MPSEA Members:

The actions taken next week will impact your pay, and the pay of your co-workers for the next two to three years.  The Committee on Employee Relations (CER) will meet to discuss and act on whether or not / how MPSEA members and our fellow Coalition Partners (Local 6000, Local 236, and the MCAA) will receive pay equity with our unionized brothers and sisters in Local 311 (MFD) and the MPPOA (MPD).  The meeting will be held at:

Date: Wednesday, July 28

Time: 5 PM

Location: Virtual

MPSEA is urging ALL of our members to register in support, and to contact all alders (allalders@cityofmadison.com) to notify them of their support for this resolution.  NOTE: Use your personal email address to send this note of support.  Do NOT use your work email.

MPSEA and our Coalition Partners have drafted a position paper on this critical issue.  That position paper is included at the link below, and provides context and support for why wage equity is so important for City of Madison general employees and for the City itself.

Thank you for all of your support.  If you have any questions, you can reach out to any MPSEA Board member at your convenience.

Solidarity.

The MPSEA Board

MPSEA Members,

Your Board and our Coalition partners (Local 6000, Local 236, and the Madison City Attorney’s Association) continue to work hard to achieve pay equity.  Currently, all members of the Coalition are 6% behind our union brothers and sisters in Local 311 (MFD) and the MPPOA (MPD) in pay.  We have crafted a proposal that follows Council guidance to achieve wage equity by 2024.  The Coalition’s proposal for wage equity calls for:

1% raise in Jan 2022

2% raise in July 2022

2% raise in Jan 2023

1% raise in July 2023

In addition, the Coalition’s proposal includes a specific “me too” clause. This clause ensures that, should other employee groups be granted additional wage increases during this time period, the General Municipal Employees represented by the Coalition will receive this additional wage increase as well so that we do not fall even further behind. Note that the City administration’s proposed plan for wage equity, Legistar #66091, does NOT include a protective “me too” clause.

The article below summarizes the matter to date: https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/citys-nonunion-employees-challenge-mayors-plan-for-wage-parity-with-unions/article_60994521-880d-55bd-b9ea-6904d376f18f.html

MPSEA is asking that all members help to show support for this resolution and for full wage equity for Coalition members. Here’s how:

• Contact alders (on your personal email or phone; do NOT use your work email or phone) to tell them you support the Coalition’s alternate proposal for Legistar #66091.  You can either email their district email, or simply use the “allalders@cityofmadison.com” email address.

• Virtually “show up” at the Committee on Employee Relations (5 PM on July 28, 2021), Finance on (Aug 9) and Common Council (8/31) meetings and register in support of the Coalition’s alternate proposal for Legistar #66091.  Register to speak here.

Your email to the alders could be something similar to the sample email shown below:

SAMPLE EMAIL

********

Dear Alder _____,

My name is _____, and I am a City of Madison employee, and a member of MPSEA.  I am writing to encourage you to support the Coalition’s alternate proposal for wage equity attached to Legistar #66091 and to support MPSEA and our fellow General Municipal Employees as the City transitions out of the Covid pandemic and into the “new normal.” The City’s General Municipal Employees deserve pay equity with our unionized brothers and sisters in Fire and Police.  The City of Madison has committed to treating its employees equitably, and I strongly urge you to support this now and in the future by supporting the Coalition’s proposal for wage equity.  Ensuring pay equity / parity is critical to recruiting and retaining well-qualified employees, maintaining employee morale, and recognizing that ALL employees contribute equally to the success of our City.  Most importantly, it is the right thing to do.  Balancing the budget on the backs of employees is wrong. 

I hope you can support the Coalition’s proposal for wage equity attached to Legistar #66091. 

Sincerely,

********

If you have any questions regarding this issue or other matters, you can reach out to any MPSEA Board member.

Solidarity,

The MPSEA Board

At the Finance Committee meeting on Monday, June 21, the Finance Committee took up the proposal from MPSEA and our Coalition partners to provide a one-time payment to City employees to recognize their work through Covid, and the fact that we remain 6% behind sworn MFD/MPD staff.  The City administration’s position ultimately was that this was an illegal use of Federal ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds.  While MPSEA and the Coalition disagreed with this assessment, the Finance Committee ultimately recommended that this item be placed on file (denied). 

