On January 22, 2020, after the second day of mediation the MGEC Contract Negotiations Team entered into a tentative agreement for the 2019-2021 MGEC contract. This was the ninth total day of negotiations. Shortly after 6PM, and after significant conversations among the team, the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) mediator, and our attorney; as well as several contract language exchanges, MGEC and the State agreed on contract language and compensation for this contract cycle.
Our team made a conscious and deliberate effort to develop proposals that addressed both our membership as a whole, and specific subsets of the membership where we felt we could address our members’ interests. While the contract lacks many items we were hoping for, it includes several significant provisions for our membership- most of which would not have been achievable in a potential arbitration. Agreement on the contract also means that our members will likely see the benefits of the 2019-2021 contract in the near future.
The MGEC board is meeting on January 27, 2020 to develop a summary of the contract changes, background information, and provision of contract language to our membership for review and voting. The contract contains several new provisions and we know our members will have questions- we are working on an update webinar (or similar live webcast or streaming event). Please watch your email or the MGEC website for future updates, including next steps in the process.
Volunteer participants on your 2019-2021 Negotiation Team are: Derrick Dasenbrock, Mohammad Dehdashti, Forrest Hasty, Jason Hedeen, Steve Kordosky, Blake Nelson, John Siekmeier, and Victor Vasas. They are joined by our staff, Kari Torkelson and Dana Wheeler.
I am personally very proud of the work of the MGEC negotiation team and would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their efforts.
Derrick Dasenbrock
2020 MGEC Past President