All personnel will now be required to look happy while working. Governor-approved supplies will be provided to each employee at little or no cost.  read more »

Latest Update: 1-Jul-2009

June began with a rip-roaring start for bargaining. OK. It didn't. It started off horrendously.

On June 3^rd the following message was sent out:  read more »

Hell Freezes Over!

May 16, 2009

On Saturday, May 16^th, 2009, Hell officially froze over! While sitting in the Board of Directors meeting, it was rather warm in the afternoon. Towards the end, a potentially serious topic came up. After a presentation by one of the staff lawyers, the discussion started. After only a couple of minutes, the Chair recognized Immediate Past President Joe DiNicola.

And that's when it happened!

I agreed with Joe!  read more »

Well I hope everyone attended today's rally activities. I know that I saw a few faces that I don't normally see at union events. That's a good sign that people are starting to realize how serious the situation is. (Or maybe they just wanted the free t-shirts and food).

While we were out-and-about, we were chanting the usual rally cry that we use:  read more »

With the bad economy, and the even worse contract offers coming from management, do you think we're looking at a strike this year?

Updates: 31-May-2009

Update: Be sure to check the comments for ongoing updates about this month's bargaining.

We're back to the Central Bargaining Table tomorrow, May 4^th. What can be expected? That's hard-to-tell. 

There was a state wide action day on April 27^th. This included many people calling Scott Harra, the Director of DAS. The calls were asking him to move forward with bargaining. In other words, tell Eva Corbin to stop stalling and work with us, rather than obstructing the process.  read more »

As expected, April is off to a slow start for bargaining. And don't expect much more to heppen this month. There's lots of work going on around the next budget, but until we get the final May forecast, no one is really going to be in any position to make decisions.

The short list of topics that have been discussed include:  read more »