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Delegate assembly met on April 18th.   

Kerry Ann Sullivan (USM campus) was reelected as UMPSA President and Neil Greenberg (UM Campus) was elected as Vice President.

More information about the Delegate Assembly will be sent by email to dues paying members in the next couple of weeks.

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Request for Delegate representation at the MEA Representative Assembly:

Definition:

MEA's highest governing body is the Representative Assembly (RA) which derives its power from and is responsible to the membership. RA delegates are elected by local associations to meet annually and review the constitution, elect officers, adopt policies, and enact a program budget.   It is important for us to have a full representation to the RA.

Location/Dates:

The Representative Assembly (RA) is being held at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, Portland on May 15 to May 17^th.   May 16^th and 17^th are the 2 days that the delegates must be in attendance on the floor of the  RA.   May 15^th there will be a Friday evening banquet.

Background:

UMPSA is allowed 4 delegates to the Maine Education Association’s Representative Assembly.   At this time we only have 2 delegates.    Since the deadline for elections has passed,   the members who step forward are only committing to be a delegate for this year.    

Deadlines:

The deadline for volunteering is April 25^th – please contact me at umpsa@usm.maine.edu  or 780-4404.

Expenses:

Live 90+ miles from Portland:

Your room is paid for Friday and Saturday night by MEA (1/2 of room per delegate).  Your choices are either  share a room or pay for  half the cost ($66 per night).   The cost of Friday night’s  banquet is also covered by MEA .  

Live less than 90 miles from Portland:

MEA will pay for ½ the room for Saturday night only.    UMPSA may pay for Friday night depending on your distance from Portland.   Contact Kerry at 780-4404 or umpsa@usm.maine.edu

Expenses paid for all Delegates:

Meals  for Saturday and Sunday at the RA are paid for by the MEA.

Mileage to and from the RA will also be reimbursed.

Please contact Kerry at umpsa@usm.maine.edu or 780-4404, if you are interested.

Thanks for your consideration.

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Joint Statement of the University of Maine System, Universities of Maine Professional Staff Association, Associated C.O.L.T. Staff of the Universities of Maine, Teamsters Local Union #340, and Associated Faculties of the University of Maine System

BANGOR - The University of Maine System and the bargaining agents representing its employees have mutually agreed to discontinue pursuit of furlough days as an option to resolving the System's current financial shortfalls. The shortfall associated with the curtailment of state appropriation and the original net investment loss which emerged late in 2008 has largely been addressed for six of the seven universities through other cost reductions. In particular, the University of Southern Maine, under President Botman's leadership, which initially expected substantial layoffs in order to address its share of the shortfall, continued to pursue aggressive cost reductions in order to mitigate the impact on employees.

"The University System is greatly thankful for the understanding and consideration demonstrated by our unions and their membership in their willingness to consider this proposal," said Chancellor Richard Pattenaude. "There has been a clear demonstration of their desire to assist their universities during very difficult financial times."

While new financial challenges related to enrollments, net investment loss and other shortfalls continue to emerge and must still be addressed, the circumstances that gave rise to the furlough proposal have changed, resulting in this joint decision. The University System will continue to meet these challenges while minimizing any impact to employees. The University and the unions remain committed to seeking creative solutions to deal with the financial shortfall.

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I have great news – the proposed rates for health insurance have been reduced.    Effective January 1, 2009,  the rate increase will be 9% rather than the 15% increase that was scheduled.  Click here for comparison of premiums for UMPSA employees.

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Effective July 1, 2008 - mileage reimbursement has been increased to $.42 per mile.

Effective July 1, 2008 there will be a new vision plan available for UMS employees.   Please click here to see the powerpoint presentation.   The enrollment period will be from May 1, 2008 to May 30, 2008.

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The cohort listing is now available.  Click here to see the listing.   If you believe that an error has been made, please contact your campus HR office.   The years of service are all years of university service - not just professional.   Also, they are complete years of service as of 6/30/2007, i.e., if you were hired on 6/1/2000 you would have 7 years of service; if you were hired on 9/1/2000 you would have 6 years of completed service.

I've also attached the notices that went out to all UMPSA members and supervisors.  The notices to the UMPSA members only went to those who are in cohort 1.  Click here for the UMPSA member notice.   Click here for the supervisor notice.   The UMS has posted a power point presentation giving you information on the program - Click here.

2007-2009 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WINS APPROVAL FROM MEMBERSHIP & TRUSTEES

The contract negotiated for July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2009 was passed overwhelmingly by the UMPSA membership! The Board of Trustees approved the contract at their September meeting. All UMPSA unit members who were employed as of June 29, 2007 and are still employed as of October 31, 2007 will receive a 3.5% increase in the October 31 paycheck, retroactive to July 1, 2007. The new agreement will be posted on the Web at: www.maine.edu/system/lr/labor_relations.php  and on this website in the near future.

For a summary of the articles that were changed, click here http://umpsa.maine.edu/SummaryTA.pdf .

  Click here http://umpsa.maine.edu/MovementExplanation.pdf  for information on movement through the wage bands.

