USEP Update – Tuesday, October 26, 2021

USEP & DISTRICT SIGN OFF ON $1,000 COVID SUPPLEMENTS

This past Thursday, October 21, 2021, the USEP SRP Bargaining team signed off on the $1,000 COVID Supplement MOU. Last evening, Monday, October 25, 2021, the Instructional Bargaining Team also agreed to the same MOU language.

These agreements mean that employees NOT paid by the State under the Governor’s plan who earned a year of service last year will receive a similar pay-out. After taxes, employees should see between $830-$880 net pay depending on the employee’s individual tax status. Checks are anticipated to be paid out to both groups, SRP and Instructional, in a separate payroll on November 5, 2021.

The District was adamant that they had no intention of including either retires or employees who died as a result of COVID last year. This has been a point of contention for some time and after discussion with our state affiliate attorneys USEP made a very difficult decision to separate the memorandum and move forward with paying current employees while continuing our fight for retirees under a separate MOU which was passed at both tables during the above sessions.

USEP has maintained from the beginning that these funds should have mirrored the original intent of the Governor’s plan which was to reward people who worked last year, regardless of this year’s status. Our original pass reflected that. The District made this about retention for current employees only.

On the positive note, the wait is over for our current employees! For retirees, the fight will continue!

The documents are available to view on the USEP website:
Instructional COVID Retention Supplement MOU
SRP COVID Retention Supplements MOU