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ASCA for representation on all work
related and disciplinary issues -
members are represented at work site
and Central Office disciplinary meetings.
Members have access to the ASCA mediation benefit.
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PLEASE RELOAD OR REFRESH THIS PAGE EACH
TIME YOU LOG ON TO CATCH NEW INFO POSTED
The ASCA Union wants you to be kept informed of new events and news as soon as possible - read on for the latest and past reports.
We will keep some past reports on this page so you can see
how we have progressed over time. We will delete
info at the end of this year's negotiations. We will
continue to report on the Living Wage Campaign and the
progress on any legislative updates we may have over time.
We are going to try again for a bill to address All Classified employees working for Public Schools in NM in 2009 -- to get some kind of compensation
for experience, longevity, skills and training added to our salaries every year.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - MAY, 2008 - for Election 2008
The following legislative candidates have been endorsed by a screening Committee made up of locals in APS affiliated with
AFTNM - These are the recommendations that come from
the unions that represent the teachers, EAs and Secretaries,
Clerks and Bookkeepers in APS. The candidates listed below
were screened by a joint committee made up of representatives
of the locals listed above. These candidates, through their
answers on questionnaires submitted to the committee, have shown that they represent the values and interests of the employees we represent.
Dede Feldman - District SD 13
Miguel Garcia - District HD 14
Eleanor Chavez - District HD 13
Eric Griego - District SD 14
John Blair - District SD 15 & Tim Eichenberg SD 15
Linda Lopez - District SD 11
Tim Keller - District SD 17
Jason Burnette - District SD 19 Hold for endorsement (Reserve for General Election)
Victor Raigoza - District SD 10 Hold for endorsement (Reserve for General Election)
TO BEGIN SUPPORT AFTER PRIMARY
James Smith - District HD 22 (R) Possibly a Silent Endorsement
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UPDATE JULY, 2008
APS listened to us when we spoke at the Budget meeting
on May 14th - WE HAVE FINISHED BARGAINING FOR THIS YEAR AND WE HAVE BEEN VERY SUCCESSFUL: 4% PAY INCREASE, PAY DIFFERENTIAL FOR THOSE TAKING ON ADDITIONAL DUTIES (10%), UPGRADE OF ELEM. CLERKS FROM LEVEL ONE TO LEVEL TWO. UPDATE LANGUAGE IN ARTICLE 7.06 (F) AND 7.01 (B).
We sent out ratificaiton information to all "B" Schedule employees and our new contract with APS has been voted in --overwhelmingly YES on June 20th. The new 4% pay increases will be in effect beginning with the July 18th paychecks. For 200, 206, and 208 day employees - those increases will be seen in August.
We can't give up on pay raises we can depend on - we need lawmakers to give us something we can count on every year for wage increases for Classified Personnel. Keep in contact with the legislators in your voting district. Let them know how disappointed you are at the low percentage we got this year from the legislature -- (3%) is just not enough to keep up with the high cost of living. Tell them the important job you do for the Public Schools and that your salary just does not represent the skills you must have on-the-job.
REMEMBER: Legislators are all up for re-election this year - now is the time to get them to really work for you and commit to helping us get a bill for ALL Classified Personnel
in 2009.
Are our legislators representing us?
Our state representatives and senators have controlled public school funding since 1981.
Legislators not only control school funding, they decide how much we're paid. They also decide how much of a raise we will get for working in public schools - they send a recommendation for a wage increase at the end of each year's legislative session - then we must go to the bargaining table to see if we can get more from APS added to that recommendtion from Santa Fe.
Legislators get money to pay for school employee raises from state income taxes, and sales taxes which we pay when we buy stuff.
Legislators also get money to pay for our raises from taxes paid by corporations which drill for oil and gas on public lands.
In 2007, our legislators had a $750 million dollar surplus from the taxes described above. They used that surplus to give us a 5% raise.
But, in 2007 inflation went up 4.3%. Our legislators really only gave us a 0.7% raise.
This year, our legislators had a $370 million surplus from state income taxes, sales taxes, and taxes on public lands -- but what did they do with this surplus - you need to ask this question:
What are legislators doing about the fact that our wages are not keeping up with inflation?
During the 2007 Legislature, our legislators passed a bill to spend $40 million dollars on a super computer which will last 8 years.
On Jan. 25,2008 -- Rep. KiKi Saavedra’s Finance Committee approved a bill which will give classified school employees a 3% raise. A 3% raise for an employee earning $10.14 an hour will equal 30 cents more an hour, or $360 a year before taxes, retirement and health insurance deductions.
On Jan. 26,2008 our legislators introduced a bill which will let PNM charge us higher rates because we're using less gas and electricity.
On Jan 26,2008 our legislators introduced a bill which will lower taxes for anyone who moves from Placitas to the Northeast Heights .
In November,2008 our senators and representatives will run for re-election. Then, they’ll ask you for your vote.
Rep. Kiki Saavadra's Finance Committee failed to recommend a 10% raise for classified school employees in 2008 - that includes secretaries, clerks and bookkeepers who work for Public Schools in NM. Instead, Rep. Saavedra recommended a 3% raise and that is what we got for 2008.
EVERYONE needs to keep up contact with the legislators in the district that they live in. They need to know we are not giving up the fight for a Living Wage.
Tell them who you are and what you do for the Public
Schools as part of the Educational Team. Tell them that
you are underpaid for the skills you must possess on the
job for the public schools. Tell them that you are getting
further and further behind in the battle for a Living
Wage. Tell them that we were told that legislators did not want us to submit money bills in 2008, so we were pusiing for the highest percentage we could get, but ended up with just 3% which does not even begin to cover our high cost of living. We now have to push for an ALL Classified bill in 2009 and we need their support for that now.
