Group drafts plan for raises

Tuesday, May 16, 2000 | 8:13 a.m.

"We will seek a bonus in an effort to recover some of what we have lost over the last 10 years. But to make a real impact, we must have pay equity and decent cost-of-living increases," association president Sam Covelli said Monday.

The top priority involves pay, including a one-time retention bonus of $20 a month for every month worked up to 10 years. The maximum bonus would be worth $2,400.

The Department of Personnel estimates the cost of the retention bonus at $10.7 million for 13,000 state employees.

Bob Gagnier, the SNEA's executive director, said the bonus is needed because no cost-of-living adjustments were provided to state employees in three of the past 10 years.

The proposed compensation package also includes a 5 percent cost-of-living increase for the 2001-02 fiscal year, with another 3 percent the following year.

Gagnier said the 5 percent raise for state employees would cost $30 million. Carrying that amount forward into the second year, along with the 3 percent increase, would cost about $48 million.

A study comparing state employee salaries to those offered elsewhere in Nevada, including the private sector, showed state workers were behind 11.5 percent in 1992, Gagnier said.

In a 1998 survey, state employees were 17.6 percent behind their counterparts.

"We're not even staying even," he said. "We keep falling behind."

State employees got no cost-of-living increase this year. Gov. Kenny Guinn and the 1999 Legislature approved a 2 percent increase to take effect for state employees on July 1, the start of the next fiscal year.

Another element of the compensation proposal is to increase the number of pay "steps" in the state plan.

The proposal also includes special pay raises in job classifications shown to be in special need because of recruitment difficulty and turnover.

The SNEA also wants improvements in state contributions to the health plan for each employee, increases in longevity pay for employees with eight or more years of service, and collective bargaining for state workers.