Employees cashing in with gainsharing program

The mixed feelings and ill-will of a gainsharing program unilaterally implemented in 1996 have subsided, leaving two very important residual effects for members of the FPE/AFT-affiliated Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees.

First, the program has "boosted morale tremendously in the areas where it has been successful because people feel that they have some ownership," says James Clark, president of the county union, which represents some 1,500 employees in more than 180 job classifications. Second, and the "biggest plus that I see," he says, is that it "has helped us stave off privatization."

Under the program, workers are given a financial incentive to identify and institute on-the-job cost-saving measures. The reward: up to $5,000 annually to each worker involved in the cost cutting. Right now, some 1,500 employees working in five county departments, including public works and the Bureau of Corrections, are eligible to participate in the program, which has saved Baltimore County more than $1.4 million since 1996.

One of the first gainsharing success stories was at corrections, says Clark. Kitchen workers made minor adjustments to food preparation, including reducing the number of cheese slices on grilled cheese sandwiches from two to one. Over two years, some $221,000 was trimmed from the kitchen's grocery tab.

Perseverance pays off for PEF veterans

After 11 years of lobbying for an affordable retirement credit buy-back program for veterans, the FPE/AFT-affiliated Public Employees Federation (PEF) is celebrating victory.

Oct. 19, PEF president Roger Benson and other state labor leaders joined Gov. George Pataki (R-N.Y.) for a signing ceremony of an amendment to the 1998 Veteran's Buy-Back law. The amendment allows veterans to buy back as many as three years of military service for retirement purposes at the cost of 3 percent of their salary.

"It was the organizational tenacity and leadership of many PEF administrators and veterans' chairs, including Richard Ferriolo, Dick Collins and David Krobe, combined with the involvement of other unions and veterans' groups, that pushed this to succeed," says Benson.

The amendment was crucial to the ability of veterans to buy retirement credit for their military service. Under the 1998 law, the credits were so expensive that the program was not practical for PEF's veterans.

Within two weeks of the amendment-signing ceremony, Benson was back in the governor's office for the signing of three more legislative initiatives that were top priorities of the New York union. Those bills also relate to pension issues, including prior service credit, which reduces the waiting period for reinstatement of prior pension service credits from five years to two years.

For more information, visit www.pef.org.