ROBERT PEAR and STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: January 14, 2010
WASHINGTON — The White House, Congressional leaders and labor unions said Thursday that they had reached agreement on a proposal to tax high-cost health insurance policies, resolving one of the major differences between the House and the Senate over far-reaching health legislation.
[...]
In addition, they said, health plans covering state and local government employees and collectively bargained health plans would be exempt from the tax until 2018. This transition period addresses the concerns of schoolteachers and other public employees who have denounced the tax.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, January 15, 2010, 8:40 a.m. ET

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Public worker unions and New York's Assembly are angling to curb the hiring of temporary workers and consultants instead of permanent state employees who Gov. David Paterson says saves taxpayers money.

Update: Thank you for your participation. A compromise agreement was reached. See http://ura-aft.org/node/371 for an article on the compromise.

The current Senate bill punishes working people by taxing our hard won health benefits, a tax that is intended to encourage employers to shift even more costs to working families, and shift coverage to high deductible, junk insurance plans.

Thursday, January 7, 2010
Patricia Alex, Staff Writer, The Record

[...]
The plans got a lukewarm response from some at the university, where state aid cuts have led to tuition increases and pay freezes.

"I'm baffled by the priorities this reflects," said Lucye Millerand, president of the [staff] union. "It has been so difficult to raise private money for the stadium that to start on another one now – I don't understand the logic of it."

The Union Leadership Academy (ULA) was created over 40 years ago to provide a long term continuing educational opportunity for unionists and workers. ULA helps union leaders and activists better understand the social, political and economic forces that impact unions and workers and to develop strategies and programs to benefit unions, workers and their communities.

Click on the images to see photos from that day.

Feb. 1, 2010. URA-AFT Steward Appreciation Night at the RAC

The Chamber's narrow, radical agenda advocating for anti-worker, profit-focused solutions to the broken health care, labor, and environmental systems garnered them the most votes for the national Jobs with Justice "Scrooge of the Year" award.

A new report by AFSCME outlines best practices and makes recommendations on improving the governance of the nation’s public pension plans. AFSCME’s 1.6 million active and retired members participate in more than 150 public pension systems with assets totaling more than $1 trillion. Overall, state and local government pension plans cover 7.5 million retirees.

The first cards will be mailed beginning Jan. 20, 2010, to all full, half, quarter, on-leave, laid-off and retiree members. Mailings will continue every week for the five weeks that follow; cards will be mailed directly to members' homes.

Since 1992, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has awarded more than $2.4 million to students of working families who want to begin or continue their post-secondary education. Over 1,700 families have benefited from our commitment to higher education. The Union Plus Scholarship Program is offered through the Union Plus Education Foundation.

Ariel Nagi, Associate News Editor
Published: Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, Updated: Monday, Dec.7, 2009

While some members of the Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers said they could not predict what the economic forecast will look like within the next few years, many agree the employment outlook is not looking good.
That is why the union voted on Nov. 30 to accept an agreement with the University to delay the last two years of its four-year contracted raises in exchange for job security, including a no-layoff pledge, said URA-AFT Spokesman Nat Bender.

Read the full article at http://www.dailytargum.com/news/union-defers-raises-with-no-layoff-pledge-1.2114128

Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers President Lucye Millerand said it is too soon to scream that the sky is falling.
[...]

Posted on Fri, Dec. 4, 2009
Rita Giordano, Inquirer Staff Writer

Rutgers University's 2,000 administrative workers have agreed to accept one-year delays of their 2009 and 2010 raises in return for a management pledge of no layoffs.
"Rutgers management asked us to renegotiate the last two years of a four-year deal, citing the poor economic outlook," Bob Cousins, executive director of the Union of Rutgers Administrators-American Federation of Teachers, said in a written statement. "Our members decided that sacrificing money by accepting this deal made sense to save those who might otherwise be laid off."

December 1, 2009
SERGIO BICHAO, STAFF WRITER

The union representing 1,900 administrative workers at the state's largest public university has agreed to defer salary increases in exchange for a "no-layoff pledge" through January 2011, union officials announced Tuesday.