Proposed contracts reached with Pa.'s two largest state employee unions

UPDATE: Proposed labor contracts come with pay increases but total cost is a mystery

Tentative contract agreements have been reached between the largest of state employee unions and Gov. Tom Wolf that provide for five pay increases over the next three years.

One day after Wolf reported good progress being made on the issue of raises for non-unionized state employees, officials from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 13 and Service Employees International Union Local 668 and the Wolf administration confirmed that a handshake deal had been reached on a proposed contract to replace ones that expired June 30.

The next step is taking the contract proposal to their respective union members for a ratification vote, a process which is expected to take several weeks.

While neither union nor administration officials would release details of the tentative agreement, a document obtained by PennLive indicates the agreements provide for raises of:

2.75% on Oct. 1, 2016

2% on July 1, 2017

2.25% (step increase) on Jan. 1, 2018

2.5% on July 1, 2018

2.25% (step increase) on Jan. 1, 2019

Other terms of the tentative agreement could not be confirmed by PennLive on Wednesday.

Dave Fillman, AFSCME 13 executive director, said the union's policy committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve the proposed agreement that covers about 30,000 state government employees. According to the Office of Administration, the average AFSCME worker's salary is now $42,839.

The tentative deal also received a similar warm reception from SEIU Local 668 leaders, said its president Tom Herman. SEIU represents 11,000 state employees whose salary averaged $49,460 in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

"We are pleased with the agreement and we'll be recommending it to the membership," Herman said.

These proposed contracts will be the first to undergo a new step in the collective bargaining process that Wolf enacted into law in April.

It requires any labor agreement involving state government employees to receive a cost-analysis by the state's Independent Fiscal Office.

That analysis looks at the annual cost of changes in salaries, benefits, paid leave and working conditions over the contract's life.

Administration sources said that step will occur after the union ratifies the proposed agreement but before the administration signs off on it.

Twenty-one separate bargaining units that cover 45,000 state employees had their contracts or memorandum of understanding expire at the end of June.

* This post has been updated to correct the raise that takes effect July 1, 2018.

Source: PennLive