In May MGEC surveyed members asking questions about their priorities and preferences for the next contract. The MGEC Bargaining Team met in June and will meet again in July to prepare the bargaining strategy and proposal for July 18th, the first day of bargaining with the State of Minnesota. It’s clear, the Across the Board (ATB) agreed to by AFSCME & MAPE (5.5% 7/1/23 and 4.5% 7/1/24) will impact these discussions. MGEC has many other issues to address a few of which include: the calculation of overtime (vacation, sick, holiday and compensatory time should count when calculating OT), indexing meal reimbursement amounts, expanding use of sick leave, vacation cash out, retention incentives, equitable pay and more.