A&R Retiree News for September
Retirees' Web Page.
Retirees' Meeting Schedule
Retirees' Trip to Hudson Valley Wineries

Members Picnic Photos (posted 9/7)

A&R Members Formerly Employed by DRS at 25 Sigourney
      If you were made permanently ill by the molds, dusts and bacteria at 25 Sigourney Street, and are absent due to occasional flare-ups of symptoms, the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) may now be forcing  you to miscode your absences as personal leave rather than as time chargeable to your Workers' Compensation award.
      If this is happening to you, please contact A&R First Vice-President Mike Winkler at 1-800-842-4443 or 860-953-1316.

Hear Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Dan Malloy's Plans
Link to A&R's Password-Protected Political Page

Read Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Foley's Plans
Link to A&R's Password-Protected Political Page

Tuition Reimbursement Claims Exceed Funds (posted 9/9/10)

Conservatives' Plan to Renege on State Pensions

A&R Holiday Party on December 3rd (details forthcoming)

Form for Candidates Seeking A&R's Endorsement

National/State AFT Dues Increase of 49 Cents per Pay Period
The first paycheck A&R members receive in September will reflect a 49-cent dues increase. The National AFT Convention passed part of this increase. The AFT-CT Convention approved the remainder of the increase.
A&R's Constitution requires us to ask the Office of the State Comptroller to increase the dues in accordance with the actions taken by the national and state organizations.
A&R has not increased its dues. A&R is Local 4200 of the AFT, also known as the American Federation of Teachers. AFT represents teachers, para-professionals in schools, employees in higher education, health care workers and public employees. 

Holiday Party Photos Revisited

A&R Retiree Council First Annual Picnic Photos

Please see our calendar on the Social page for the latest news concerning trips and special events Social Page

DAS's A&R OJE Report Not Expected Until Fall
Union representatives will review DAS's report and the OJE forms members submitted and determine which classes have a chance for an upgrading

A&R Wage Scales for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012

Note: Most A&R employees have January increments and will receive the ninth step in January, 2011.

Link to A&R Layoff Seniority List in Excel Format as of 11/1/09
Posted 12/14
Transfers created by cost-saving agency consolidations are governed by our contract's layoff seniority provisions as a result of SEBAC negotiations.

The time listed should be the total time served in A&R, including before and after any breaks in service, up to 11/1/09.

Report any and all mistakes to your agency's human resources division. A&R does not have access to CORE-CT and cannot enter corrections.

Medically Necessary Pharmacy Form Available Here, Do Not Pay $25 for a Drug if Your Doctor Believes it's Medically Necessary 
(posted 11/5)
If your give this form to your doctor and he/she completes it identifying why your particular drug is medically necessary and faxes it to Caremark you will never have to pay $25 for a prescription. Download form.

Latest NIOSH Report on 25 Sigourney Street
(posted 11/6)
"...remediation did not resolve the health issues in the building."

Why Those Allergic to 25 Sigourney Street Should Get Out and Stay Out
(updated 10/17)
Use this link to play a QuickTime movie of Dr. Storey's testimony (20-second download).

Using antihistamines all year round? Feel better after long weekends and vacations just to go back to feeling poorly shortly after you return to work? There is a procedure to get out of the building before your allergic reactions to dusts in the building lead to a permanent, possibly serious and progressive illness. Call the Union at 1-800-842-4443 for details.

Being Transferred? Call the Union.
(reposted 9/4)
The SEBAC agreement and our contract provide for transfers by layoff seniority and impose travel mileage limits on final reassignments. Some agencies seem uninformed about the contracts' language. If you're being transferred call the union at 1-800-842-4443 so that your rights will be protected.

A&R Committees Looking for Volunteers
(posted 7/1)
The following A&R Committees are looking for volunteers:

Budget Committee
Communications and Publicity Committee
Negotiating Committee
Social Committee
Professional Development Committee
Social Committee
Health and Safety Committee
Committee on Political Education
Civil Human and Women's Rights Committee.

If you, or a group of employees from your worksite is interested, telephone the Union office at 1-800-842-4443. We'll have the chairperson of the committee which interests you call you back with the details.

Furlough Days and AWS
(posted 6/23)
Nothing in the recent SEBAC agreement with the State of Connecticut authorizes the State to modify any A&R AWS program.

