-April 7, 2016

Officers:

President - Holly Spelman

1st Vice President - Kelly Markgraf

2nd Vice President -

Secretary - Stephanie Halsey

Treasurer - Laurie L Loncosky

Membership Chairpersion - Sara Chetney

Building Reps:

EduTech LeRoy - Dean Ginder

EduTech Shared Staff -

FLSS - Dawn Goda

FLTCC - Cheryl Shields

MEC - Penny Vanderlinde

So far, the Governor's Office has not backed out of its meeting with SEBAC scheduled for today at 3:30.  We expect the Governor to finally address the Unions regarding his FY17 budget plan.  It is our intent to let the Governor know our position on his budget and identify existing savings without harm to the middle class employees of this State.

A&R Seniority List as of March 1, 2016
This list includes those who retired as of April 1, 2016.

SEBAC's response to the General Assembly Republican leadership letter can be read here.

Governor Malloy requested to meet with SEBAC and SEBAC accepted that request.  A meeting date is being sought.

This meeting is long overdue and we look forward to a conversation regarding future budget expectations and how to find savings within the current operations. 

AFT-CT has released a statement regarding the upcoming meeting between the Governor and SEBAC.

The General Assembly adopted a plan on March 29^th to close this year's budget deficit of $220 million dollars. The agreement would cut $83 million from more than 300 budget line-items.  Meanwhile, the 2016-2017 budget is anticpated to have a $900 million deficit.  As a result, cuts are anticipated.  While some cuts will hit the Legislative and Judicial branches, many of these cuts will come from agencies within the Executive branch. It appears likely that some agencies will resort to layoffs to meet the budget rescissions.

The Advocate

March 2016

State Delegate Assembly in April

Despite what has been floated in the press, the SEBAC unions are willing to meet with the Governor.  Our goal is to find out what he is looking for from union members.  To this day neither the Governor, nor the Democrats, nor the Republicans have spoken to SEBAC to explain what they may seek from employees.  There have been many ideas floated in press releases, but nothing actually offered or discussed.  We have not refused to meet with the Governor or any of the State’s representatives.

We have been willing to meet with the Governor and found it remarkable that no one had approached us until March 16^th.  We certainly want to avoid layoffs.  Our priorities are to protect your job and your benefits.  We will not forget that State employees have made concessions in the past and we need to find the right outcome for 2016.

Although we have agreed to meet with the Governor, a meeting date has not yet been set.  Do not buy into the premise that the Unions are snubbing any of the leadership of this State.  We have been willing to listen, but to date, they preferred to play politics in the press rather than actually engage us.  It is our hope that if there is to be any sustainable solution, it would be obtained through discussions rather than vitriolic press releases and grandstanding.

We will keep you apprised as circumstances evolve but we will avoid responding to the daily barrage of misleading press releases.

As our union grows, we want to stay as organized and strong as possible! Taking advantage of the free Byron Education Association website through AFT is a great way for us to stay organized and keep our members informed.