AMHS employees,

Please click here to view the13th revision —-> Mitigation Plan Thirteen – 4.29.22

Click this link to view all the tracked changes –>Mitigation Plan Thirteen – Track Changes 4.29.22

Services will be held for Brother Lizandro at the Juneau Christian Center at 11 am on Friday, July 8th.  Flowers and cards can be sent to 8001 Glacier Highway , Juneau Alaska 99801.

We wanted to let everyone know especially new hires that if you are have been contacted by the State about issues with your COLD application, to please respond to them.  If you need more time to get them the information they need, the State is usually more than willing to grant it.  We also recommend you cc the Union with any correspondence you may have, it helps if they know we know.  Please feel free to contact either I or Krissel if you end up having any issues with you COLD application.

In Solidarity

Earling Walli

Members of the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific

Alaska Marine Highway Employees

Dear Brothers and Sisters of the IBU,

We have finally received our initial response on the monetary terms from our employer, the State of Alaska and they are once again asking us to pay for our cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by trading away our benefits. In their initial response they proposed an inseparable package deal of over twenty rules that took as much as it gave and ignored our issues with Dispatch and Payroll.  The untimeliness of their response made it impossible to come to an acceptable agreement in time to get our monetary terms to the legislators in time to have it in the budget this year, but we will fight for any pay adjustments to be implemented retroactively.

Our main goals at this point in bargaining remain:

• Fight to inflation proof our wage by tying it to an inflation index
• Stop the scratching of our timesheets,
• Resolve our dispatching issues,
• Making sure the State’s proposed two week on, two week off work schedule can be implemented in a way that works for all of us.

In Solidarity,

• Earling Walli,     Regional Director
• Bryan Ritter,      Chief Spokesman
• Nick Bartlett,      Deck Representative
• Kevin Rowan,    Engine Representative
• Dell Casidsid,     Purser Representative
• Tyler Green,       Steward Representative
• Siwatu McLaurin,  Southwest Representative
• Jean Gillman,        Purser Alternate
• Norman Sparks,   Steward Alternate
• Mika Hasbrouck,  Deck Alternate
• Dave Beams,       Southwest Alternate

AMHS Vessels Payroll Contacts 05.16.22

Please note, there is now ONE main number for payroll: 907-465-8995

Sisters and Brothers, below is information shared by our APEA Brother Miguel Gonzales Rohrbacher concerning HB 220.  Please take a chance to read.

APEA-AFT is working with many of you in the effort to restore pensions for public employees. With House Bill 220 we are closer than ever to winning back a defined benefit pension for our members – but we need your help!

HB 220 passed House Finance and is headed to the Floor. Legislators have been hearing a lot from teachers in particular, but it is very important that they hear from AMHS employees as well!

With the help of the AFL-CIO we have prepared a letter campaign that will direct members through prompts and helps them send through an email to all legislators them to pass HB 220.

Tier IV folks this effects you!!

Email your legislator about HB 220!

Call your Representative about HB 220!

Below is a blurb about the bill.

In 2006 Alaska went from offering one of the best retirement systems in the country for public employees to one of the worst. Since then public employees around the state have been leading the charge to change that.

House Bill 220 is a bill in the legislature that would restore a defined benefit pension to public employees hired since 2006. That includes any public employees in PERS Tier IV or TERS Tier III. It passed the House Finance Committee and is heading to the House Floor for a vote. To get HB 220 to the finish line public employees need to make their voices heard!

Public employees should have the option of choosing a defined benefit (DB) pension plan. Currently PERS Tier IV and TERS Tier III are limited to a defined contribution (DC) plan. DB plans guarantee income through a pension. DC plans do not. Instead DC plans take money from the state and the employee and invest the money into a 401(k) style account. As a result, retirement earnings are subject to market volatility and carry no guarantee for income in retirement – leaving many public employees with insufficient savings.

Our members are worried about their retirement security and have firsthand knowledge of the impact that our broken retirement system is having on the ability of the state, our schools, and local governments to hire and keep skilled employees.

Please contact me if you have any questions! Thank you!

Miguel Gonzales Rohrbacher
State Affiliate Political Organizer

APEA-AFT

Mrohrbacher@apea-aft.org

(907)321-5064, (907)586-2334

All Vessel Employees,

As many of you already know Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) has been working through plans to streamline the timesheet submission process. This has entailed the creation of an AMHS Vessel Timekeeper position who is responsible for all Unfit for Duty (UFFD) and Vacation timesheets.

Beginning the end of PPE 4.15 all vacation timesheets should be sent to DOT.AMHS.Timekeeper@alaska.gov.  Timesheets will be reviewed for accuracy and submitted to payroll for processing.  All vacation time sheets must be received on the final day of the pay period in order to make the submission deadlines of the following Monday.

AMHS has already begun submitting UFFD timesheets through the official AMHS timekeeper.  All UFFD timesheets are prepared by the timekeeper and submitted to AMHS dispatchers for review and approval.  All documents related to UFFD time should still be submitted directly to your assigned AMHS dispatcher.

If you have any questions on this process please contact your dispatcher or the official Timekeeper, Sara McClane, at DOT.AMHS.Timekeeper@alaska.gov or by calling 907-228-6817.

Thank you,

Captain Falvey

2022 Dues Restructuring Ballot Results

Totals – 562 YES – 219 NO

Alaska Region – 46 Yes to 28 No

Columbia River Region – 36 Yes to 30 No

Hawaii Region – 62 Yes to 8 No

Puget Sound Region

Freight, Towing, Environmental – 50 Yes to 32 No

Passenger – 229 Yes to 78 No

San Francisco Region – 90 Yes to 20 No

Southern Cal Region 49 Yes to 23 No

Big thanks to those who participated and especially those who supported this ballot.

Long Live the IBU!!!

The IBU wishes a special thanks to the following PSR members/retirees who helped perform the count today:

Tony Davila

Erik Hofto

Ari Landrum

Mike Mitchoff

Eric Rackl

Christopher Simmons

Sam Springob

Patty Stokes

Sisters and Brothers,

It has been brought to our attention that some members do not know about this Rule and might believe that if you refuse an assignment that you may get into trouble with the employer.  That is not the case.  Rule 27.01 (C) gives a member who are not RAE’s working their bid, meaning DRAE’s, Reliefs and Seasonals, a timeline to refuse an assignment.  Its Friday before 1400 after the pay period crew list posting.  27.01 (D), paragraphs 2, 3 ,and 4 outline what your rights are and what the penalty may be (might not be dispatched for 14 days).  Please let us know if you are told anything different. We always encourage our members to communicate with Dispatch via email and to c.c. the Union at ibualaska@ibu.org when you do so.

I’ve also heard from our members that they put in their vacation requests months ahead of time and never know when they get approved unless they see the crew list and their name is not on it.  Rule 23.12 gives the timelines for vacation requests, no less then 30 days prior to the commencement of the two-week work schedule (pay period crew list) which the absence is requested.  (It means every Wednesday before the pay period ends.) The Employer is required to notify you 20 days prior to that posting.  We again encourage anyone who is filling out a vacation request to c.c. the Union when you do so and also do so when you communicate with Dispatch on that 20th day to find out your status.

Some members feel that if they c.c. the Union or refuse assignments that there may be some retaliation from the employer.  When you follow your end of the agreement and so does the  employer, you should have nothing to worry about.  That’s why you have a Union to help you.  This is made easier if we have all the relevant data before it becomes an issue.  If they know we know, everyone is better off.

Stay safe out there good sailing.

Earling Walli