2007 was the first time in history that we were able to get a bill introduced for secretaries, clerks and bookkeepers. We need to do the work now to get the Omnibus bill passed for ALL CLASSIFIED and signed into law in 2009. That work is to stay in contact with your legislators now and throughout 2008 and be ready for 2009.
THE WORK MUST CONTINUE - HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN DO:
FIND OUT WHO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES ARE TODAY. GO TO OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS PAGE ON THIS WEB SITE AND CLICK THE LEGISLATIVE LINK AND YOU WILL SEE HOW TO FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. HELP US HELP YOU BY A STEADY FLOW OF CONTACTS TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES from now to the 2009 legislative session. THE LEGISLATORS NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU -ALL THE TIME THROUGHOUT THE YEAR NOT JUST WHEN THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION IS UNDERWAY. THEY WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO FOR YOU.
We believe we have been forgotten when it comes
to compensation both from Santa Fe and APS. We know
that some employees have leveraged for a wage increase
based on the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal
mandates. ASCA maintains that our constituents are
also affected by the NCLB mandates - the work will
come eventually to the secretaries, clerks
and bookkeepers who work in our unit - so we
deserve equal compensation.
HISTORY OF 2007 NEGOTIATIONS (money issues): ASCA applied the average 5% from Santa Fe to our salary schedule, increasing longevity rates at ten, fifteen, twenty and adding a new longevity rate at twenty-four, AND increasing the differential paid to employees for completion of the Partnership with CNM Career Ladder Program. We did not increase the Level starting rates and we did not increase the longevity beginning at year five (that remains the same at $.10 cents more an hour). Everyone received a 4% increase.
NEW JOB DESCRIPTIONS: ASCA has worked with APS to finalize six new Job Descriptions that will go with our Three Level Salary Schedule. This is a very important accomplishment - reducing over 200 "B" Salary Schedule job descriptions down to just six. The Six Job Descriptions are: Clerk I Level One; Clerk II, Level II; Secretary, Level II; Secretary, Level III; Bookkeeper Level III, and Registrar, Level III. These new job descriptions will be used to advertise "B" Schedule position openings on Career Opportunities listings - all position openings for a particular Level will be printed under the Job Description it goes with. This will eliminate the need to print each opening separately with a job description.
SUMMARY OF 2007 NEGOTIATIONS (other language): Adding permanent language for Bilingual stipend paid out twice a year; doing a study with APS on Credit for Outside Experience, addressing employees supervising students, updating promotion and demotion language in the contract, addressing time off when employees are going to Emp. Assistance Program and language pertaining to time off when a building is closed due to a gas or water leak or any unsafe working condition.
LEGISLATION 2007 : Regarding House Bill 525 (2007 Legislative Session) - This was the first time in history that we were able to get a legislative bill for secretaries, clerks and bookkeepers working for public schools in NM. However, It did not get out of House Finance Committee. Our only hope now is to get an Omnibus bill for all classified personnel working for Public Schools in New Mexico passed. This will not happen in 2008 - we have been told that no money bills like this will be considered in 2008 - so we will push for the ALL Classified legislative bill in 2009.
(Past History on House Memorial 36- AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE LIVING WAGE CAMPAIGN:
HOW DID WE GOT TO THE POINT OF GETTING A BILL IN 2007 and working on getting an Omnibus bill in 2009)
After testifying before the Leg. Education Study Committee in November pf 2005 and 2006, we believe we have been successful in getting the word out about the importance of secretaries, clerks and bookkeepers working for the Public Schools in New Mexico.
The recommendations from House Memorial 36 will help us get a higher wage increase every year. We will keep working until we are successful.
Yes, we believe we were successful in our work since January of 2005, when House Memorial 36 was passed, we believe it will eventually pay off. The members of the LESC listened to our presentation with interest. We presented them with letters from our constituents on how they survive on their paychecks -- these letters were read by the committee members - who commented on their content. The next steps will be to continue this work with the Task Force and continue our fight with the Living Wage Campaign. WE NEED YOUR HELP IN CONTACTING YOUR PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES.
We will keep on fighting for
a Living Wage and Cost of Living and we
need ALL OF YOU to help us in this fight
by talking to APS Board of Education
members and your own personal State
Representatives about the work we do
for the public schools and our need for
adequate salary increases every year.
Tell them about your personal money crisis.
We also need to have a larger membership
for our union in order to
represent you adequately. Please fill out the union dues
deduction form on this web site - just
click on the Dues Form link - download
it, fill it out and send the
completed form to Yvonne
Rodriquez - c/o our State Affiliate
AFT- New Mexico (ASCA) in the interschool
mail. WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THINGS
HAPPEN FOR YOU!!
INFORMATION ON SITE-BASED BUDGETING:
schools can figure in money for more secretarial/clerical
help at school sites that need it instead of using
EA help - which is a violation of our contracts. We
have also brought this issue up at the Quarterly meeting
process - Schools need to use the new Extended Year
policy - described further down on this page - to pay
for secretarial help beyond a contract year.
DO YOU NEED A SITE VISIT:
ASCA has been setting up site visits.
If you want our team to come to your site
for a Q&A session on what the union can do
for you and to discuss your concerns -
call Carla at 262-2466 ext 116.
INFORMATION ON APS INSURANCE:
APS is part of the Inter-Agency Benefit Advisory
Committee (IBAC) made up of APS, NM State
employees, NM Ins. Authority, NM Retirees.
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