771 Bargaining Updates

At the Local 771 meeting on Saturday, Home Care for Maine's ballots for the new contract were counted. There was an overwhelming vote to approve and accept the new contract. 75 ballots were cast. 70 were yes votes, 5 were no. Home Care for Maine workers have a new contract, that is retroactive to July 1, 2009. Part of the new contract is a 2%, across the board, raise. There are no more confusing stipends. Alpha One's contract is still in negotiations with some minor language changes coming from Alpha One. Once this language is agreed upon by both sides, the tentatively agreed upon contract will go out to Alpha One members to ratify. That should happen later this week. Once this happens, MSEA will make the contract available online through its website. A link to it will also be posted on Local 771's blog. Local 771's next meeting is Saturday, October 24, 2009 at MSEA headquarters, 65 State Street, Augusta from 10 am to noon. At this meeting, we will be counting the ballots for Alpha One's contract. Local 771 membership count as of August; Alpha One has 162 full members, Home Care for Maine has 201 full members, for a total of 363 full members. Local 771 keeps growing!