TPL Appeals Update
February 18, 2009
During August and September of 2008 140 TPL employees filed appeals concerning management’s determination of the grade and step of their underlying position for purposes of establishing a salary floor. In the months since then, NAGE officers and staff have held a series of meetings with ITD management and the various agencies to discuss the merits of each appeal.
Management has advised us that we will be receiving preliminary decisions about these appeals during the first week in March. As soon as we receive these decisions, we will forward them to individual employees along with a letter from the president of the employee’s local union explaining the result of the appeal and the steps, if any, the employee should take next. The notice will also provide information about who you should contact at the union to discuss your case.
Of the 140 appeals filed, we believe that in 51 cases, we were successful in convincing management to adjust the employee’s underlying grade and/or step. In the remainder of the cases, we will need to provide additional supporting information. No employee will be given a final denial without first being given the opportunity to provide additional information.
Update on TPL raises and the new Unit 6 contract
We have received a number of inquiries about the raises provided for in the new Unit 6 contract and how, if at all, they affect TPL employees.
Under our TPL Agreement with the state, TPL employees are subject to two different salary calculations, one for their underlying bargaining unit grade and one for their standard TPL salary. The employee is entitled to be paid at whichever rate is higher at any given time. The employee’s TPL salary rate is adjusted under the normal TPL rules which typically, but not always, provide for a salary pool each year out of which discretionary raises of zero per cent to five or six per cent are given out by management. Under the TPL law, the union has no say in these raises.
Management has informed us that no TPL raises will be given out this year. This is consistent with the determination that no costs of living increases or merit adjustments will be given to bargaining unit employees or to management for FY 09 (although step increases for bargaining unit employees will continue).
Although the raises contained in the new 2009-2012 agreement for Unit 6 do not directly affect TPL salaries, they will affect the salaries of the employee’s underlying position. If the contract raises and step increase outpace the employee’s TPL raises over the next three years, the employee’s underlying salary may surpass his/her TPL salary and the employee would be entitled to receive the higher of the two.