A&R has voluntarily agreed to allow agencies to require members on 5/4 schedules to "flip" their short weeks (i.e., to take their short week in the week that doesn’t contain the furlough day and the holiday), and to require members on 4/4 schedules to work three eight hour days in any pay week in which a furlough day and a holiday occur. Other than these two exceptions, agencies cannot require A&R members to alter their current AWS schedules.

If your agency is requiring you to change your AWS schedule in ways other than the two exceptions noted above, please call Don Levenson at the Union Office at (860) 953-1316 so that these changes can be addressed.

Michael Petosa Named Chairperson of the Negotiating Committee
(posted 6/15)
Michael Petosa, Supervisor of Education, Safety and Health Services at the Workers Compensation Commission was confirmed as Chief Negotiator and Chairperson of the Negotiating Committee by the Representative Assembly at its meeting on June 9th.Chairperson Petosa will be responsible for the process by which we obtain our next contract. If you have ideas for the next contract, you can e-mail them to mailar@aol.com.

Compensatory Time Does Not Expire in A&R

In 2003, Accenture's staff called the A&R office to let us know our compensatory time would expire after six months because that was how CORE-CT was going to be programmed. After a brief chuckle at the audacity of the caller, A&R's President at the time informed Accenture that our members earn compensatory time under our contract, and could not be deprived of earned time without due process. Such due process would have to be in the contract. Under some union contracts compensatory time does expire. In A&R's contract there is no time-related "comp-time" expiration clause. For A&R members compensatory time stays on the books until taken, or until the member is paid for the compensatory time, or retires. (Unused compensatory time does "expire" at retirement. See Article 16, Section Five(d)(4) of the contract.) Since 2003, the "expiration" issue has come up several times and each time the member was able to use the compensatory time.

Make sure that any compensatory time earned appears on your official time and attendance records. A new manager might not consider him/herself bound by an "under-the-table" arrangement and you might not be able to prove you earned the compensatory time.

Under specific circumstances, departments may choose to pay cash in lieu of comp time. See Article 16, Section Five(d) subparagraphs (5) and (6), and Article 17, Section Four.

If any member is threatened with the loss of compensatory time, please call the Union at (860) 953-1316 or 1-800-842-4443.

DOIT and Agencies Reviewing E-mails and Computer Hard Drives
(posted 3/27)
The Department of Information Technology (DOIT) and many state agencies are reviewing e-mails and contents of hard drives of state employees. State employees are being walked out the door after personal business and/or pornographic material is found. If state employees have been sharing such materials, the trail leads from employee to employee to employee.

Do not use state equipment for anything other than state business!

If you're accused of misusing your computer, say nothing and contact the union. Say nothing, even if you know you're innocent. It is our experience that giving management an explanation does not make the charge go away. By defending yourself, you may lose the right to refuse to answer questions (Article 14, Section Six(b) of our contract).

Social Committee Events
To sign up for an event, call 1-800-842-4443. For more information click here.

DAS States that Employees can Use State Computers to Visit Union Websites

DAS has some surprising new answers to what it calls frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the Acceptable Use of State Systems Policy.

20. Q: Can an employee use the state telephone to receive/make calls relating to doctors appointments, union matters and/or check on status of children, etc? 
A: Yes. However, time spent on personal calls should be kept to a minimum.

22. Q: May a caller leave a personal message in an employee's voicemail box? For example, if a doctor's office is calling to confirm an appointment? 
A: Yes. However, these types of situations should be limited to only those requiring prompt attention.

25: Q. Is it okay for employees to visit their union's website using a State computer? 
A: Yes

26. Q: Is it okay for users to distribute Union information via (State) e-mail? 
A: No.

27: Q: Is it okay for employees to use (State) e-mail to contact their Union Steward to arrange for representation? 
A: Yes

Union Attorney Available for Workers Compensation Appeals

A&R has a surprising (for a white-collar union) number of Workers Compensation claims. Besides workers being injured on the job, claims are being filed because the leaky State-owned or leased buildings make some members sick. If a member loses his/her claim at the first step of the Workers Compensation process, he/she should file an appeal and then contact the A&R Union (1-800-842-4443). Through an arrangement with AFT CT, the Union will provide an attorney to handle the appeal hearing before the Workers Compensation commissioner.

Update Your A&R Member Information

Members please contact the A&R Union office at 800-842-4443 with any changes to your home address, agency or job title. We DO NOT receive these changes from your Human Resources Department.