COVID-19 Emergency Childcare

Massachusetts just announced a set of Emergency Childcare sites that will open Monday, March 23rd throughout the state, for frontline workers during the COVID-19 emergency. These programs are free to families and fully funded by the Commonwealth. They are group settings, and so not recommended for families who have other options for their child’s care in non-group settings, such as friends or family.

Priority access will be given (but not limited) to healthcare workers, essential state workers, COVID-19 healthcare workers, grocery store employees, emergency response personnel, law enforcement, transportation and infrastructure workers, sanitation workers, DCF-involved families and families living in shelters. For more details and information please visit: https://eeclead.force.com/apex/EEC_ChildCareEmergencyParents

To view an approved emergency drop-in childcare provider near you and their hours of  operation, please visit the following directory: https://eeclead.force.com/resource/1584817665000/EEC_EmergencyProviderList. Parents will be responsible for reaching out to the programs directly. The program will make decisions, in consultation with the EEC regional office, about who qualifies for care.

Please let us know if you have any questions or if we can assist you finding more information.

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SHARE Community Check-In

It has been an astounding week. We hope you are well, and that you are beginning to settle into a new routine.

If you have a question or concern, either immediate or long-term, please get in touch. We have been collecting up issues of concern to SHARE members, and talking to Human Resources every day. We are resolving the things that can be resolved now and taking some topics under advisement to be resolved when the situation has calmed down a bit.

If you have a health or safety concern about being at work, being exposed, being at higher risk, or having a family member at higher risk, etc.:

  • The advice we have from HR is that you should talk to your manager (they are trying to manage everything through the standard chain of command) and your manager will likely direct you to Employee Health.

  • If you talk to your manager and don’t feel satisfied with the outcome, we would be happy to help you figure out what to do next.

Please tell us how you are coping. We would like to share stories on the SHARE blog about how our community is getting through this weird and scary time.

Coronavirus - Working & Getting Paid

Getting Information

We want to make sure that everyone is getting the information that they need. UMass Medical School is relying on managers to be the point of contact for employees. If that is happening in your department, then the system is working. If not, we would be happy to help get you more information. The goal right now is for everyone to be as safe as possible, to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 spread, to maintain the services that are necessary, and for no one to suffer financially.

Working and Getting Paid

You may already have heard this from your manager but, if not, here is what we have been told by Human Resources. All of this applies at least through April 3. There will be more information before April 3 about what happens after that.

There are 3 categories of people. Managers determine which category everyone is in. You have hopefully already been notified by your manager which category applies to you:

  1. Essential personnel who have to report to work

  2. People who can work from home

  3. People who do not have to report to work and cannot work from home

Category 1 people will be paid Comp time for every hour worked on site, as in the Severe Weather policy.

Category 2 people will be paid regularly for working from home

Category 3 people will be paid “administratively” their regular pay rate by the Medical School

People currently out on a Leave of Absence will continue to use their time. People on vacation will use their time (but if, for example, your cruise was cancelled and you are available to work, let your manager know to change your status so you don’t have to use your vacation time.)

Social Distancing and Social Support

At his virtual Town Hall meeting today, Chancellor Collins re-emphasized that the most important thing everyone can do to help slow the spread of COVID-19 is to practice social distancing, and wash your hands. Everyone who gets sick, even people who don’t show symptoms, can pass it on to more vulnerable people. So please, stay safe, and keep others safe.

At the same time that we all avoid physical contact, it is important to stay connected virtually. If there is anything we can do to support you in this very complicated time, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are mostly working remotely, but can easily be reached by email, and are happy to phone or text.

Coronavirus - Working from Home

You have probably seen that Chancellor Collins and Dean Flotte have announced that “Beginning Monday, March 16 through Friday, April 3, employees who are not required at any UMMS location to perform essential functions are encouraged to work from home.”

Working from home

The SHARE contract specifically says that working from home is an option, if it works for everyone involved. The language is in the Work/Family section, at the bottom of p. 17 of the contract. There seems to be a popular misconception that hourly employees are not allowed to work from home – we have had a lot of questions about this. If your manager has said that you cannot work from home because you are an hourly employee, they don’t have the correct information. Feel free to share the contract language with them.  

If your work cannot be done from home

This afternoon’s message from the Chancellor and the Dean recognizes that some people’s work requires them to be on campus. Your department should be giving you guidance about what they expect.

