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Early Retirement Options at UMS
Over the past couple of weeks, in light of the possibility of lay offs, a question has been raised regarding retirement possibilities for ACSUM (C.O.L.T.) represented employees. Specifically, the question has been raised; Do C.O.L.T. employees have an early retirement option? The answer is yes if the employee is 55 years old and has 10 years of full time equivalent service. Below is a summary of the Universities retirement policies dealing with eligibility for retirement and the retiree health insurance benefit.
The University Policy with respect to Retirement for ALL EMPLOYEES:
Employees may “retire” from University Service when they reach the normal retirement age of 65 OR at age 55 or older with at least 10 years of continuous regular, full-time equivalent service.
Therefore, ACSUM represented employees do have an early retirement option at age 55 with 10 years of continuous service.
There are no special benefits that come with an early retirement other than the following:
An employee who retires from the University according to the above criteria is eligible for the retiree health benefits upon reaching age 65.
The retiree health benefit at age 65 is as follows:
Employees who retire prior to July 1, 2010
The University pays 100% of the employee premium and 50% of the premium for eligible dependents.
Employees who retire after July 1, 2010
The retiree will pay a share of the premium for personal coverage according to the following formula based upon years of service:
| Years of Service | | % of Premium paid by retiree |
|
10 and less than 20 | | 15% of Premium |
20 and less than 30 | | 10% of Premium |
30 or more | | 7% of Premium |
The retiree will continue to pay 50% of premium for eligible dependents.
If an employee retires before age 65, they will not be eligible for the retiree health benefits until reaching age 65. In order to receive the retiree benefit, an employee who retires prior to age 65 and their eligible dependents must either remain in the University health plan and pay the full premium amount until age 65 OR the employee can make a one time election to cease coverage under the University plan and then elect to receive coverage again at age 65 provided that they can show proof of continuous coverage for themselves and any dependents between the ages of 55 and 65.
In solidarity,
Jim Bradley
State President, ACSUM
ACSUM Wins Grievance Filed
on Behalf of 80 Employees at USM
ACSUM is pleased to announce that we reached settlement with UMS over a grievance we filed on behalf of approximately eighty employees at the University of Southern Maine. These employees were scheduled to work the Patriot's Day holiday last year, however, USM closed due to inclement weather. USM denied these employees their holiday pay, a violation of our contract. The settlement awards these eighty employees compensatory time for the holiday hours they should have been paid. In all, over 640 hours were awarded in compensatory time to the employees.
This is a terrific win for ACSUM members and another demonstration of how important it is to have a strong union advocating on your behalf. Thank you to everyone who brought this issue to ACSUM's attention as well as to those people who fought to ensure employees received what they were entitled to!
ACSUM truly is - For The Greater Good!
In Solidarity,
Jim Bradley
State President, ACSUM
Debunking Reclass' Rumor
Good day,
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays and that the spring semester is off to a great start!
As many of you are aware, UMS will be conducting a review of the Hourly Employees Classification and Compensation Program (HECCP). The HECCP includes COLT, Teamsters and non-represented classified staff. ACSUM met with UMS in November for preliminary discussions on the review and to discuss how the process will work. ACSUM was represented by our negotiation team and myself. UMS was represented by Frank Gerry (Director of Labor Relations) and Tom Hopkins (Director of Compensation and Benefits).
The meeting began with the announcement that UMS would be hiring a "HECCP Project Leader" to head the reclassification study. This position will be a full-time, 2-year, fixed-length position. I do not know yet if this person has been hired. I'm waiting to hear back from UMS on that. This person will work with a consultant, who should be hired/contracted by February 1, as well as project team members who have yet to be identified.
The bulk of the meeting was spent having ACSUM outline concerns we have about the current system. Examples of this would be: 1) no where for AA 2s, library assistant IIs, to go even though they are working out of title, 2) job descriptions/scoring did not take use of computers into consideration, 3) site specific job descriptions no longer reflect the System job descriptions which were used to set pay scales and wage bands, etc.
UMS did agree, and assured us that it would happen, that ACSUM will be active participants in this process. He also said that nothing has happened regarding the reclassification study, in spite of all the rumors we heard in the fall about surveys being ready to be mailed out to employees. He said that ACSUM will help develop the survey and that we will see it before it is ever sent to employees. If you are asked to fill out any sort of position questionnaires, before we let you know about it first, contact ACSUM immediately!
Both sides agreed that the formation of a labor management committee would be the best way to move forward with the study. It was agreed that before we could form this committee, UMS had to meet with the teamsters to make sure that they would also agree to be part of this committee. UMS had planned to meet with the teamsters before Christmas and then to let us all know whether or not we could go ahead with the formation of the committee. The meeting with UMS and the Teamsters never happened. I was told by Frank Gerry that the labor relations office lost an employee, Mark Kamen, and as a result Frank was unable to move forward with this issue due to not having enough time for it. He said that he and his staff are having to spend time covering the responsibilities of Mark, as well as trying to hire for that position, and thus do not have the time to deal with the reclass study right now. He asked that we be patient and that hopefully the process can begin again in a couple of months.
So, at this point we are in a holding pattern waiting for UMS to meet with the Teamsters so that we know whether or not we will be forming the labor management committee or going it alone with UMS. We are also waiting for UMS to hire the HECCP Project Leader and "consultant." We will let you know once there are any new developments.
I also want to encourage all of you to log in to the members only section of the ACSUM website. The online forums can provide a great opportunity for our members to discuss these kinds of issues with other members and can also be a valuable tool for your negotiation team to gather information for both the reclassification and the next round of contract negotiations. Please share with us concerns that you have experienced in your position that you think should be addressed in either the reclassification study or future contract negotiations.
Below is a link to a discussion that has already begun regarding the reclassification. You can add to it or begin a new discussion if you wish. We hope the forums will provide an opportunity for all us to have a greater sense of community within ACSUM.
http://monkeypit.zapto.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=160
You can also share your concerns by emailing, calling, or visiting in person, your chapter representatives. Contact information can be found at www.acsum.org
As always, please feel free to contact me at any time as well. My phone is 753-6618 or email jbradley@usm.maine.edu
Have a great day.
Jim
Jim Bradley
State President, ACSUM
Benefits of Membership
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