Raises and cap on out-of-pocket drug costs propel union's visibility among workers

Starting July 1, state employees represented by the North Dakota Public Employees Association (NDPEA) will see the first fruits of their union labor: a 4 percent pay increase.

NDPEA president Gary Feist says the pay plan "would not have become a reality" without the legislative activism of state employees.

"As a single mother with a house payment and a car payment, the extra money will help make ends meet without having to pinch and scrape so much," says Sheri Gartner, a NDPEA member who responded to the union's calls for legislative action.

Gartner joined the union about a year ago, several months after taking a job with the Division of Emergency Management's State Radio Communications.

She notes that "some of my co-workers were very skeptical about getting a raise through legislative action."

Nevertheless, Gartner was committed to doing her part. She responded to the union's calls to contact lawmakers and notes that "by being involved in the process along the way, I saw how hard NDPEA is working for us."

Feist says the union cumulatively sent 200,000 e-mails to state employees during the 2005 session, keeping them informed and soliciting state employees to call and e-mail lawmakers regularly on state employee issues, especially the pay plan.

The union's e-mail communications were not lost on state employees, including Gartner, who says NDPEA gave state employees "the information we needed to help us work for it."

Under the NDPEA-initiated pay plan, state employees will receive 4 percent raises in each year of the 2005-07 biennium.

The raises take effect July 1, 2005, and July 1, 2006, respectively. Republican Gov. John Hoeven signed the measure shortly after it cleared the Legislature April 23. (Photo of the signing ceremony appears on the cover.)

Just as significant as the pay raise, however, is what employees won't see starting July 1: money deducted from their paychecks to help defray the state's cost for its workers' health insurance.

NDPEA successfully lobbied lawmakers to reject legislation that would have effectively cut employee pay by making employees pay for part of their health benefits. Moreover, lawmakers agreed to cap workers' out-of-pocket prescription costs at $1,000, not including co-payments, for formulary drugs.

NDPEA started meeting with lawmakers and Gov. Hoeven in March 2004 about state employee issues, which the union identified using an online job satisfaction survey. Sixty percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with their salaries. One respondent succinctly said in a written comment: "I will retire in poverty as I have worked in poverty."

"With state employees working together, great things can happen," says Feist.

"It's great to see that NDPEA is recognized by the Legislature as the advocate for public employees and the organization that will hold elected officials accountable for their votes on public employee issues," Feist adds.

Meanwhile, Gartner says: "I am definitely a believer now in belonging to the union and-I am definitely a proud union member."