The Salaried Employees Compensation and Classification Committee has continued to meet since the implementation of the Salaried Employees Compensation and Classification Program (SECCP).   Click here for a report on the committee's work.

There has been questions on the cohort.  Please click here for a spreadsheet that shows that four employees having the same starting salary prior to the SECCP increases after the 4 years there annualized salary will still be equivalent however, it will be increased by the amount of the SECCP increase.

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A summary of UMPSA's Pre-Negotiations survey results has been sent to dues paying members.

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The UMPSA Delegate Assembly will be held Saturday, April 21, 2007 at the MEA office in Bangor from 9am to 2 pm. 

Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.   Mileage will be paid to attend this meeting.   Also, if you live more than 90 miles away – one night’s stay will be paid for as well as one meal. 

The following campuses/units are allowed the following number of delegates. 

 Please volunteer to be a delegate at this year’s assembly.   You must be a dues-paying member to be a delegate or run for office. 

The Delegate Assembly is the legislative body of UMPSA.  It elects our Statewide Executive Board, establishes policy and makes general regulations governing the work of the Executive Board.

Also, this year the term for President and Vice President are up.   Listed below are the duties for each office:

The president shall:

A. speak for UMPSA;

B. preside at all meetings of the Delegate Assembly and Executive Board;

C. advise and assist in preparing the annual program and budget for submission to the Executive Board and Delegate Assembly;

D. vote to break a tie at the Delegate Assembly;

E. appoint members to committees and serve ex-officio on all committees of UMPSA without voting privileges;

F.perform all duties relevant to the office of the president.

The vice president shall:

A. assist the president and assume all presidential duties in the absence of the president;

B. advise and assist in preparing the annual program and budget for submission to the Executive Board and Delegate Assembly;

C. serve on all standing committees as an ex-officio member without voting privileges. 

The term for both offices are 2 year terms commencing on June 1, 2007.

 I can say that being President of UMPSA has been very rewarding the time and effort that you put into UMPSA as president is well worth.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you are interested in running for either position, I can discuss either position with you in greater detail.

Sincerely,

Kerry Ann Sullivan

UMPSA – President

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GREAT NEWS!!!!!   The MEA Consultant report on the UMS health insurance costs worked.  We have a new memorandum of understanding on Health Insurance.    This is a study which was paid for by membership dues  it showed that the university did not need the increase premiums they were requesting.   This study was also was used to get the rebates (which were in your August paychecks) on the health insurance premiums we had paid last year because UMS had received rebates from Anthem on the premium.   THIS IS YOUR MEMBERSHIP DUES AT WORK - IF YOU AREN'T A DUES PAYING MEMBER YOU ARE NOT PAYING YOUR FAIR SHARE FOR THE WORK WE DO FOR YOU!!!!

In the contract the premium percentage was suppose to go up to 13% for single and 15% of the incremental premium cost for dependent coverage.  The new memorandum has the premium percentage going down to 11 1/4% for single coverage and 13 1/4% for the incremental premium cost for dependent coverage.  

Health Insurance costs Analysis: 

Also, the maximum out of pocket for prescriptions has been restored.  The maximum out of pocket expense for single plan is $1300 and for the family plan it is $1950.

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Please click here to open an Excel Spreadsheet that you can use to verify your retro pay.   You will need to have Excel for this to work also you can not have had any reclassifications, reduction or increase in time, working out of job description stipend - all of these circumstances the formula will not work because of these had to be figured manually.

Please click here to see a the articles that were changed in the tentative agreement..

Please click here for the dates and times for informative meetings on the Tentative Contract.  Also, listed is information on voting.

The following is a link to Anthem https://www.anthemprescription.com/member/DrugHome.do?service=online&Color=APM&Formulary=National

This web site should help you in determining which tier any medications you take will fall into.   It doesn't define as tiers but has the following definitions:

Generic  which equals   Tier 1

Formulary  which is equivalent to Tier 2

Non-Formulary which is equivalent to Tier 3

Anthem will be working to convert the data into the tier system.

.Click here for Health Insurance premiums from 7/1/2005 to 12/31/2007.  Remember the 1/1/2007-12/31/2007 are at the maximum of a 5% cap of total premium costs.  If  the increase from 2006 to 2007 is less than 5% the amounts will be adjusted to the lower costs.

Click here for net pay increase summary and clarifications (combined into one document).

Click here to see a listing of the top 100 drugs prescribed to UMS employees with the tier they fall into.   The 3-Tier plan will not go into affect until 9/1/2006 nor will the 3 months for 2 copays.

Clarification on who will get the pay increases and/or rebates:

1. To get the 9/19/2005 pay increase (with retro) you have to have been employed on 9/18/2005 and still employed on the date the contract is signed.   Those new hires after 9/18/2005 - their starting pay has taken into consideration what the UMS planned on giving for a raise - it was included in their initial starting salary.

2. To get the 7/1/2006 pay increase you have to have been employed on 6/30/2006 and still employed on the date the contract is signed.

