In August, union members who work under our contracts at the Nebraska State College System (NSCS) and Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) met to finalize negotiations proposals. Just like their fellow union members who work at state code and non-code agencies, our NSCS and NDE members met to discuss and debate proposals and elect members to their respective negotiations teams.
Both groups’ priorities ensure that salary increases account for inflation, insurance increases, and rewards for members with satisfactory or better performance evaluations. Our State Colleges support staff members at Chadron, Peru, and Wayne State Colleges also prioritized being able to be paid for overtime work in cash as opposed to compensatory time, additional salary lanes for experience, and anniversary-based salary increases, among other items. Our NDE members prioritized remote work assignments, wage increases, and additional leave benefits similar to state code and non-code agency members.
NSCS members selected Jason Blanford (Maintenance Tech IV, Chadron), Tyler Foote (Maintenance Tech IV, Wayne), Kelly Overshiner (Custodian, Chadron), and Brandon Ziska (Security Officer II, Wayne) to serve on the negotiations team. NDE members selected Tanner Byrd (IT Infrastructure Support Analyst, Lincoln), Katherine Knutzen (VR, Columbus), Rebecca Schademann (Program Specialist III, Lincoln), and Jeremy Winfrey (IT Infrastructure Support Analyst, Lincoln) to serve on the negotiations team.
Although members at the Nebraska State College System and Department of Education work under separate contracts from members at state code and non-code agencies, members at NSCS and NDE negotiate pursuant to the State Employees Collective Bargaining Act just like other NAPE members. Negotiations begin in September and continue until a contract agreement is reached by December 31.