Closed schools and other questions

We are glad that the Medical School is taking leadership by getting as many people working from home as possible. In addition to making those people safer, it also reduces the risk for those who do have to report to work, because there will be fewer people around to spread the virus.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions, some relating to how to handle the closing of public schools. The message from the Chancellor and Dean said that, “In the coming days, additional guidance will be sent to managers regarding how personnel and paid time off policies will be applied during this period.” We will continue to press for answers and support for SHARE members.

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions or concerns.

Coronavirus Questions

We hope that you are taking every precaution to stay safe. As you can imagine, there are a lot of questions and concerns as to how the situation with the coronavirus (COVID-19) will continue to evolve, and how it will impact our working lives and taking care of ourselves and our families. 

We have been collecting questions from members all over campus and have been sending them to Humans Resources and Employee Labor Relations at UMMS.  We just got notification from them today, that they will be putting together a thorough and detailed communication very soon, which we hope will give answers to many of your questions. 

In the meantime, here is a list of questions we have raised: 

  • What should I do if I’m experiencing coronavirus-like symptoms?

  • Will I be paid if I am on self-quarantine based on a work-related COVID-19 exposure?

  • Will I be paid if I am on self-quarantine based on a community exposure?

  • My child’s school has closed because of a confirmed case of COVID-19. Is it OK if I come to work?

  • My child’s school has closed as a preventive measure of COVID-19 exposure.

    • Is it OK for me to work from home?

    • What if working from home is not an option and I need to take care of my children?

    • What if I don’t have enough accrued paid time-off? 

  • Can I work from home if I am on self-quarantine?

  • I am an essential employee. Does my department have a pandemic preparedness plan? 

  • Will the designation of “essential” employee change because of the COVID-19 situation? 

We would like to continue hearing your questions and concern. Please stay in touch and stay safe!

2020 Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO Scholarships

The SHARE office recently received the following notice in the mail from Joe Carlson, the President of the Central Massachusetts AFL/CIO, about a really great scholarship opportunity for our members. The lottery for these scholarships will be open to any SHARE members, as well as children and grandchildren of our members, who will graduate from high school this year and attend college next year. The details are posted below. We’d love to see more winners from SHARE this year.

If you would like a copy of the nomination form, please click HERE.

Please note that the union affiliation should be identified as AFSCME/SHARE. Members at UMass Medical School are in Local Union Number 4000.

Please note also that applications should NOT be sent to the SHARE office. Good luck!


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Reclassification Request Forms Due January 30

If you are planning to apply for a reclassification review this year, the deadline to submit the Reclassification Review Request Form is January 30.

The original Blog Post explained the SHARE contract’s Reclassification Process. Below are the key steps:

  1. Do your research: Ask HR for copies of the job descriptions for your job title and for any job titles you think would better match your job responsibilities.

    • You can email Matthew.Lyford@umassmed.edu (Human Resources) to request job descriptions.

    • What job title do you think you should have?

    • How does the job description match up with your responsibilities?

  2. Talk to your manager: Tell them what you are thinking, and why. Show them the job descriptions. Ask what they think, and why.

    • If they agree with you, that’s great. See if they will submit your job to HR for review. There is no deadline for managers submitting these requests, and no ten-person limit.

    • If they disagree, try to get a clear understanding of where you and they disagree.

  3. Apply by January 30: If your manager isn’t going to submit your job for reclassification review but you still think it should be reviewed, fill out a Reclassification Review Request Form and email it by January 30 to these three people:

If you would like help thinking about this, you can talk to a SHARE Rep, call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020, or email SHARE.UMMS@theshareunion.org.

Reclassification Requests - January 30 Deadline

The SHARE contract gives individual SHARE members the right to request reclassification of their job through the union. We want to let you know that the deadline for applying is January 30. Click here to download the request form as a printable pdf. Please read below for more about process and preparation.

What is reclassification?

Reclassification means changing the grade level for a job. If the grade level assigned to a particular title no longer seems to match the level of work responsibilities, a job may need to be reclassified.

How does UMMS usually handle reclassification?

Under the UMMS Job Evaluation Policy, your manager can make a request on your behalf for the HR Compensation Department to review your job. HR Compensation evaluates the job description, consults with your manager, looking at the level of the job responsibilities, and how they compare to other jobs inside and outside of UMMS, and determines whether the grade is appropriate.

How is the SHARE process different?

UMMS has agreed to do some reclassification reviews that are not initiated by a department manager. SHARE can submit up to 10 individual reclassification requests per year to HR for review. The deadline each year is January 30.

