Legislative District 4
Senate: Sue Dolphin
House: Karina Guerrero

Legislative District 6
Senate: Pat Flickner

Legislative District 7
Senate: Eric Shelley

Legislative District 9
Senate:  Sherri Van Horsen
House:  Shirley Mcallister

Legislative District 10
Senate: Justin Johnson
House: Jackie Thrasher
House: Aaron Jahneke

Legislative District 11
Senate: Rita Dickenson
House: Eric Meyer

Legislative District 12
Senate: Tyler Kissell
House: Angela Cotera

Legislative District 13
Senate: Steve Gallardo
House: Anna Tovar
House: Richard Miranda

Legislative District 14
Senate: Robert Meza
House: Chad Campbell
House: Debbie McCune-Davis

Legislative District 15
Senate: Kyrsten Sinema
House: Lela Alston
House: Ken Clark

Legislative District 16
Senate: Leah Landrum Taylor
House: Cloves Campbell

Legislative District 17
Senate: David Schapira
House: Eddie Ableser
House: Ben Arredondo

Legislative District 18
House: Michael Conway

Legislative District 19
House: Katheryn Filbey

Legislative District 20
House: Rae Waters

Legislative District 21
House: Sharron Spane

Unless, that is, we hold them accountable. Our activism in politics is incredibly important.

As members of the Local 2960, we ask that you join us in voting for the candidates listed below in the upcoming primary election.

Our governing body, AFSCME International, a political action committee who tirelessly monitor and report on the pro-labor decisions that are made by our national and state legislators. It’s important to understand that the PEOPLE committee doesn’t endorce politicians on the basis of their red or blue affiliations. They examine each candidate on the basis of what they are doing to help protect right rights and jobs belonging to union members across the country.

Our message is simple. Through the ballot box, we can help elect candidates who stand for what matters to Local 2960 members:

• No more out-sourcing of jobs.
• Strong, pro-labor contracts
• Affordable heath care
• Retirement security
• No cuts to vital public services

The Local 2960 is proud to endorse the following candidates for office.

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We also want to encourage discussion about the issues that these people represent. Do you have a story to tell, or a candidate that you feel should not be here? Tell us what you think by commenting on this page.
]]> http://afscme2960.org/news/people-endorsed-candidates-for-arizona-primary/feed/ 0 http://afscme2960.org/news/wage-concession-package-for-2010-2012/ http://afscme2960.org/news/wage-concession-package-for-2010-2012/#comments Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:37:20 +0000 AFSCME Local 2960 http://afscme2960.org/?p=470 The AFSCME Local 2960 Executive Board has settled on a wage concession package for 2010-2012. Up to 170 Unit III employees will be able to keep their jobs due to the proposed 2% City Food Tax as well as the concessions listed below. The positions in question were slated for elimination in April of this year.

Concessions

• 1% wage reduction
• 6 (six) 8 hour unpaid furlough days (48 hours total) each year
• Bi- annual vacation buyback freeze
• Compensatory time conversion suspended
• Linguistic Pay is reduced by 50%
• “12-hour rule” overtime benefit is suspended
• Employer deferred compensation contribution is suspended (.1%)

All concessions will be restored June 20th, 2012.

The acceptance of any concessions is a difficult undertaking. But, when faced with our brothers and sisters losing their jobs and City Council mandating cutting merit increases, longevity and wages, the board felt that having a say on how these concessions would be enacted was vital.

Contract Ratification

On February 26th, 2010 Unit III members will have an opportunity to ratify the concession package.  A 3.2% total concession package is what has been agreed upon in other units.  An estimated $6.7 million has been saved to restore city services and positions.  The package is explained below and will potentially save 70 jobs in a wide area of services.

This contract must be ratified by Union Members prior to it taking effect on July 1st, 2010.

2% Food tax

On Feb 3^rd 2010 the City of Phoenix Council passed a 2% sales tax on grocery items by a 6 to 3 vote.  The tax is expected to generate $12.5 million for the balance of the fiscal year ending June 30^th, 2010 and $50 million for the next fiscal year.  Unit III is expected to gain over 100 positions in libraries, recreation and senior centers, and civilian police positions.

Furlough Days

Among the hardest decisions that the negotiation team needed to make was the decision to concede  furlough days as opposed to a bigger reduction in wages. However, furlough days are being used to settle budget deficits in organizations around the country. The following is a list of municipalities and the number of furlough days they have scheduled or have already taken.

• Arizona State University- 15 days (2009)
• City of Tucson- 5 days Jan 1, 2010- June 1, 2010 (unsure  # after)
• City of Chicago – 15days- (2009), 24 days- (2010)
• City of Los Angeles- 26 days (2010)
• City of New Jersey- 12 days (2010)
• City of Seattle – 10 days (2010)
• State of California- 18 days (2009), 18 days (2010)
• State of Georgia- 12 days (2010)
• City of Phoenix Unit III- 6 days (2010)

Reasons for settlement

The main reason for the Executive Board to settle with these concessions was the ability to negotiate how the cuts would affect our members (furlough days instead of longevity and merit increases), safeguards that these concessions would automatically be rescinded at the end of the contract (a sunset clause), and the ability to save as many of our fellow brother and sisters’ jobs as possible while protecting longevity and merit increases.  No one is happy to lose money but in these difficult economic times it is a vital role of the union to minimize the impact to our members and to save positions.

Questions

For any questions or concerns, please click here to send an email, or call the Local 2960 Union Hall as (602) 254-3966

To continue the discussion, please leave a comment either here or in the Local 2960 Forum.

It is likely that the sales tax will save several hundred jobs over the next few months as budget negotiations continue. In Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Phil Gordon gave the council the option to reverse the decision after hearing from the public after the other 15 budget meetings are concluded at the end of this month.

The notion that the average City of Phoenix employee also makes $100,000 per year was challenged by members of the public and by city employees from various departments. Councilman Sal DiCccio was responsible for this benchmark being placed in the public domain. He repeatedly suggested to various news outlets that “his calculations show the average total cost per worker is more than $100,000.”

The Arizona Republic’s story on budget concerns calculated that the “records show the median annual salary for full-time city workers was $57,000.” Additionally, AFSCME Members as well as other union members who rallied in support of the grocery tax on Tuesday evening expressed exactly what services that they provided for the members of our town.

We make Phoenix happen, one service at a time, one customer at a time. For those that expressed your support of the grocery tax, thank you. We would also like to encourage you to leave a comment about your experience.