Dear Colleagues,
Please see the following from statewide President Fred Kowal:
I am pleased to announce that we have reached two agreements with the State on two issues of great importance to our members.
First, last Thursday, we signed off on an agreement that will earn our hospital members who are eligible for overtime pay, two and a half times the normal hourly rate they earn if they work overtime. This is a hard-won victory and will compensate members who have been working so hard throughout the pandemic under extreme circumstances, and with terrible staffing shortages caused by over a decade of under-investment by the State.
Second, on Friday, we once again reached agreement with the State to suspend the January 1 40-day vacation accrual cap contained in Article 23.2(d) of the 2016-2022 State/UUP Agreement. The new agreement with GOER mirrors the agreement we reached last year and provides that employees who have accrued vacation credits in excess of 40 days and have been unable to use that excess vacation leave due the ongoing impact of COVID will be given an additional year to close of business December 31, 2022 to exhaust that leave.
The Memorandum of Agreement that covers the vacation cap is attached for your reference. Please work with your Labor Relations Specialists to address any questions that may arise on your campus regarding implementation of this agreement.
In Solidarity,
Fred
The MOA can be found here