Dear GGU Member,

We are pleased to be able to report to you that the Alaska Legislature is preparing to vote today to approve a budget for FY 2016 that will avoid a shutdown of State government on July 1. We expect the budget to pass the Senate and the House.

Also, the budget approved by the Budget Conference Committee does honor the commitment made to our members in our current Collective Bargaining Agreement. It does provide that the COLA of 2.5% will be paid effective July 1, 2015.

We know this has been a very difficult period of time for all of you because of the possibility that there could be a partial shutdown of government on July 1 and many of you would have been laid off at that time. We greatly appreciate your support of the Union during this period of uncertainty. We know that many of you wrote or called your legislator and/or participated in rallies urging the State Legislature to pass a budget and honor the commitment made to our members. Without your support we would not have been successful.

We also want to recognize that this successful outcome was the result of all the State Employee Unions working together in a unified effort to keep all union members working for Alaska.

The following link will take you to a statement issued by the AFL-CIO that was approved by the Executive Directors/Business Managers of all the unions representing State Employees. http://www.afscmelocal52.org/asea-files/AFL-CIO_SOA_Contracts_10jun15.pdf

Thanks again for all your support and assistance during this difficult period of time.