MSU Administrative Professional Association

Check all the qualities you believe you possess:

• You are good at your job & respected by your colleagues
• People ask for your advice
• You have a strong sense of justice & clear principles
• You are responsible
• You are honest
• You are compassionate
• You are a good listener
• You like solving problems as a team
• You put interests of the whole first, ahead of your individual concerns
• You respect group decisions
• You are knowledgeable about MSU and your contract
• You can stay cool under pressure
• You handle stress well 

If you checked 5 or more of the above, your APA-Administrative Professional Association wants you! 

For more information on how to get started as an Area Representative (AR), Contact: Pat Hampton at [email protected]

Meeting with Becky Pringle

By Gerlind Kiupel, Communications Committee Member

On September 17th, members of the APA Executive Board attended a roundtable discussion with NEA President Becky Pringle and MEA President Paula Herbart. 

Attendees of the roundtable: Left to right, front row: Jamie Lynn Marks, Pat Hampton, Becky Pringle (NEA), Paula Herbart (MEA); back row: Martin McDonough, Darius Bradley, Kandy Slack, Shannon Alston (MEA); Nicole Proctor-Kanyama, Gerlind Kiupel, Brett Smith (MEA) 

APA is affiliated with MEA/NEA which means that each member of the APA is also a member of the Michigan Education Association (MEA), the largest single public employee union in the state of Michigan and the third largest education association in the United States. APA members are also a member of the National Education Association (NEA). the nation’s largest professional employee organization. 

We discussed higher education issues and opportunities, for instance having APA members attend NEA conferences. We raised the point that our members are a special group within MEA and NEA, because we are supporting higher education in a variety of ways. Our members include IT professionals and engineers, administrative assistants, and research assistants, and so much more; we do not fall in the typical categories of teachers, educational support personnel (like school bus drivers, cafeteria workers, etc.), or faculty. 

Furthermore, we talked about successful member events that we had organized like the Human Trafficking movie event, or our popular More You Know series of arming our members with knowledge about their rights under the contract. 

In this productive meeting, our voice was heard. We can count on the support of MEA/NEA. 

APA 2021 Health Care & Wage Increase

The APA has confirmed that the base wage increase, for the year 2022 of our joint wage and health care agreement will be 2.00%. This increase will be realized for all APA members in October 2022. The raise for October 2021 is 2.75%. These are contract raises and cannot be taken away without your approval.

As a reminder, the APA negotiates our contracts that ensure fully funded health care, a minimum salary by grade level, and annual eligible base wage increases. Health care will continue to be fully MSU-funded with no employee premium for the base plan for single, double, and family coverage through December 31, 2021.

Our benefit package is a combination of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the University and the Coalition of Labor Organizations at MSU and our Administrative Professional Association (APA) contract. Under the MOU our healthcare benefits and the annual raise percentages are included. Under our APA contract, the APA member benefits are defined specifically for those in APA positions, including the minimum wage for the specific levels. It is noteworthy that the APA contract works as a floor and there is no ceiling for the salary increase amount or maximum annual salary.

For October 2022, under the MOU, the health care cost increase will continue to be measured using the average union member health care cost increase. As with this notice, once we know the health care cost increase for each measuring year and the associated base wage increase amount, we will communicate with the APA membership accordingly. 

The MOU is due to expire on December 31, 2021 and we are currently working through the ratification process of a successor agreement. Our APA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is a 4-year contract and expires September 1, 2023. 

A More Detailed Explanation of the October raises 

The APA wage increases for the coming years are as follows: 

-October 2021: 2.75% subject to 40% of the wage increase provided automatically and 60% of the wage increase provided through application of management’s merit pay guidelines.

-October 2022: 2.00% subject to 40% of the wage increase provided automatically and 60% of the wage increase provided through application of management’s merit pay guidelines.

While 100% of the funds negotiated by the APA for annual wage increases must be distributed in full to APA members each year in October, a department is fully permitted under the APA contract to provide a greater wage increase in October, or extend an out-of-cycle wage increase in any month, provided the department accounts for the funding in their budget and it is processed through HR.

Further Questions? 

We hope that the above information helps inform your understanding of the upcoming annual APA wage increases and fully funded health care coverage. You can review a copy of the current joint wage and health care agreement on the APA website at:

http://lay.wyz.mybluehost.me/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Final-JHCC-MOU-2018-2021.pdf