State, union return to bargaining
The state and the Maine State Employees Association this week will return to negotiations over a collective bargaining pact that expired 18 months ago.
The Kennebec Journal reported that the two parties will now negotiate through a Maine Labor Relations Board mediator to resolve the dispute over the contract that covers 11,000 state workers.
Among the union's top priorities are restoring merit pay increases, with union officials noting it's been four years since state employees have had a pay raise. The state hopes to stop payments to union members for time when employees are at an annual union conference or monthly meetings, the paper reported.
As those negotiations continue, the union has a pending complaint that Gov. Paul LePage has violated the terms of that expired contract by restructuring or subcontracting jobs done by unionized state employees without seeking approval from the MSEA.
That complaint awaits a hearing set for early next year.
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