NY
Under a tentative four-year contract agreement reached between the New York State Public Employees Federation (PEF) and the state, some 58,000 state employees will receive a 3 percent increase retroactive to April 2, 2007; 3 percent increases April 1 of 2008 and 2009; and a 4 percent increase April 1, 2010. The AFT affiliate also secured extra pay for its members who live in higher cost-of-living areas.

Ballots will be mailed to PEF members pending executive board approval Feb. 20. The ratification process is expected to take about two months, according to PEF.
AK An arbitrator settled the dispute over wages between the Alaska Public Employees Association's (APEA) Supervisory Unit and the state.

In a Feb. 4 decision, arbitrator William Greer awarded state supervisors a 5.5 percent pay increase, retroactive to July 1, 2007; and 3 percent increases effective July 1 of 2008 and 2009. The local had asked for 7 percent, 6 percent and 5 percent for the three-year contract. The state had offered salary schedule increases of 4 percent, 3 percent and 3 percent for each year of the contract.

APEA's Supervisory Unit represents 2,000 employees across state government. The arbitrator's award, however, only applies to the unit's 250 "class-one" employees, such as troopers and nurses at state facilities, who are prohibited by law from striking.

At press time, APEA and the state had not reached agreement over wage increases for the remainder of the unit.

IL
State arson investigators represented by the Illinois Federation of Public Employees (IFPE) know that perseverance pays in policymaking. After nearly three years of working with lawmakers, the investigators won passage of legislation expanding their authority to carry weapons full time.

Previously, investigators only could carry weapons once a fire scene had been determined to be arson. IFPE says the change was necessary for the personal protection of investigators, due to the changing nature of arson crimes. There has been a particular rise in arson crimes involving methamphetamine makers and users.

KS
Requiring supervisors to take into account equipment and resource shortages and lack of training when they are conducting performance evaluations is just one provision in the recently negotiated contract article on evaluations that local union negotiators for the Kansas Organization of State Employees (KOSE) say will go a long way in standardizing and creating a fairer process for employees.

ND
Four AFT members have been named to Hillary Clinton's North Dakota Steering Committee. They are: Gary Feist, president of the North Dakota Public Employees Association and member of the AFT Public Employees program and policy council; Sandra Donaldson, professor of English at the University of North Dakota; Thomasine Heitkamp, chair of the Department of Social Work at the University of North Dakota; and Lonny Winrich, a retired faculty member at the University of North Dakota and a former state legislator.