The state of Connecticut is in the best financial condition that I can recall, being up here 10 years, said Rep. Michael DAgostino, D-Hamden, who led the debate in favor of the raises. Are more state employees retiring than usual? Thermo Fisher Scientific bought the company the same year. But more than that, this is a necessary contract so that we can hold onto the best and brightest., This contract gives the state flexibility when hiring the most high-need jobs, recognizes the incredible institutional knowledge on our team, and the work state employees have done throughout the pandemic, said Lamont spokeswoman Lora Rae Anderson. SEBAC employees who are employed before March 31, 2022 would also get a $2,500 bonus. The [nonprofit] industry pegs the inflationary loss its taking on these payments at $460 million per year, according to the CT Mirror. To that end, we have produced a new edition of our Charter for Change. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you publish it. In addition, full-time workers would receive a $2,500 bonus in mid-May and an additional $1,000 bonus in mid-July. 3.2K views, 182 likes, 87 loves, 302 comments, 161 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from The Victory Channel: The Victory Channel is LIVE with Victory News! It is tone deaf and appears to even regular folks like me to be pandering to special interests in an election year.". It could be because it is not supported, or that JavaScript is intentionally disabled. 4:04 pm. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 22-13 along party lines to approve the contracts, which cover about 46,000 workers the bulk of the states workforce. According to the Office of Legislative Research in their analysis of a potential retirement wave, COLAs for new retirees will match the CPI-W during years it is 2 percent or less. Required fields are marked *. Its also imperative that we do so. Critics say the deal is too generous and could lead to future tax hikes. This means they will apply to all Connecticut employees whose date of retirement is on or later than August 1, 2022.1 The 2022 Changes fall into three different categories: April 23, 2023 . Ned Lamont administration to attract more people to stay and move into these jobs, and to make their salaries more in line with unionized workers. Ned Lamont's administration and already ratified by the 35 . Finance panel: Next CT tax fairness study must focus on inequality, CT budget battle heats up as Lamont offers rosy financial picture, State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. Thats because state governments coffers are flush with cash as never before. Consistently, studies show that the compensation of Connecticut state employees exceeds average private sector compensation by one of the highest margins of the 50 states. Osten said the raises reflect the valuable work state employees provide daily, and particularly throughout the coronavirus pandemic. 2K views, 27 likes, 7 loves, 18 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Dbstvstlucia: DBS MORNING SHOW & OBITUARIES 25TH APRIL 2023 APRIL 2023 No. Going forward, these employees will be entitled to receive wage and benefit provisions that their union counterparts will receive, per language the governors office included in the 837-page budget implementer bill passed this legislative session, McCaw said. CT Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. As a Thirty percent intend to leave the state upon retirement. Gov. We have three years to plan for that, Geballe said. Were hemorrhaging workers right now, DAgostino said. The Lamont administration, labor leaders and other supporters of the increases have said they believe unions could have gotten even larger raises had they rejected the states offer and gone to arbitration. The announcement Thursday from the governors office of the 7.5% raises comes as union workers ramp up their fight for wage increases in their new contracts, which they are currently negotiating with the state. "Today is Tax Day People want to know where their tax dollars are going, said Kim Healy, a GOP Wilton selectman running for the Connecticut House of Representatives. Bonuses would be prorated for part-time employees. Connecticut is facing pressure from the private sector, municipalities and other states for its workers, Osten said, adding that the pandemic has made many state jobs less attractive. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between 2015 and 2020 there was only one year 2018 during which the CPI-W for July was above 2 percent. The Senate gave final approval Friday to a four-year package of raises for state employees that includes $3,500 in bonuses to help stem a surge in worker retirements. A wave of state employee retirements is expected in the coming months, resulting in an "unprecedented" loss of knowledge and skills, some officials say. There is ample evidence that this is a fair contract, a reasonable contract, an affordable contract, she said of Connecticuts wage hikes. We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. Raising minimum salary levels between 10% to 25% will give many frontline HHSC employees a reprieve from dire financial straits caused by the Texas Legislature's failure to provide across-the-board pay raises to state . Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Thats something we certainly need to work on here.. The agreement would cost the state nearly $1.9 billion over four fiscal years, according to nonpartisan fiscal analysts. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Each year includes a 2.5% general wage increase, as well as a step hike for all but the most senior workers. But we have a bonus that starts after July 1. community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years. It includes 2.5% raises for four straight years that would be retroactive to July 1, 2021. Watching is one of those who spoke against it, Sen. Craig Miner. (His mother, Shelley, a lawyer and professor of public health at Yale, is a founding board member of the nonprofit Connecticut News Project Inc., operator of CTMirror.org.). Fazio said that it reflects the pull unions have on state government and that taxpayers will end up footing the bill. I dont believe, fundamentally, that this agreement is fair at all.. The Democrat-controlled House voted 96-52 to approve the contracts, after a four-hour debate during which Republicans insisted the compensation far outstrips what private-sector workers are receiving, or what taxpayers can afford. The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Workers and Clerical Workers known as the CPI-W increased 6 percent between July of 2020 and July of 2021, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the price of nearly everything increasing substantially in recent months. But the Lamont administration is facing a gathering wave of retirements, producing a sense of urgency that Geballe says is shared by labor and management. Thats because state governments coffers are flush with cash as never before. "I've got to recruit and keep them in order to keep our government going, he said. Theres no way to take on the legacy of mass incarceration other than to undo it, one step at a time. The deal is now final since the state Senate and House approved it. When you do good work, you get a bonus, said Lamont. 