Example: Someone was hired as an Administrative Assistant I. New responsibilities were added, and they now fit better in an Administrative Assistant II job description. They can request a review of their job and present arguments for changing the grade.

How will the ten individuals be chosen?

Because our unit is big, and our slots are limited, preference will be given to people who:

  1. have already tried to use the UMMS Job Evaluation process but been unsuccessful; and

  2. have the strongest business case for reclassification of their job

Anyone not chosen this year can apply again next year.

I think my job should be reclassified. What should I do?

  1. Do your research now: Ask HR for copies of the job descriptions for your job title and for any job titles you think would better match your job responsibilities. What job title do you think you should have? How does the job description match up?

  2. Talk to your manager sooner rather than later: Tell them what you are thinking, and why. Show them the job descriptions. Ask what they think, and why.

    • If they agree with you, that’s great. See if they will submit your job to HR for review. There is no deadline for managers submitting these requests, and no ten-person limit.

    • If they disagree, try to get a clear understanding of where you and they disagree.

  3. Apply by January 30: If your manager isn’t going to submit your job for reclassification review but you still think it should be reviewed, fill out a Reclassification Review Request application (available soon) and email it by January 30 to these three people:

If you would like help thinking about this, you can talk to a SHARE Rep, call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020, or email SHARE.UMMS@theshareunion.org.

2020 SHARE Dues Rates

There will be a small increase in the dues rate for 2020: forty-nine cents per pay period.

How does the dues increase compare to my raise?

For a full-time SHARE member getting the minimum $0.50/hour raise:

  • The pay increase is $0.50/hour ($1,040.00/year)

  • The dues increase is $0.006/hour - less than a penny - ($12.74/year)

What is the new rate and who sets it?

The 2020 regular bi-weekly dues rate for SHARE members will be $18.84. For members working 20 hours/week, the 2020 bi-weekly rate will be $14.11. The new rates will be reflected in the 1/10/20 paycheck. The annual increase is calculated by our parent union, AFSCME, based on the average percent increase of AFSCME members’ pay rates across the country in the previous year.

Why should I pay dues?

Dues are an investment that SHARE members make in themselves and their coworkers. Without a union, employees have very little leverage to make change, or even to hold onto what they have. With SHARE, we can work together to make work better.

The SHARE advantage more than makes up for the cost of dues. (see FAQ about Membership and Dues and SHARE Raise Advantage.)

The money from dues mostly goes to pay for the union staff. SHARE staff spend their time gathering information and opinions from members, sharing information with members, developing and supporting SHARE Reps, helping members with questions or problems, researching issues, negotiating contracts, organizing events, writing blog posts, lobbying the State House, etc., all on behalf of SHARE members.

More information

If you would like to know more about what SHARE at UMMS does, or about how dues are spent, please talk to a SHARE Rep, email share.umms@theshareunion.org or call 508-929-4020.

Dec 20 Deadline: Mass AFL-CIO Scholarship for High School Seniors

Money to go to college? Indeed.

Money to go to college? Indeed.

SHARE is happy to announce that the Annual AFL-CIO Scholarship and Labor Education Program, now in its 62nd year, is currently accepting applications for the 2020 school year. Dependents of SHARE members are eligible for this award.

Through the program, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and affiliated unions are proud to award financial resources to high school students pursuing trade union programs or college/university study. ­The Massachusetts AFL-CIO administers half a million dollars of scholarship awards on behalf of unions and labor councils throughout the state. Individual awards range from $500 to $16,000.

Applications to the program are due by 5pm on December 20. Applicants will be required to take a Labor History exam (there is a study guide). Full details about the Scholarship and Labor Education program can be found on the Mass AFL-CIO Website.

Applicants please note that the “Local Number” of our union, SHARE at UMass Medical School, is AFSCME 4000.

SHARE members interested in educational opportunities should also be sure to check out the AFSCME Free College Benefit, and the Union Plus Scholarships Program.

Winter Weather

With the snow piling up, we hope everyone is staying warm and safe! This seems like a good time to remind SHARE members that we have contract language about Inclement Weather that may be useful. The full Article is on page 18 of our Contract.

Time Offset Option for “Non-Essential” Employees

For employees who are designated “non-essential”, if you miss work because of the weather, there may be an option to make up the time you missed instead of using your own vacation time. It will depend on the kind of work that you do, the tasks at hand, the hours that you cover, etc.

