I am pleased to announce that within the last hour NYSPIA has signed a Tentative Agreement with the State for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Under our internal union procedures, the Tentative Agreement is subject to both a vote by the full NYSPIA Board of Directors as to whether to present it to the Membership and, if so approved, a vote by the Membership whether to ratify the Tentative Agreement.
The Tentative Agreement will be presented to the full NYSPIA Board of Directors for consideration and vote tomorrow, Thursday, April 17th. If the Board votes to present the Tentative Agreement to the Membership, we will do a full contract presentation at the Troop A board meeting tomorrow night. We will also post it on our website with a brief analysis and explanation. We will then schedule meetings in each Troop for the Contract Committee to fully explain the Tentative Agreement. We will answer any questions that you may have at those meetings so that you can make an informed decision. It is important that you participate in these meetings and I encourage you to attend.
We are working with the State to present a pay bill this session subject to the Membership ratification vote.
I understand that this has been a long process and I appreciate everyone’s patience. Negotiations are a fluid process and until there is an overall agreement, it is best to maintain confidentiality to avoid the risk of divulging your strategy. I would like to thank the members of the Contract Committee ―Billy Diaz, Bobby Lombardi, John Seymour and Brett Vanderlan, and NYSPIA Chief Counsel Michael Ravalli for their commendable efforts and perseverance.
As always, when tentative contracts are signed there will be much discussion and perhaps some half truths spreading over the next two weeks. I urge you to not pass judgment on the Tentative Agreement until the Contract Committee has had an opportunity to meet with you to explain the Tentative Agreement and answer any questions that you may have. We are confident that when you are presented with all of the facts and have all of your questions answered you will appreciate what this contract does for our membership and the future of the BCI. We are confident we will be presenting an Agreement that is in the best interests of our Membership.
Thank you.
Tim Dymond
Executive Director