CCP 10-12-1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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, .. . 3490 Lexington Avenue North St. Paul, MN 55126 League of Minnesota Cities (612) 490-5600 October 19, 1993 To: Mayors, Managers, and Clerks From: JMill"".D~ un er, ecutIve Irector Joel Jamnik, Legislative Cou ;; Subject: State Personnel Settlement with AFSCME In July, Governor Arne Carlson sent a letter to all state and local government bodies in Minnesota urging budgetary restraint. . On August 24, Governor Arne Carlson sent another letter focusing specifically on salaries and urging that local governments hold the line on salary increases. The core of the Governor's letter was his trumpeting of the settlement with the state AFSCME unit. The Governor stated: Our recently ratified contract includes no across the board increase in the fIrst year, followed by a second year 3.25 percent increase in total compensation, including all across-the-board, progression steps and benefit costs. This contract follows our 1992-93 agreement that provided 2.5 and 2.5 percent annual increases in total compensation, at a time when many local contracts were granting 4 and 5 percent total annual packages. This paragraph was very carefully worded and could lead to misconceptions about the state's AFSCME settlement. We thought it might be helpful for you to have additional facts available to you as you negotiate with city employees and prepare for tax levy hearings. First, while the Governor's letter is accurate in reporting a freeze on the general wage adjustment, and 3.25% increase across-the-board beginning July 1, 1994, the letter ignores that almost half of the AFSCME employees will receive "step" adjustments which are . generally worth 2.5 % of annual salary. Consequently, many state employees will receive a salary increase of 2.5% this year and 5.75% effective July 1, 1994! OVER