Union, state open contract talks

DES MOINES – Leaders of Iowa's largest state employees union Wednesday requested a yearly pay boost of 3.25 percent as part of a new collective bargaining contract with the state that would take effect July 1.

Danny Homan, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 61, presented a 36-page proposal to negotiators for the state of Iowa that sought a 2.25 percent raise on July 1, 2017, a 2 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2018, another 2.25 percent raise on July 1, 2018, and a 2 percent increase on Jan. 1, 2019.

Homan said the compounding effect of the proposed incremental pay increase would have the effect of increasing base salaries for the union's roughly 18,500 members by more than 8.5 percent over the span from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2019. The union also requested yearly 'step” increases of 4.5 percent for covered employees who have not reached their maximum pay levels.

The AFSCME leader said the union was requesting a status-quo provision for health insurance – which was a major sticking point during the last bargaining session when the issue went to binding arbitration and ended with AFSCME members for the first time paying a share of their monthly health insurance premiums either at 15 percent or $20 per month depending on their plan, , plus deductibles.

'We appreciate their proposals,” said Janet Phipps, director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services who will present the state's response at a Nov. 23 meeting. 'I know they're looking out for their folks and we're going to engage in good-faith bargaining.”

DAS spokeswoman Tami Wiencek said her agency's preliminary estimate of the AFSCME proposal for across-the-board increases was about $111 million.

Speaking to reporters at a separate event Wednesday, Gov. Terry Branstad said the state facing a challenging budget year because state revenues are lagging below estimates and farm prices are below the cost of production.

'It's going to be difficult,” the governor said. 'It's going to be a tight budgeting year and we're going to have to make some difficult decisions.”

Earlier this week, the union representing about 600 state law enforcement officers requested a 3 percent across-the-board pay increase for each of the next two years in initial contract talks with the state. The new collective bargaining agreements would begin July 1, 2017, and run through June 30, 2019.