The contract says:

Time Offset Option

Employees who are excused from job duties due to inclement weather may, at their discretion, workplace conditions permitting, choose to make up the lost time, instead of using their own earned time. The time missed due to the weather event can be made up in a single instance or in increments, and must be worked within the same pay period as the event.

Your department may already have a standard way of handling this. If not, you can show your supervisor the contract language and discuss how it applies in your case. You should both feel free to reach out to SHARE and/or the HR Office of Labor and Employee Relations to help figure out how to use the time offset option to meet your needs and the needs of the department.

Inclement Weather and "Essential" Employees

Because some essential functions of the Medical School must be maintained, and some departments cannot simply close, usually those that operate 24/7 or 7-days a week, a plan for staffing coverage is needed. To be clear about who has to come to work in these cases, employees need to be designated as “essential” or “non-essential” by their department head. If there is confusion or disagreement about an employee’s designation, it should be discussed by the employee and the department head, either of whom may also ask for help from SHARE and/or the HR Office of Labor and Employee Relations.

Questions?

Please talk to a SHARE Rep in your area or call the SHARE office: 508-929-4020.

Union Benefits and Your AFSCME ID Card

Keep track of your AFSCME member number to take advantage of savings!

Keep track of your AFSCME member number to take advantage of savings!

Some SHARE members have recently been asking about the AFSCME union ID card they received in the mail. Why did I get this? you might wonder. What is it good for?

AFSCME is SHARE’s parent union. (SHARE at UMMS is also known as AFSCME Local 4000.) So SHARE members are automatically members of AFSCME, and membership has its advantages. Nationwide, AFSCME represents over a million members. That creates a lot of leverage in negotiating deals on things like:

And many, many other good things. Visit the Union Plus website to explore what’s available. For many of those deals and services, you’ll need to provide your union local number, and your personal union member number, which are both printed on the card.

If you don’t have a membership card and need your membership number, please contact the SHARE office (508-929-4020). We’ll be happy to help you track that down.

Our union takes a very grassroots approach. We’re focused on the issues at the Medical School, on working so that SHARE members can always be moving forward financially, and on continually strengthening our community so that we can all do work that we’re proud of. But going out for a cheaper meal can be pretty nice, too.

PFML Tax Will Begin Oct 4; Negotiations Continue

About 100 SHARE members participated in the action protesting UMass’ intention to deduct payroll taxes from all employees for the Paid Family Medical Leave. Not a bad response for a quick action! Thank you to all who participated.

Negotiations about this issue are continuing. Unfortunately, UMass is still moving forward with their plan to impose the tax in the October 4 paycheck.

Rejected by UMass Unions United

SHARE members, and employees in other unions from all campuses of the University system, responded to the University’s request for acknowledgement of the official PFML notice by sending protest emails and printed forms saying, “Rejected by UMass Unions United”.

Other Employers

Although employers are legally allowed to pass on roughly half the tax, some State employers are choosing to step up and pay the whole tax, including the Legislature, State Auditor, State Treasurer, Secretary of the Commonwealth, and Sheriffs.

Ongoing Negotiations

The coalition of UMass unions has had two more negotiating sessions since the acknowledgement forms went out. We are continuing to argue that UMass should pay the whole tax rather than passing off part of it to their employees. We are disappointed that the University is going ahead with the tax at this time, but we will continue to bargain.

Nominations Open for SHARE Rep and Executive Board Member

Nomination period:

Monday, September 23 - Tuesday, October 8

Open positions this year:

  • 1-year Representative positions (through October 2020): 35 positions.

  • 2-year Executive Board positions (through October 2021): President; Secretary; and two at-large Executive Board members.

    (The other four Executive Board positions will be up for election in October 2020.)

You must be a SHARE member to vote or to nominate someone. You must have been a SHARE member for at least 6 months prior to the election to run for a SHARE leadership position.

Descriptions of the different roles

Below are brief descriptions of the roles of Union Reps and Executive Board Members.

SHARE Reps: There is a Union Rep for up to 50 SHARE members.  A Rep is a contact person for their area. Union Reps get training from SHARE to move information between co-workers and union leadership.  Reps are elected for a 1-year term.

SHARE Executive Board Members: Executive Board members have responsibility for the whole union. They make decisions about the direction of our union and participate in contract negotiations.

If you want to talk about what it would be like to be a SHARE Rep or to be on the Executive Board, or if you have other questions, please call the SHARE office at 508-929-4020, or talk to someone you know who is involved with SHARE.

