Contract negotiations begin
Today starts the beginning of successor contract negotiations between the Association Employees Union (AEU) your union and the California School Employees Association (CSEA) your employer. This correspondence from your AEU Bargaining Team is the first of many and is intended to inform you about your AEU negotiations team, our goals as your representatives and to ask for your support. First we would like to inform you that the AEU Negotiations Team has hired Mr. Chris Platten and Ms. Carol Koenig from the law firm Wylie, McBride, Platten & Renner to join your AEU negotiations team of Debbie Pichetto, Valerie Hollins, Karen Hartmann and myself Scott Hendries. It is our belief that retaining the services of these highly qualified negotiating experts in addition to our own AEU member team better positions us to negotiate improvements to our wages, pension, health and welfare, hours and working conditions.
After hearing from our AEU brothers and sisters through our bargaining survey and subsequent meetings, we have several goals for this contract. First and foremost, we will move forward in an effort to make improvements to your wages, restore and improve upon our pension benefits. We will address the impacts that the Affordable Health Care Act will have on our current and retired brothers and sisters. We will also address workload, staffing, contracting-out and many other work environment procedures and processes.
Our hope is that the CSEA we see across the table in these negotiations is the same CSEA we see defending working classified men and women throughout this great state. We hope to see the CSEA that fights to improve workers rights and benefits, not one that wants to see reductions and higher co-pays, reduced benefits, two-tier wage and benefit plans for the same work. Be assured that whichever CSEA we ultimately deal with, AEU will be ready to represent you successfully.
We will do our best to keep you informed every step of the way. Please ask questions if you have them, and show your support for AEU whenever you can.
Scott Hendries
AEU President Ex-Officio, AEU Negotiating Team
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