3. To get the premium rebate on health insurance:  You have to have been employed and pay health insurance premiums during 2004 & 2005 and still be employed at the University on the date the contract is signed.

Hope this answers many of your questions, if not, click here to send me an email

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The UMPSA Negotiation team is very happy to announce that we have a tentative agreement.    UMPSA and the University will be working to finalize language over the next two weeks. As soon as the new contract is typed up, we will be mailing it to your home addresses for your vote if you are a dues paying member.  This is your chance to join UMPSA and have a say in your working conditions – only dues paying members can vote on contract ratification.   If everything gets approved by our members and the BOT, in a timely fashion, UMS is hoping to be able to include this in the August 2006 check.

Settlement Highlights:

UMPSA members can feel proud.  All of our hardwork has paid off.  Thanks to the pressure put on the University by our members, we were able to get a far bigger salary increase than was originally offered.   UMPSA members will see their salaries rise by 7% during the term of this contract.  In addition, we were able to gain significant concessions from the University on their original health insurance proposal.  Specifically, the University agreed to put a cap on employee premium increases in FY07, and to phase in a slight premium share increases over the contract.  Furthermore, Employees will now receive full employer paid single dental coverage.  

Lastly, UMPSA was able to protect the severance package for “soft-money” employees.  The University was insistent upon deleting this important benefit for soft money employees from the contract.

 Ultimately, the financial settlement reached will move all UMPSA represented employees ahead over the life of the contract 7/1/05 to 7/1/07. 

Here are the details on the 4 major items:

1.         Article 17:   Salaries

            Effective 9/19/2005 – 3.5% salary increase

            Effective 7/1/2006 – 3.5% salary increase

 2.         Article 18:

a.       Premiums  - Effective 1/1/2006:  

·        Premium increase from 10% to 11.5% for single coverage

·        Premium increase from 12% to 13.5% for dependent coverage of the incremental premium cost.

b.   Premiums   - Effective 1/1/2007

·        Premium increase to 13% for single coverage

·        Premium increase to 15% for dependent coverage of the incremental premium cost

·        A cap on the amount the total premium can increase.  The premium increase is capped at 5%.

c.       Health Plans:

i.         Current level of coverage will be maintained.

d.      Prescription Drug Plan

i.         3 tier plan  (no mandatory generic)

                                                                        1.      $10 for Tier I prescriptions (generic)

                                                                        2.      $25 for Tier II prescriptions

                                                                        3.      $40 for Tier III prescriptions

ii.       Mail order – receive 90 day supply of medications for 2 co-pays with Anthem (you can save money by using this new option)

iii.      No out of pocket maximum for prescriptions

iv.     Offset payment - Effective 1/1/2006:

                                                                        1.      Unit members making $25,000 or less will get a one time payment of $300 as a premium off-set

                                                                        2.      Unit members making between $25,000.01 and $30,000 will get a one-time payment of $200 as a premium off-set.

v.       Rebate on “over-payment” of the employee’s share of premiums for 2004 and 2005 will be distributed as follows:

                                                                        1.      $65 for those on single plan

                                                                        2.      $130 for those on single + 1 plan

                                                                        3.      $195 for those on family plan

vi.     Rebate on “over-payment” for 2006 (if there is an overpayment) will be distributed as negotiated by UMS and UMPSA once the figures are available.

vii.    Dental Plan:

                                                                        1.      Beginning 1/1/07 a dental insurance plan will be available at no charge for single coverage (employee).   Employee will pay the difference between single coverage cost and the cost for dependent coverage – if dependent coverage is elected by the employee.

3.         Article 29 – Early Retirement Incentive

a.         Unit members hired prior to 6/30/2006 will keep this benefit

b.         Unit members hired after 6/30/2006 will not have this benefit available

4..                  Article 10 – Soft Money Severance

a.       Current language will remain – no change in severance package for soft money employees.

If you would like to join and have a say in your contract, click here for a membership form.

Great News!  We now have a Memorandum of Understanding on Reclassifications.  The MOU will streamline the process and time for completion of all reclassification requests.  There are now time lines for each step of the process.  This time line is 20 working days per step with the exception of the final step where the time line is 30 working days.  There will be no more 1-2 years to process a reclassification request.

The steps are as follows:

1. Employee completes the form "Request for Salaried Classification Review"

2. Employee completes a new PDQ

3. Employee submits form and new PDQ to supervisor. 

4. Supervisor has 20 working days to complete their section and submit to HR with copies of the signed PDQ and RSCR form to the employee.

5. HR has 20 working days to provide a written response to the RSCR to the employee, supervisor and UMPSA

6. If the employee, is not satisfied with the response from HR they have 20 working days from the receipt of the denial to file a written request for appeal to the System Appeals Committee.  The System Appeals Committee (SAC) is made up of a representative selected by the system office and an UMPSA representative.

7. The SAC has 30 working days to provide a written response to the employee, supervisor, UMPSA and campus HR.

8. The findings of SAC are final - this is the last step in the reclassification process.

If the reclassification request is approved, the minimum pay increase shall be 5%.  The increase will be retro to the date the employee submitted the form to their supervisor.

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