To run for Union Rep or Executive Board Member

1.      You must be nominated in writing by a SHARE member (either a co-worker or yourself).

2.      You must have been a dues-paying SHARE member for at least 6 months prior to the election. 

3.      Current SHARE Reps who wish to continue to be Reps need to be nominated again this year. 

To nominate someone for Union Rep or Executive Board Member

1.      You must be a dues-paying SHARE member.

2.      Please send written nominations:

3.      Nominations should include:

  • the name, department and phone number of the person being nominated;

  • the position for which they are being nominated; and

  • the name and phone number of the person submitting the nomination.

4.      Nominations must arrive at the SHARE office by October 8.  We cannot accept late nominations.

 

If you are nominated for Union Rep or Executive Board Member

After the close of the nomination period, all nominees will be offered the opportunity to decline the nomination. Anyone who does not decline is then a candidate.  If there are more candidates than positions to fill, then we will have an election the week of October 28. Otherwise, the nominees are considered elected. You will be notified about whether any elections are contested.

 

 

Paid Family Medical Leave - Action Needed

New Paid Family and Medical Leave Law

Last year the legislature passed the Paid Family Medical Leave Act (PFMLA), which will allow Massachusetts workers up to 26 weeks of paid family and/or medical leave per year. It is like the federal FMLA, except that (1) some of the timelines are more generous and, crucially, (2) the time off is not only protected, it is partially paid, without using your own accrued time. Our union, along with over 100 unions, community organizations, and faith groups within the Raise Up coalition, fought hard to get this benefit for all employees in Massachusetts.

New Payroll Taxes

The PFMLA requires the University to send payroll taxes to the State starting in October, to fund the PFML Trust Fund, so that it can provide paid benefits to employees starting in 2021. Employers are required to pay about half the payroll tax. The PFMLA allows, but does not require, employers to charge employees for the rest of the payroll tax. UMass intends to charge all employees for the amount that they are allowed to pass on.

Coalition of Unions

A coalition of unions from all campuses of the UMass system, including SHARE, have been at the bargaining table over the summer fighting for a fair deal for UMass union members.

Notification from UMass

Next week, UMass will send you a notice stating that you will have a new tax deducted from your check to help pay for the new PFML benefit. You will be asked to confirm receipt of the notice. Here’s what we are asking you to do in support of our push at the table for a fair deal:

AND/OR

  • Print the notice, write “Rejected by UMass Unions United" next to your name and bring it either to Human Resources or to a SHARE Rep to deliver with the other notices.

UMass can make 100% of the required contribution. For members who already enjoy similar paid leave under their union contracts, the University will likely be able to receive reimbursement from the State for the benefits they're already required to pay.  Additionally, the state has included a reserve in the budget to help fund the Trust contribution for State employees. We may end up bargaining about this issue in our next contract negotiations if this is not resolved. 

Our coalition partners at the Medical School and at every UMass campus will be participating in this first action to send a message to President Meehan.  Please stay alert for further action as bargaining over this issue continues.

For more information about the Paid Family Medical Leave: https://www.mass.gov/orgs/department-of-family-and-medical-leave.

Retirement Contribution Error - 8/26/19

You may remember that it turned out that UMass had not been deducting all the retirement contributions that they should have deducted from certain kinds of pay. The State Retirement Board said that employees would have to pay the money back. A coalition of unions representing UMass employees, including SHARE, argued to reduce/eliminate the amount people had to pay back, and the Retirement Board agreed.

UMass has informed us that the State Retirement Board is now sending out bills to employees who owe retirement contributions to the State.

It is most likely that you did not get a bill and you don’t need to worry about this at all. Only about 30 SHARE members ended up owing anything. In most cases, these 30 people owe a smaller amount than they were originally told. About 120 SHARE members, who were originally told that they would owe money, had the amount reduced to $0.

If you did get a bill, please continue reading. It means that the State Retirement Board believes that you owe them money. We want you to know what your options are.

  1. You have 35 days to choose how to pay it back: installment plan, or all at once

  2. If you don’t make a choice within 35 days, then you will owe more money

  3. The Retirement Board has an Appeal Process – information about that will come with the bill

If you have questions

  • The University’s online FAQ has a lot of good information

  • For specific questions about your bill, you can call the State Retirement Board at 617-367-7770 or email MSRB@umassp.edu

  • Questions for the University can be directed to the HR Department at the University System Office at 774-455-7150

  • You can contact SHARE and we will help you get answers – call 508-929-4020 or email one of the SHARE staff

Retirement Contribution Error - update 2/11/19

Good news!

