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LOCAL UNION NEWS
The downturn in the economy seems to have generated more work for the Local. We have a record number of grievances involving discipline and terminations being processed at this time. Many of the grievances have and will end in arbitration for resolution.
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Events
The general membership meetings are held at the
headquarters office on the second Wednesday of the month starting at 6:30
p.m. This is a great opportunity to hear what is happening around the Local and to bring questions or concerns to the attention of the Executive Board. At some of the meetings there will be presentations by staff on timely topics of interest to the members. Let us hear from you if you have a specific topic that you would like as an agenda item.
Membership Meeting Schedule 2010
January 13
February 10
March 10
April 14
May 12
MEETINGS ARE SUSPENDED FOR JUNE, JULY, & AUGUST
September 8
October 13
November 10
December 8
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Updates on Court or Legislative Actions
Update as of January, 2009: PERS UPDATE
It looks like the new legislative session will be relatively quiet on the PERS front. The clear focus of the legislature and Governor at this point is the looming state budget deficit and how they will deal with it.
The PERS Coalition is working on the following bills for this legislative session.
1. The Coalition is proposing a legislative fix to a situation that is occurring with Tier II and OPSERP members. A Tier II or OPSERP member who is injured on the job and ultimately is deemed disabled has their disability pension benefits offset by compensation that they may receive from their workers compensation claim. Tier I members have no such restriction. The purpose of this legislation is to bring Tier II and OPSERP members into alignment with Tier I members.
2. The Coalition is proposing a legislative fix for OPSERP members relative to health care after retirement. The current statute does not permit OPSERP participants to access PERS health care plans after retirement. The legislation will change that so that OPSERP can access those health care benefits.
3. Probably the most significant for PERS members is the Coalition’s proposal to adopt an accountability or verification process for retiree benefit eligibility. As most PERS members who are approaching retirement know, the estimates from PERS as to retirement benefits can be far from accurate. You may recall the infamous Kay Bell case, which the Coalition litigated. In the Bell case, PERS had grossly over-estimated her benefits and she was basically left out high and dry. Under the proposed legislation, the PERS estimate process would be eliminated. The new legislation would create that a member approaching retirement, up to 24 months in advance, could request from PERS a benefit verification statement. Under the terms of the legislation, PERS would then provide the member with a statement of their actual retirement benefits. It would not be an estimate, it would contain the actual benefit to which the member would be entitled. It also would state the exact eligibility standards for the individual employee. In other words, it would state years of service, highest average salary, sick leave roll in, and so on. The legislation also has a provision that once the verification is provided to the member, it is locked in stone. PERS could not later change it claiming some type of mistake. If there is a mistake, PERS eats it. There is also an appeal process built in, so if the member believes the verification is in error, there is a method for them to correct it. This bill will be introduced in early February.
There are some other minor issues being discussed, but it seems clear that the above are the focus for this session.
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