October Update

Oct. 26, 2011

Dear Members,

            Today Wednesday Oct. 26 2011 I attended a meeting at OSER along with many of the representatives of the Unions in this state. The purpose of the meeting was to receive notification from OSER Administrator Kathy Kopp, that the Unions that are not seeking certification during this round of the certification process would no longer have their contract language honored by the State of Wisconsin effective January 1, 2012. Administrator Kopp made the statement that we do not have unions now. I can assure you there still is a union. While the recent action of the current political administration has severely restricted Union representation in the work place we will still be available to assist our members.

            Administrator Kopp briefly outlined the language contained in the 2011 through 2013 Compensation Plan. The essential bottom line of the explanations is that the various state agencies comprising our state government will have what amounts to unprecedented authority over most or all pay increases, and workplace policies. Kathy Kopp stated during the meeting that while OSER will be available for consultation with the agencies. The pay, and policies provided by the various agencies are subject to OSER approval, the agencies would have substantially independent authority over the policies and pay of the employees. Most pay increases will likely be through merit pay increases depending on what an agency or possibly a division may decide an individual employee deserves. Evaluations could play a prominent role in establishing whether an employee would be eligible for pay increases. It is possible an employee could have an excellent evaluation and still not receive a pay increase; pay increases are at the discretion of the employer. There were many questions put the Administrator in an attempt to determine where the restrictions or accountability for the agencies lay, but there were not many.

            Administrator Kopp did state that the individual agencies would be responsible for establishing their own brand of labor relations. This means that various agencies could choose to operate much as they do now, or they could choose to have reduced employee relations, and independently make policy changes. While the information is alarming, specifically for the P. C. O.’s and the members  of Locals 2 & 3 we must make an attempt to identify what positive achievements can be reached out of the upheaval of what had been our normal working conditions.

            I want to call attention to the fact that most of the people employed in state government at this time have no experience in operating without the current contract language in place. Local Presidents and Stewards will attempt to salvage the language that effects the selection of vacation, hours of work, and overtime by trying to maintain the established working relationships currently in place. No doubt, there will be some loss of security for many of our members, but we must be committed now more than ever to stand together in our work places, we will need to make an effort to help one another through this hardship until the planed actions we have undertaken have had a chance to take effect.

            I am providing some links to documents on the OSER website at this time, on our main web page. In the days to come we will post information and guidance to members about the statutory language that will govern the workplace for the foreseeable future. We have to make an effort to arm ourselves with as much knowledge about what legally affects us as possible.

Respectfully Yours,

Tracy Fuller

Important Links:

2011-2013 Compensation Plan - JCOER (PDF File - 184 Pages)
Compensation Plan - Summary of Changes
OSER Contract Migration for WLEA (LOCALS 2 & 3 ONLY) (Effective 1/1/2012)
Discretionary Merit Compensation (DMC) Provisions (PDF File - 5 Pages)
OSER Compensation Plan Toolkit