SHARE and the other UMass unions have been successful in significantly reducing, and in many cases completely eliminating, the amount that members will have to pay toward their pension to make up for the University’s retirement contribution error. According to the University’s estimates, only 32 SHARE members will still be affected.

University sending new letter to affected employees

In early January, 148 SHARE members got a letter from the University, explaining the error, listing the amount that had not been deducted from their pay but should have been, and alerting them that they might have to pay that amount back. Everyone who received a letter from the University will get a new letter in the next couple of days, with updated information. There is also a useful online FAQ.

What has changed?

We had several lines of argument in trying to reduce or eliminate the amount employees have to pay. The Retirement Board listened to all of them, and made the following decisions:

  • 5 years instead of 17: The biggest impact on amounts owed came from the Retirement Board’s agreement to limit the look-back period to 2014-2018, instead of going back to 2002 or earlier. This decision means that employees will only be asked to pay the amount that could potentially increase their retirement benefit. It also brings the maximum amount owed by a SHARE member down from over $7,300 to under $2,700.

  • Under $500 waived: The Retirement Board has agreed to waive collection of any amount under $500. Employees who “owe” less than $500 will not have to pay anything. They also will not receive retirement credit for that amount, however the impact on retirement would have been small. This decision removed over 100 SHARE members from the list of affected employees.

  • Certification Pay and Holiday Pay won’t count: The Retirement Board agreed with us that Animal Medicine Technician Certification Pay should not be counted because it is not “regular” pay — it is only paid occasionally when a tech passes a certification exam. No one will owe retirement deductions on their certification bonus, and deductions will not be taken on the certification bonus going forward. This decision was made very recently, so the letter from the University will still say that certification pay counts, but the online FAQ will be up to date. Holiday Pay will not count either, as previously announced.

  • The University will pay administrative and other fees, and interest for the amounts owed:

    • If the amounts had been deducted on time, the money would have been earning interest. The University will pay the Retirement Board to make up for the interest lost.

    • If an employee chooses to repay what they owe as a payroll deduction, rather than a one-time payment, the Retirement Board will charge an administrative fee. The University will reimburse employees for that amount.

    • The University will also pay the Retirement Board some money to make up for missing fringe rate deductions.

the Retirement Board listened to union members

Although this solution is not perfect, it is a huge improvement over where we were when the error was first discovered. Importantly, it maximizes the retirement benefit to employees, while minimizing the amount employees need to pay.

The Retirement Board, under the leadership of State Treasurer Deb Goldberg, listened to what the unions had to say, did their research, and came up with a fair compromise. We thank them.

More Information from UMass and the Retirement board

  • This FAQ from the University has detailed answers to more than 20 questions

  • University System Office Human Resources: call 774-455-7150 or go to www.umassp.edu/hr

  • Mass State Retirement Board: email MSRB@umassp.edu or call 617-367-7770

Scholarship opportunity for SHARE members' children

Every year the Central MA AFL-CIO awards a few scholarships for the children and grandchildren of union members affiliated with the Central MA AFL-CIO. This includes SHARE members. Some of the scholarships are for $500, and some for $1,000. The scholarship recipients are drawn by lottery.

The deadline to apply is April 26, 2019. The names of the winners will be announced in early June, and presented at the Central MA AFL-CIO Labor Day breakfast on September 2, 2019.

To apply, see 2019 Scholarship Opportunity.

Raises and Retro Delivered

SHARE members received their long-awaited contract raises and retro payments today.

If you have questions about your raise or retro, please get in touch. We would be happy to help figure it out with you.

Here are some things that might help in decoding your paycheck:

  • Overtime: retro on overtime is calculated by subtracting what you were paid for overtime, and adding back in what you should have been paid for overtime

  • Retirement: retirement deductions are taken out of the retro, the same as they would be for regular pay. For people who are affected by the University’s retirement deduction error, the amount the University told you that you might owe was NOT deducted. No decision has yet been made about whether SHARE members will have to pay that amount.

  • Bonuses: merit bonuses should be in this check

  • Errors: A few people have reported errors. If there is an error, you can go through your regular channels for fixing it. If you are not sure if it is an error, feel free to be in touch with the SHARE office and we will help figure it out. You can email share.umms@theshareunion.org or call 508-929-4020.

Questions or suggestions about this website? Email kirk.davis@theshareunion.org