At this same meeting, the Finance Committee discussed how the City would use both $48,000,000 in ARPA funds, and an additional estimated $10,000,000 in funds coming to the City from the closure of TIF districts.  You can find the recommendations and discussion of this item at this Legistar link:

https://madison.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4980281&GUID=0819196E-90AA-4D6F-8BAC-6851E28A2F8A

The Finance Department’s presentation regarding these funds can be found here:  https://madison.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=9500443&GUID=1F47D089-A775-466B-AF13-E22B407E21E1

While MPSEA and our Coalition partners are disappointed that the City did not choose to allocate any of these funds to assist our members who are hard-working public servants, we will continue to work to address wage inequity. 

Solidarity,

The MPSEA Board

MPSEA Members,

Tomorrow (6/15), Legistar #65933 will be introduced at the Common Council. This resolution is for a uniform, one-time payment to members of our Coalition, which includes MPSEA, Local 6000, Local 236 and MCAA (Madison City Attorney’s Association). The payment, to be provided to all members of the Coalition, would be equal to 3.75% of the average Coalition employee (approximately $2,300/employee). This payment would be intended to acknowledge that the City’s protective service staff (sworn MFD/MPD staff) received a 3.75% increase in their base wages in 2021, while Coalition members received nothing. While this payment would assist our members as we transition out of Covid, it would NOT address long-term wage inequities.

MPSEA is asking that all members help to show support for this resolution and for full wage equity for Coalition members. Here’s how:

1. Contact alders (on your personal email or phone; do NOT use your work email or phone) to tell them you support Legistar #65933.  You can either email their district email, or simply use the allalders@cityofmadison.com email address.

2. “Show up” at the Finance Committee (6/21) and Common Council (7/6) meetings and register in support of Legistar #65933.  Register to speak here.

Should you choose to contact any or all alders, please note that Alders Carter, Martin, Lemmer, Evers and Myadze are already in sponsors of this legislation. Your email to the alders could be something similar to the sample email shown below:

SAMPLE EMAIL

Dear Alder _____,

My name is _____, and I am a City of Madison employee, and a member of MPSEA.  I am writing to encourage you to support Legistar #65933 to support MPSEA and our fellow General Municipal Employees as the City transitions out of the Covid pandemic and into the “new normal.” The City’s many General Municipal Employees worked hard during Covid to maintain high-quality City services for our residents during the pandemic, and this resolution would both acknowledge their efforts and aid in easing any financial strain they have faced during this difficult time.

Additionally, I would like to urge you to support long-term pay equity / parity for MPSEA and other General Municipal Employees.  Ensuring pay equity / parity is critical to recruiting and retaining well-qualified employees, maintaining employee morale, and recognizing that ALL employees contribute equally to the success of our City.  And it is the right thing to do.  Balancing the budget on the backs of employees is wrong. 

I hope you can support both Legistar #65933 and long-term pay equity for all City of Madison employees.

Sincerely,

________________

Solidarity,

The MPSEA Board

MPSEA Members,

The MPSEA Board, along with our Coalition Partners in Local 6000, Local 236, and the MCAA (Madison City Attorney’s Association) are all working on the issue of wage equity.  We have two updates on this process - one more immediate (item 1 below), and one longer term (item 2).

Note that, under item 1, MPSEA is requesting that members contact their alders in support of a resolution. Please remember to use a personal email address or phone number for this and similar alder contacts, NOT City-issued email or phone resources.

1. MPSEA and the other members of the Coalition have worked with Alder Carter to put forth a resolution for a uniform Covid one time stimulus payment of approximately $2,300 for all members of our Coalition.  This is referenced under Legistar #65933 (https://madison.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4980974&GUID=E4F1EA22-94C1-4A59-A5AE-F6CC39982765&Options=ID%7CText%7C&Search=65933&FullText=1).  The thinking behind this payment is that protective services staff (sworn MFD / MPD staff) received a 3.75% increase in their base wages in 2021, while all members of our Coalition received nothing.  This payment amount ($2,300) is approximately 3.75% of the wages that the average employee in our Coalition receives.  This would help address some of the ongoing wage inequities that MPSEA members are facing in 2021, but it would NOT address long-term wage inequities.  We are asking employees to contact their alders to ask for their support of this resolution.  Alder contact info can be found here: https://www.cityofmadison.com/Council/councilMembers/alders.cfm.  The proposed timeline for action on this item is:

   • June 15 – CC intro

   • June 21 – Finance

   • July 6 – CC Action

2. We continue to push for wage equity and intend to bring a wage equity proposal forward for consideration to the Committee on Employee Relations (CER) and the Common Council in the next 4-6 weeks.  As the details of this are finalized, we will provide additional information.  The proposal would address the ongoing 6% shortfall that all members of our Coalition face.  This shortfall represents real lost income to all of our members, which the City is currently using to balance its budget. 

Solidarity,

The MPSEA Board