The House of Representatives just adjourned from a rare Saturday morning informal session and once again, failed to pass the supplemental budget that funds and ratifies our collective bargaining agreements.  The House and Senate will reconvene on Monday morning.

CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR AND DEMAND THEY BE AT THE STATE HOUSE ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 4th!

Staff from Council 93, NAGE the MTA and MOSES and the Massachusetts AFL-CIO were at the State House for today’s House session.  For the third session in a row, Republican members of the house led by Representative Paul Frost, blocked a vote by using the procedural process of “doubting the presence of a quorum.”  If there are not at least 81 members in the chamber, there is no quorum and therefore the move by Rep. Frost, blocked the vote and brought the informal session to an immediate end.  

While it is frustrating to see the Republican continue to block the vote, it is equally frustrating to know that the Democrats could put a stop to the blocking simply by having at least 81 of their 133 members take a break from their 7-week holiday vacation to attend session and achieve the required quorum to pass the bill. The same can be said of the senate where Democrats hold a 36-4 majority over Republicans.  

As such, the focus must now turn to pressuring legislators to DO THEIR JOB and attend the next informal session scheduled for Monday at 10:00 AM.  The Senate will also be in session on Monday at 11:00 AM.  

ALL AFSCME MEMBERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONTACT THEIR STATE REPRESENTATIVES AND STATE SENATORS NOW AND DEMAND THAT THEY BE PRESENT FOR THE SESSIONS ON MONDAY.  

You can find the names of your state senator and state representatives as well as their phone numbers and email addresses by entering your home address in this link. Please call and email right now.  

When you send an email and make a call, simply say “ I need you present in the chamber on Monday to put a stop to the partisan games and finger pointing so my contract can be funded.”  It will be even more effective if you can share personal information on how the delay in your pay raise is hurting you and your family.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  When you use the link to identify your legislators, you will be able to see if they are a Democrat or Republican. If your State Representative is one of the 25 House Republicans or your State Senator is one of the 4 Senate Republicans simply use this message: “Please do not block a vote or oppose a vote my contract funding in Monday’s informal sessions or any future session.”

Thank you to all members who have made calls in the past on this issue.  Your efforts are really making a difference but we need to keep up the pressure now more than ever so please take a few minutes RIGHT NOW to make these two calls and send these two emails.  

If you have any questions or need any help at all feel free to call Jim Durkin anytime day or night at 978-866-2283.