04/10/1997 08:08 AM House STA

 HB 188 - DEFINITION OF COMPENSATION IN PERS                                 
                                                                               
 The first order of business to come before the House State Affairs            
 Standing Committee was HB 188, "An Act relating to calculation of             
 compensation for the public employees' retirement system."                    
                                                                               
 CHAIR JEANNETTE JAMES announced the House State Affairs Standing              
 Committee would only be taking testimony today on HB 188.                     
                                                                               
 Number 0146                                                                   
                                                                               
 JOHN CYR, President, National Education Association-Alaska (NEA-              
 Alaska), was the first person to testify in Juneau.  The NEA-Alaska           
 currently opposed HB 188 as written.  The NEA-Alaska represented a            
 number of Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) employees                  
 including janitors, custodians, and maintenance men who at one                
 point in their careers were 12-month employees.  However, as school           
 funding had been reduced over the years, their employment had                 
 dropped to eight or nine months losing their ability to get a years           
 credit in the retirement system.  And, because they were school               
 employees they were not eligible for unemployment in the summer.              
 In addition, the work that was done traditionally in the summer,              
 such as, heavy cleaning and painting, was now being done during               
 Christmas break, spring break and in the evenings picking up a few            
 hours of overtime.  Therefore, overtime was scheduled by their                
 supervisors; it was not something that they asked for.  It was mean           
 spirited to deny them access to use overtime towards their                    
 retirement.  "We're not talking about people who are at the top of            
 the pay scale.  We're talking about people who - generally speaking           
 - don't make a lot of money.  They are residents of the communities           
 that they live in."  The majority of our members in rural Alaska              
 fell under this category.  The NEA-Alaska would ask that you vote             
 "no" on this bill.                                                            
                                                                               
 Number 0347                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE FRED DYSON asked Mr. Cyr if there was a way to                 
 modify the bill so that it did not affect the employees who worked            
 part-time?                                                                    
                                                                               
 Number 0374                                                                   
                                                                               
 MR. CYR replied school district employees could be removed from the           
 bill somehow.  It would take an amendment.                                    
                                                                               
 Number 0406                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE DYSON asked Mr. Cyr if he had any other problems               
 with the bill?                                                                
                                                                               
 MR. CYR replied - obviously - the NEA-Alaska had a philosophical              
 objection to the bill.  The NEA-Alaska believed that all people who           
 worked should get the benefits of their labor.  This was a                    
 management issue; overtime was scheduled by management.  "It seems            
 to us that the working people are being hurt by management's                  
 problems."                                                                    
                                                                               
 Number 0483                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE DYSON asked Mr. Cyr if he believed - philosophically           
 - that the principle of retirement should be based on exceptional             
 pay and not on salary?                                                        
                                                                               
 MR. CYR replied there was a difference between a salaried and an              
 hourly employee.  An hourly employee's wage was based on the number           
 of hours he or she worked.                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE DYSON said he misstated his question.  He meant                
 hourly only.                                                                  
                                                                               
 MR. CYR replied hourly employees should - absolutely - get the                
 benefit of all of their labor.                                                
                                                                               
 Number 0540                                                                   
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES explained she did not call overtime time and a half.              
 She called overtime the premium that had to be paid because a                 
 person worked longer than allowed.  She saw some sense in                     
 disallowing the premium time.  Therefore, it did not make a                   
 difference if a person was hired to work overtime because the                 
 straight time was the charge to get the job done.  The premium time           
 was an extra bonus for working over the scheduled hours and not               
 really the amount of hours times the rate of work.                            
                                                                               
 Number 0610                                                                   
                                                                               
 MR. CYR replied employees were being asked to do the same amount of           
 work that had been done in 12-months in 8-months or 9-months now.             
 "It is impossible to do that work in that amount of time."                    
 Overtime was a matter of getting the job done.  "I believe they               
 should be compensated for that over and above their regular pay,              
 and that compensation, because they are giving us that section of             
 their life, should go towards their retirement."                              
                                                                               
 Number 0708                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE ETHAN BERKOWITZ asked Mr. Cyr if the extra work done           
 was pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement?                            
                                                                               
 MR. CYR replied, "Correct."                                                   
                                                                               
 Number 0726                                                                   
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ announced he had an amendment to exempt              
 any work performed pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement              
 from the overtime provision.  He asked Mr. Cyr what would his                 
 position be on an amendment like that?                                        
                                                                               
 Number 0750                                                                   
                                                                               
 MR. CYR replied he had not seen the amendment yet.  It made sense             
 to exempt those covered by a collective bargaining agreement.  He             
 did not have an official reaction, however.                                   
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES stated the amendment included everybody.  There would             
 not be anybody left over.                                                     
                                                                               
 CHAIR JAMES announced the amendments would not be looked at today.            
 The bill would be held over.