LINCOLN — With simply over two weeks left to finish the biennial contract negotiations for state labor contracts, officers with the state’s 8,000-member workers union stated “progress to date has been gradual.”

Almost 100 members of the Nebraska Affiliation of Public Workers (NAPE) gathered within the Capitol rotunda Thursday, lots of whom took the time throughout their lunch break or break day, to name for larger wages and different improved advantages included within the new two-year contracts. A number of union officers stated the enhancements are essential to handle pressing low staffing wants current in quite a few state departments. 

The state renegotiates its labor contracts each two years. The present negotiations started in September with a deadline of Dec. 31. As soon as agreed on, the contracts will final by June 30, 2025. 

NAPE Government Director Justin Hubly stated the highest precedence for the brand new contracts is elevating wages. Chris Morton, who works for the state Division of Well being and Human Providers, stated it is essential to have “wages that beat inflation.”

Morton stated many state workers are struggling to make ends meet as the price of fuel and groceries rise whereas their pay stays the identical. Some workers have been pressured to work a number of jobs to be able to afford primary requirements. 

“One job ought to be sufficient,” Morton stated.

Two weeks in the past, Hubly stated Gov.-elect Jim Pillen provided that minimal salaries for state workers can be frozen by all the two-year contract. Pillen spokesman John Gage denied this declare. 

“That declare is factually inaccurate,” Gage stated in an electronic mail. “The Governor-elect will respect the integrity of our labor negotiations with the state’s labor unions. We won’t conduct negotiations in public.”

Since then, Hubly stated Pillen’s staff has “come round,” and he feels assured that they are going to be capable of agree on a contract by the Dec. 31 deadline. Solely as soon as within the final 35 years have contract negotiations prolonged past the preliminary deadline, he stated. 

Hubly didn’t specify what % elevate the union was on the lookout for, however did say a 2-3% elevate “would not lower it” based mostly on the present inflation ranges. Nevertheless, he stated the union is not drawing any “traces within the sand.”

Except for wage will increase, different priorities for the brand new contracts are paid parental go away, entry to distant work assignments, retirement insurance coverage incentives, sick go away payout, bilingual premium pay and limits on obligatory additional time, in accordance with a union press launch. 

A number of union members emphasised the argument that these advantages have been important to recruit and retain state staff at a time when many departments are fighting low staffing.

Nebraska Division of Transportation (NDOT) Director Director John Selmer this week instructed lawmakers throughout a joint listening to of the state’s Appropriations and Transportation Committees that staffing shortages was a difficulty that stored him awake at night time. 

When a blizzard hit in elements of northern and western Nebraska this week, Selmer stated the division moved a few of its sources based mostly in central Nebraska to the Panhandle to fulfill the wants. Hubly stated that if the blizzard had hit all the state, NDOT wouldn’t have sufficient sources to offer providers to everybody. 

“With the intention to appeal to workers to public service and retain them for years to return, we should have a contract that takes a contemporary method for a contemporary and environment friendly workforce,” Hubly stated within the union press launch.