Many of our OCSEA local
government bargaining teams have been busy over the past year,
negotiating strong contracts on
behalf of their members. While
local and alternative contract
members negotiate directly with
government officials on a smaller
scale, their efforts and victories
are anything but small.
Take the City of Cortland
union team, which held strong
during their contract negotiations this fall. The two-member
union team, made up of city
employees Chris Guesman and
Mike Smith, were up against
many obstacles including rising
health care costs and a public
perception that everyone should
be doing more with less. Despite
this, they held strong and stuck
to the facts and figures. This
allowed them to secure wage
increases for each year of the
contract; gain certification and
training incentives throughout
the life of the contract; and ink
a one-time, lump-sum signing
bonus.
“It’s definitely a game of give
and take. But that’s bargaining,
isn’t it?” said Guesman. This
also means thinking outside the
box, he said. Chris explained that the team weighed their options, especially knowing there
was money coming in from the American Rescue Plan. "So why
not try to use it to incentivize,
right? Everything was on the
table; it didn’t hurt to ask,” said
Chris. Using these federal
funds as leverage, the team
was able to bargain a one-time
signing bonus
that put money directly in the
pockets of their members. Read more about their bargaining victory at OCSEA.org/PEQ.
It's been one year since the American Rescue Plan was passed by Congress. Since then, those federal funds have helped states invest in public workers across the country. But more can be done, says AFSCME President Lee Saunders. Saunders urges AFSCME members to pressure their state and local officials to invest ARP dollars in improving public services and infrastructure and in the everyday heroes who have been risking their lives throughout the pandemic. Read Saunders' recent op-ed in Fortune magazine: How the American Rescue Plan saved the public sector–and proved that investing in workers pays off