditorium Area
450 Maple St, DanversPocasset Mental Health Center
Conference Room
830 Country Road, Pocasset
(Please note 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.)Shattuck Hospital
Lobby Area
170 Morton St, Jamaica PlainTaunton State Hospital
Bove Auditorium, Chambers
Building
60 Hodges Ave. Ext, TauntonTempleton Developmental
TCS Day Program Building
Conference Room
212 Freight Shed Road,
BaldwinvilleTewksbury Hospital
C-1 Conference Room
365 East St, TewksburyWestern MA Hospital
South 1 Conference Room
Westfield, MAWorcester Recovery Center &
Hospital (WRCH)
Lobby Area
Hospital Drive, WorcesterWrentham Developmental
Wrentham Auditorium
Emerald St (Off Route 1A) -
Final Tentative Agreement for Unit 2
Hello Everyone,
Attached is the fully integrated and executed tentative agreement. Please feel free to review and share w members, we are now going to work on putting the summary sheet/flyer together so that it may be mailed out to the members. This flyer will also include the voting date/times/locations as well as the Agency Fee notice that is required to be sent out as well.
As always, feel free to let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Paul Faria
AFSCME Council 93 Staff Repersatative
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Dues Increase
The International has imposed a mandatory dues increase for the new year. Attached is the letter sent to local unions. It will be $.44 per payroll for a full time employee.
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Upgrades
As many of you know we have been involved in a dispute with the commonwealth around a contract which involved .25% of the total contract value and how to use it. The committee which was formed @ 4 years ago has finally completely resolved this issue. The first portion of that money was distributed as a one time payout any member who was working when the contract commenced and was still working when it was paid. You saw this I believe a month ago in your paychecks. This money was originally intended as upgrades for various DMH, DPH, DDS, and ISO positions in DYS. The stipulation being all the money had to be spent exactly and it would be part of the budget for each year from now on. While negotiating with the commonwealth there was a surplus of money left over and the committee decided Groupworkers II and III should get that money as they fit the financial parameters to use it all. I was made aware this was a possibility less than a month ago. You will or have received a letter stating this and that your new step date is in July. As well as the retro pay out date. I fully wish every title in DYS would have got an upgrade but that was not possible.
Sincerely,
President Morse
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Contract Negotiations
The State is crying poor in contract negotiations. They claim low tax revenues and there is little money for raises. The current offer from the State is 1%, 2%, and 2% over 3 years. This is far too low to be acceptable. Furthermore they have told us any monetary items we wish to include need to be taken from this money I.E. hazardous pay for weather emergencies and higher shift differentials. Here is an article from the 10/18/2017 State House News from the Unions in Massachusetts to Governor Baker. It is much tougher to negotiate with a Republican Governor who thinks our jobs should be privatized.
This was in this morning’s State House News
UNIONS IRKED BY BAKER'S POSITION IN UNSETTLED CONTRACT TALKS
By Matt Murphy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICESTATE HOUSE, BOSTON, OCT. 18, 2017.....Animosity has begun to brew between Gov. Charlie Baker's administration and public employee unions negotiating new contracts with the state who believe the governor's team has been low-balling the workers with salary offers that fail to keep up with rising health care costs and increased demands.
Baker is moving into the final months of his third year in office and the likely start of a re-election campaign with a raft of unsettled contracts hanging over his head.
Of the 10 contracts covering more than 35,000 state employees that fall under his purview, five have expired, two extend into the summer of 2018 and three contracts for State police, nurses and firefighters expire at the end of the year.
Several of the largest public employee unions in the state wrote a letter to Baker last Thursday expressing "deep disappointment" in the administration's bargaining position to date, suggesting that the governor's office has drawn a line in the sand and won't accept any collective bargaining agreement that exceeds 5 percent in incremental costs over three years.
"We don't have unrealistic expectations. We didn't expect that staffing levels were going to go up under your administration. We didn't expect that our health care costs would go down. What we did expect however is that we would get a fair shake from you when it came time to negotiate wages. The simple fact is that we haven't," the union leaders wrote.
The letter was signed by the heads of the National Association of Government Employees, SEUI Local 509, the Massachusetts Nurses Association, OPEIU Local 6, SEIU Local 888, AFSCME Council 93 and the Massachusetts Teachers Association.
The unions claim that while the cost of living is increasing roughly 2.5 percent a year, the state workers have been offered two raises in fiscal 2018 of just 0.5 percent each. They further suggest that municipal union workers have signed multi-year agreements with cities and towns with increases in excess of 2 percent each year.
"We don't expect to be treated better than other public employees, but we didn't expect to be treated worse," they wrote.
The Baker administration responded to the letter by pointing out ways in which it has worked with unions, including SEIU Local 509, to reduce caseloads on social workers and invest in the Department of Children and Families to improve conditions for workers. The governor's office pointed to $114 million invested in DCF that has resulted in new hires and progress toward achieving collectively bargained caseload ratios for social workers of 18 to 1.
"The Executive Office for Administration and Finance and the Office of Employee Relations are in ongoing discussions with state employee unions regarding new contracts, and are committed to providing fair and reasonable benefits to our hardworking state employees to continue progress on issues like staffing and caseload management at agencies such as the Department of Children and Families," Administration and Finance spokeswoman Sarah Finlaw said in a statement.
The letter, according to a spokesman for SEIU Local 509, was hand-delivered to Baker's office last Friday, around the same time that unions had another bargaining session during which the salary offers from the administration did not change. The SEIU Local 509 represents two bargaining units of 8,439 social workers and secondary education employees whose contract expired on Dec. 31, 2016. The previous three-year contract for those units included 3 percent annualized salary increases for 2014, 2015, and 2016.
In addition to the social workers and school employees, 9,669 clerical, skilled trades and administrative employees unionized by NAGE and 7,918 institutional services employees and 67 corrections officers and 1,725 scientists and engineers are working without contracts.
The unions, who negotiate separately but were aiming to present a unified front, said in the letter that their members have taken "deep cuts in take-home pay" due to increases in health insurance co-pays and deductibles implemented through the Group Insurance Commission by the Baker administration. They have also dealt with budget cuts and staff turnover and reductions because of early retirement programs implemented by the governor to generate budget savings.
"We ask that you reconsider the economic parameters of our negotiations. We ask that you authorize settlements that are more in tune with the increase in the Consumer Price Index, as well as other public sector settlements reached in FY 18 in Massachusetts," the unions wrote.
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10/18/2017 -
11th Annual AFSCME Council 93 Memorial Scholarship Golf tournament
I am excited to announce the plans for this year’s AFSCME Council 93 Memorial Scholarship Golf Tournament!
As you may know, we are going into our 11th year. Last year, due largely in part to your generosity, we were able to raise over $36,000, which is the largest amount of money we have raised in a single year, since the scholarship golf tournament's inception 11 years ago.
I am again asking for your assistance this year to meet or beat the fundraising efforts of last year by participating in our event this year and/or by sponsoring a hole or making any other contributions to this worthy cause. For your convenience and review, I have attached a copy of the registration and sponsorship forms for this year’s event.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns pertaining to this matter.
Thanking you in advance for your consideration,
Mark Bernard
AFSCME Council 93
8 Beacon St, 9th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
Phone – (617) 367-6033
Fax – (617) 391-2796
E-mail – mbernard@afscme93.org