GEO just received word from the University that the FY10 raises for other unions on campus have been funded by the legislature.  In addition to the raises members of those unions will receive, UMass announced it will be funding the GEO contract despite the legislature not having funded the bill which would appropriate the money to fund our contract.  This means a salary increase and retroactive pay!

We will have more details by November 1, and will keep all GEO-eligible employees up-to-date on what to expect in their paychecks.

Here is the email many of you received this afternoon:

October 22, 2010
M E M O R A N D U M
To:          Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Student Employees
From:        Juan A. Jarrett, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Human Resources
Subject:     FY10 Salary Increase

As you may know, the Governor has signed a supplemental appropriation containing the funding for those 2009-2012 collective bargaining agreements that were resubmitted earlier this year.  In anticipation of the eventual funding, the University started the process of establishing a schedule for processing the salary adjustments as quickly as possible after the bill was signed.  We now anticipate that the new salary rate changes for the FY10 salary increase will be made in the paychecks of November 12, 2010 for eligible MSP faculty, eligible staff in USA, IBPO Unit A and Unit B, and PSU Unit A and Unit B represented positions.  Payment of the retroactive portion of the salary increases will be made within the next few pay periods following the rate changes.

In addition to the above raises, the University recognizes the need to increase graduate student employee stipends, and will proceed with implementation of the stipend increases provided for in the collective bargaining agreement reached between the University and the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO). Given that implementation of the GEO contract is a complex process, we will announce a schedule for the increases in the near future.