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Bill to Ban Collective Bargaining for Public Employees
Please subscribe to SDEA’s Lobby Line for the latest news on legislative matters. " SDEA is still waiting for HB 1261, which will prohibit collective bargaining for public employees, to be scheduled in the House State Affairs Committee." I have noticed that several sponsors have back-pedaled from their support for this bill. Once they understand that public employee labor unions (PELU) in South Dakota provide avenues for workers to speak with their administrators in a non-confrontational environment, they see it is not a problem in SD. This is a solution in search of a problem. ULP on IP Filed On Tuesday, 31 January 2012, the SDEA General Counsel, on COHE's behalf, filed a request for a hearing on an unfair labor practice (ULP) by the BOR. We allege their refusal to bargain intellectual property (IP) as a working condition constituted a ULP. This request before the SD Department of Labor begins the process of a lawsuit, which is likely to end at the SD Supreme Court, to decide whether working conditions include IP (e.g., patents, copyrights and inventions) produced by public employees. Stay tuned.
Twelve-Month Payout Implementation Although the BOR declared an impasse and imposed a contact, the interim terms include items we sought and agreed to. As you may recall, we traded the eight percent self-support overload for an improved version of their twelve month payout proposal. The language is quite clear, read it here. All faculty on less than a twelve-month payout will now receive twelve paychecks, beginning with September 30, 2012, equal to one-twelfth of annual base salary less deductions. However, the nine-month contractual period remains August 22, 2012 to May 21, 2013 (and so forth). The administration cannot assign you any duties outside this period (i.e., during the summer) without appropriate compensation. For those who are eligible to retire before June 30, 2015 (i.e., will reach "rule of 85" before that date) may decide to opt out of the twelve month payout. To avail oneself of this option, eligible faculty must notify the administration by May 1, 2012. However, I understand the universities' HR, Payroll, and Academic Affairs staff are not fully prepared to receive your decision to opt out. As they roll out the procedures, I and your local COHE leaders will attempt to keep you informed. Another Round of Bargaining
In addition to monitoring the implementation of the imposed contract, your COHE bargaining team is preparing for another round of negotiations this spring. While dates have not been set, we anticipate several sessions to be scheduled soon. To that end, we will again seek input from COHE and non-COHE faculty via an online survey soon. It is very important that we encourage all faculty to complete the survey. The higher the response rate, the greater weight our arguments have in negotiations. When the survey message arrives, please complete it and encourage all of your colleagues to submit their responses as well. Your brother in defense of faculty rights, Gary
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