As the Stater was going to press, our union was pursuing three simultaneous strategies to restore longevity pay for our state worker members who had it removed from their paychecks by the Legislature and Governor. These strategies, all explained in detail below, are:

-- Our legislation known as L.D. 1594, “An Act to Restore Longevity Pay,” sponsored by Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, to restore longevity pay retroactive to July 1, 2009;

-- Our four class-action, age-discrimination complaints that we filed last year with the Maine Human Rights Commission;

-- Our memorandum of agreement with the Baldacci administration to restore longevity effective July 1, 2010, and to eliminate the administration’s proposed three additional shutdown days, both in exchange for a payroll push that would move the June 29, 2011, payday for Cycle “A” employees forward by 48 hours, to July 1, 2011.

 

L.D. 1594, “An Act to Restore Longevity Pay”

On February 11, MSEA-SEIU members packed the Appropriations Committee hearing room and testified in favor of L.D. 1594, “An Act to Restore Longevity Pay,” sponsored by Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell. This legislation would restore longevity pay retroactive to July 1, 2009. Both Sen. Mitchell and Rep. Patsy Crockett, co-sponsor, testified in support of the legislation, as did several MSEA-SEIU members, including the father-son team of Richard and Jonathan French.

“I have worked as a chemist at the Health and Environmental Test Laboratory for over 40 years now,” Richard French said. “I understand these are hard times for the State of Maine and difficult choices had to be made. State employees have had to shoulder some of the deficit and have by picking up part of their state-paid health insurance based on pay, taking unpaid shutdown days, and suspension of merit increases. However, I do not believe that it was the intent of this cost-saving legislation that applied to the suspension of longevity payments to cause the action that actually happened.”

Continuing, Richard French said, “Employees who were already receiving longevity payments incurred the same reductions in pay as other employees with having to pay part of their health insurance and losing work time through shutdown days, but also had the burden of having their salaries (pay per hour) cut, the only sector of employees to have this happen. The approval of this bill (L.D. 1594) will correct this.”

Richard French’s son, Jonathan French, a designer for the Maine Department of Transportation, said he began a career in public service because of the example his father had set.

“I can tell you my father is my role model for his dedication and service to the State of Maine,” Jonathan French said. “Early on I learned the value of state service through him and that is why I am a state employee today. I cannot begin to count the number of times my father stayed late into the evening at work, came in on weekends, or even in the early morning hours all without compensation to fulfill his job duties and more, in order to continue to provide for his family, but most importantly, to serve the Maine public and ensure their public health. To me, he has more than earned his longevity pay for the dedication he has shown to serving Maine citizens throughout his career.”

Also testifying in support of L.D. 1594 were MSEA-SEIU President Bruce Hodsdon and our union’s attorney in this matter, Jeffrey Young. “MSEA believes that the elimination of longevity pay is illegal because it has had a disparate impact upon employees age 40 and over,” Young said.

 

Our Age-Discrimination Complaints

We are continuing to pursue the class-action discrimination complaints that four MSEA-SEIU members filed on behalf of all state worker members who had longevity pay removed from their paychecks in the two-year state budget signed by the Governor. The complaints were filed with the Maine Human Rights Commission, which is a partner of the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. We are arguing that the suspension of longevity pay violates two laws: the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which protects workers who are age 40 and older against discrimination; and the Maine Human Rights Act, which also prohibits age discrimination.

“We continue to believe that the elimination of longevity pay had an unlawful disparate impact upon older state employees in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and that the Legislature’s action violated the due process clause of the Maine Constitution,” Young said. "These are complex legal claims, some of which are just now beginning to be addressed by the Maine Human Rights Commission.”

 

Our Memorandum of Agreement with the Baldacci Administration

Following authorization from the MSEA-SEIU Board of Directors last month, MSEA-SEIU President Bruce Hodsdon, MSEA-SEIU Vice President Ginette Rivard, MSEA-SEIU Interim Executive Director Steve Butterfield, MSEA-SEIU Political Director Mary Anne Turowski and MSEA-SEIU General Counsel Roberta de Araujo entered into negotiations that led to a memorandum of agreement with the Baldacci adminstration restoring longevity pay beginning July 1, 2010, and dropping the administration’s proposed three additional shutdown days beyond the 20 already booked. The agreement was signed February 8.

This memorandum of agreement, which remains subject to legislative approval, does contain a funding mechanism. The agreement will be funded by pushing the payroll for Cycle “A” employees forward by 48 hours for the payday currently scheduled for Wednesday, June 29, 2011. Under the agreement, instead of being paid on that day, Cycle “A” employees would be paid on Friday, July 1, 2011. All other paydays would remain on schedule.

In addition to addressing one of the sorest points from the last legislative session — the removal of longevity pay from state workers’ paychecks outside of the collective bargaining process — the agreement keeps the number of shutdown days scheduled for the current two-year budget at 20. By moving the payroll currently scheduled for Wedneday, June 29, 2011, forward by 48 hours, this payroll will be pushed into the next two-year state budget. In addition to providing funding to restore longevity pay and eliminate the administration’s proposed three additional shutdown days, this agreement makes millions of dollars available to fund critical public services that are currently threatened by the $438 million budget gap. This could lead to additional matching federal funds for the state budget depending on how those resources are allocated.