Happy New Year from Okinawa!
First and foremost, thank you to Dan Sullivan for his leadership in the past year! His hard work and along with a dedicated MGEC Staff and bargaining team, we were able to get a new biennial contract with significant improvements.
But we still have a way to go. Even with a 10% increase in the 2023-2025 contract, we are still significantly behind the inflation rate in the last 4 years. Pay for most MGEC classifications still falls behind similar positions in local and federal government.
Additionally, we have been running deficits the last few years. This is due to the fact that the cost of running organizations have significantly increased. Kudos to Dana and boards of yester years for setting up MGEC financially to be able to weather the financial storm of the last couple of years. But the trend is not sustainable. We need to adjust to ensure financial health for the next few years. This will be my top priority in 2024.
Moreover, I want to continue the work of previous boards and bargaining teams in getting more robust salary comps that we can take to the State for the next round of bargaining.
Finally, as I take the gavel for the 2nd time (the first time was around 20 years ago!), I want to thank the outgoing board, the bargaining team, and the dedicated staff, who helped make 2023 a successful year!
Fernando Nacionales