The PERS Board meeting on Jan. 29 was a full house with many there to see what the board would do on the issue of needing to raise employer rates in wake of the extremely poor stock market returns from investment year 2008. As anticipated the board adopted a graded approach that will "smooth" or moderate the increases over time and, as a result, on average the increase in employer contribution rates on July 1, 2011 should average around 3.5 percent. This decision was based in part to the excellent earnings by the fund in December 2009 (4 percent), and jurisdictions' average funded status will probably be around 78 percent. Remember that individual employer rates can very widely from the average and that the impact of various employer "side accounts" will also be considerable.

PERS Board Chairman James Dalton made a point of emphasizing that employer contribution rates are going up substantially and everyone should be aware of that. Based solely on the projections done by the PERS actuary, Dalton is correct. However, these projections often miss reality by an enormous margin.

The best example of this may be the recently concluded investment year for 2009, which came in at 19.5 percent — way outside of any projections. Historically bad investment years have been followed by good ones, so we may have some additional catching up to do on the investment side. The bottom line is that 2008 put a big funding dent in PERS (and any other stock market-based fund) and depending on how long it takes the market to recover we could see significant increases in employer contribution rates ... or not. Only time will tell.

The board also dealt with preliminary earnings distribution and the good news it that the regular account, again, earned about 19.5 percent so there are significant earnings to distribute. The board decided not to make any distribution to the contingency reserve and distributed everything on a pro rata basis. As a result the rate guarantee reserve will go from a negative $987 million to a negative $421 million — very good progress in just one year.

Check out the new discounted events for AFSCME members. Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Disney events. Even the Harlem Globetrotters.Click on the link to view scheduled events.

A few months ago the IBEW called with a problem. Fred Meyer, a long time union-employer, was using out of state, low wage, labor to remodel their stores. The labor movement was infuriated, but because Fred Meyer is a union employer we were careful with the actions we took.

But Fred Meyer took it a step further last week.

UFCW is in the middle of contract negotiations with Fred Meyer, and their bargaining team was in Portland . Bargaining get delayed so a few Fred Meyer representatives went by the store in Hillsboro to talk to workers. According to UFCW and Fred Meyer's contract union reps can talk to union members on the job as long as their work isn't interrupted. But a manager at Fred Meyer told the union reps they couldn't talk to members on the job. When the UFCW representatives tried to show the manager the contract he wouldn't take it, and called the cops, saying that the reps were trespassing.

UFCW 555's president and a few local and international staff were arrested and are awaiting a trail next week. It's time for Fred Meyer to realize that fighting their workers' union won't help their business grow in Oregon !

This information will help the Dislocated Workers Program (DWP) to provide the service that best meets the needs of workers impacted by recents layoffs.

Remember to support our Brothers & Sisters in California during their walkout. Public employers with the blessings of elected officials are pillaging the ranks of the Union movement through privitization and hiring of temporary workers! This needs to stop now!!! http://www.kcbs.com/Statewide-UC-Walkout/5292975

AFSCME Local 189's Good and Welfare Committee has been designated as a transition Contact and Referral source for union members that were affected by phased layoffs implimented by the City on July 31, 2O09 and ending on December 31,2009.

The General membership voted to help eligible union members that are currently unemployed with a one-time donation of $189. to maintain membership by paying union dues, to buy groceries, or to be used for other needs as approved by the Good and Welfare Committee.