In June 2023, the Nebraska Department of Education sent our union a notice that it would consolidate certain job classifications in Vocational Rehabilitation and Disabilities Determination Services. Under state law, the Department of Education has the right to add, subtract, or consolidate job classifications, however, the law requires NDE to negotiate the salaries of those classifications. The Department of Education informed our union in June that it would not bargain with us. Instead, it would simply move some classifications up a pay grade without further discussion.
Our union sent a formal “demand to bargain” and informed the Department of Education that we would take legal action if it failed to meet us at the negotiations table as required by law. After a couple of weeks, NDE management acquiesced and agreed to negotiate. Union members stood firm that more senior employees must see an additional salary increase in order to avoid salary compression with the less senior employees being consolidated into higher pay grades. In the end, we were able to reach this agreement in August, which will add to the record raises we were able to negotiate that took effect July 3, 2023. The additional salary increases are retroactive to July 3. A full copy of the supplemental agreement is available here.
A union is a group of employees who unite together to protect each other’s best interests, primarily through contract negotiations. Our union members stood firm to demand their right to bargain is respected. If you’re not yet a NAPE/AFSCME union member, please join us today.
