News & Events

Important: information about the meet-and-confer executive order

On December 17, Governor Napolitano signed an executive order allowing certain state employees to have a meet-and-confer relationship with agency directors. AFSCME has worked and will continue to work toward a meaningful improvement in the role state employee’s play in budget and policy discussions. Unfortunately, this executive order will be rescinded soon or will not be seriously implemented. In fact, the executive order offers nothing new that AFSCME has not already won for state employees.

AFSCME has already won the essential elements of the executive order

The meet-and-confer order requires agency directors to hold quarterly meetings with union representatives. However, AFSCME had already won that level of employee–director contact. On March 7, 2003, AFSCME secured a letter from Governor Napolitano stating that agency directors should meet often and regularly with AFSCME representatives to hear about employee concerns and identify workplace issues. (A copy of the letter is available at this link.) AFSCME representatives have held regular roundtable meetings with agency directors and employees on all issues listed in the order. The executive order doesn’t bring about real change, it only repeats an agreement that AFSCME already had for state employees. What the order does not do is give the state employees a real seat at the table to negotiate wages, working conditions or benefits. (See Executive Order 2008-30, Section 10, available at http://azgovernor.gov/media/ExecutiveOrders.asp.)

In addition, the timing of the executive order will undermine its usefulness. Governor Napolitano will become Secretary of Homeland Security, most likely in January 2009. The incoming Republican leadership in the Legislature has clearly stated its opposition to the meet-and-confer order. It is unlikely that incoming Governor Jan Brewer will substantially implement the executive order; in fact, she probably will rescind it. That means that the executive order will be in effect for only about one month. Even if elections could be held before the meet-and-confer order is rescinded, those elections would soon become meaningless, and the issuance of the executive order at this time has created conflict with legislative leaders, and may undermine discussions AFSCME has had to create Meet and Confer through the legislative process.

What AFSCME is doing to bring about meaningful change

Even though AFSCME believes that this meet-and-confer order will be ineffective, we’re still fighting for meaningful change for state employees. In the past several months, AFSCME has continued to:

  • Work for changes within our agencies;
  • Identify waste and recommend changes that will preserve jobs and continue the quality of services we provide as state employees;
  • Craft legislation to assist in accomplishing these goals;
  • Seek further protections for state employees;
  • Meet and monitor proposed changes to our benefits under ASRS;
  • Continue to represent state employees wrongfully terminated or disciplined;
  • Protect their rights under the law; and
  • Partner with our co-workers to bring about real change for state workers.

The meet-and-confer order may be less than we had hoped. But AFSCME members know the importance of membership, representation and legislative vigilance. We will continue working as hard as you do to provide state employees with the full spectrum of services they have come to rely on from AFSCME, a union of State Employees, for State Employees.

Sincerely,

Sheri Van Horsen
President, AFSCME Local 3111
State employee 17 years

For more information, contact 602-252-6501 or info [at] azafscme [dot] org. To return to the News & Events page, please click here.