On Friday, August 28th, all unions held a conference call with OCA and at this time we were informed that the Governor has told OCA that there will be a 10% budget cut. OCA's Carolyn Grimaldi stated that if the unions wanted the 2% raise and retro money, that was previously negotiated under the current CBA, it could be a problem and possibly lead to a workforce reduction. The 2% raise is currently being grieved by all the unions and is going to step 2 on September 21st.
Also during the conference call, the unions were told that there will not be an early retirement incentive and that if any members were waiting on one to let them know.
As the talks are in the infant stages SCCEA does not want to the members to listen to rumors or bad information. Your union will put out the facts directly to the membership as time goes on. Ultimately the decisions that will be made are in the hands of our membership.