13 Weeks . (Sorry for the caps, wont let me shift), Hope McKiernan The agreement includes: 2.5% general wage increases in each of fiscal years 2022, 2023, and 2024. The bargaining units ratified the agreement earlier in the week, and it now it heads to the state legislature for consideration. community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years. The Democratic-controlled Senate voted 22-13 along party lines to approve the contracts, which cover about 46,000 workers the bulk of the state's workforce. See stories by Keith M. Phaneuf / CTMirror.org, Love Wins at WCSU benefit concert for saxophonists daughter lost at Sandy Hook, Week in CT News: Se'Cret Pierce killing, what's in our water, Zero interest loans are back for some home buyers in Connecticut, Erica Lafferty has been fighting since Sandy Hook. Virtually everyone in the state knows the situation and feels it is unfair. Josh Geballe, the states chief operating officer and commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services, said state agency heads have found it difficult to promote top performers in their departments because the employees would either have to take a pay cut or worry they wont be afforded the same prospective increases as those in bargaining units. His predecessor, Robert J. Rinker, co-chaired a labor-management committee that addressed some of the same issues now under review. Ned Lamont speaks at a news conference at Connecticuts Beardsley Zoo, in Bridgeport, Conn. March 29, 2021. With this agreement, we were able to achieve those goals in a realistic way that does not imperil our future prospects and honors the great service that has and will continue to benefit our residents, Lamont said in a statement. For retirements prior to June 30, 2022, these cumulative raises will be paid each year on either January 1st or July 1st depending on your date of retirement (DOR). Its members include scientists, engineers and information technology professionals. Retired state employees receive a cost-of-living adjustment every year in either January or July depending on the employees retirement date based on the CPI-W for the previous 12 months. Gov. For the average pensioner, receiving $39,887 per year, the COLA increase would amount to an annual increase of $1,435.92. He is one of the mid-career, private-sector executives to join the administration of Gov. In exchange for lifting the debt ceiling, the bill would cap overall 2024 spending to 2022 levels -- about a $130 billion cut -- and limit growth in spending to 1% annually over the next decade. The BCG study was supposed to facilitate a third approach. We were trying to get people not to retire well, thats not what this agreement does, said Sen. Craig Miner of Litchfield, ranking GOP senator on the Appropriations Committee. Based on the statutes governing Cost of Living Adjustments (COLA) for CTRB members, the Connecticut Teachers' Retirement Board will be granting COLA as follows. Weve seen clerical workers go from a high of almost 9,000 to 4,000.. Does not automatically renew. Get CT Mirror emails in your inbox daily. Lamont called DAS one of the jobs where we wanted to think a little more out of the box., Like Lamont, Geballe is a graduate of the School of Management at Yale. Critics also balk at the cost. Watch Live at 7:00 PM: The U.S. and the Holocaust, a film by Ken Burns | Screening & Panel Discussion . Some of the features on CT.gov will not function properly with out javascript enabled. Some changes already have come, pushed by Nicholas Hermes, a West Point grad who is the statewide human resources director at DAS, hired in 2016. Dannel Malloy included a provision to change the COLAs for state employees who retire after July 1, 2022. Ned Lamont's administration and a coalition of . They are our people, who we count on each day to make us safe, she said. font size, Human Resources Business Rules and Regulations. For some of Connecticuts highest paid pensioners like Jack Blechner, a former UConn Health Center physician who received $342,325.14 in 2020, the COLA amounts to an additional $12,323.70 per year. The state and unions have the option of continuing the same level of raises for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, or they can negotiate different compensation levels. The state is also hoping the increases will also attract more people to state-level management positions. See Some Republicans have said the hefty bonuses are only an election-year stunt from Lamont, a Democrat, to shore up his standing with his labor base. The states robust, short-term fiscal position is a sugar high that will pass when the federal stimulus money goes away, ODea said. You cannot be supportive of state workers and the services they provide without being supportive of the necessary funding to ensure that these positions are properly staffed, SEBAC wrote in a statement after the vote. Register to attend in-person | Register to attend virtually. Lamont could rehire retired workers as independent contractors, but then he would be paying those fees as well as funding retirement benefits. They are our people, who we count on each day to make us safe, she said. The minimum wage in Connecticut is scheduled to increase to $15 per hour on June 1, 2023. . The House, where Democrats also hold a majority, approved the package 96-52 on Thursday. Topics you care about, straight to your inbox, More than 46,000 Connecticut state employees could soon get a significant raise -- and bonuses thanks to a new union. As a State of Connecticut employee you may be entitled to a host of benefits that are not only attractive, but also may be portable should your career .
Don Fernando Taos Restaurant Menu,
Michelle Burke And Scott Thomas,
Level 2 Cricket Umpire Accreditation,
Articles K