AFSCME Local 3937

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"While politicians gloat about our "recovery," our poor are getting poorer, our average wages are still falling behind inflation, and social mobility is at an all-time low."

15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth And Inequality In America - From Business Insider

Ruling Adds Student Workers to Bargaining Units

http://afscmemn.org/ruling-adds-student-workers-bargaining-units

An estimated 900 student workers at the University of Minnesota will be eligible for AFSCME membership because of a ruling that says they are public employees under state law.

Council 5 raised the issue in 2009, after the university began hiring students to fill vacant clerical and technical positions. The students were doing the same work as AFSCME-represented employees. However, the students were paid $3-$4 an hour less. They also weren’t receiving contractual protections and benefits, including health insurance and paid vacation.

The state Bureau of Mediation Services ruled July 13 that hundreds of students are indeed public employees with a right to union representation. The ruling will take effect on July 1, 2011. Most of the students would wind up in Locals 3800, 3801 and 3937.

The ruling covers full-time students, age 21 or younger, who work at least 14 hours a week and 100 days a year. The ruling specifically excludes students whose jobs are part of federal work-study grants.

[Article taken from AFSCME Council 5 Website, http://afscmemn.org/ruling-adds-student-workers-bargaining-units]

PICNIC Saturday, July 31
U of M AFSCME Locals 3937, 3800, 3260, 3801

Join your fellow AFSCME co-workers and their families for a day in the park. There are plenty of great shade trees to lay a blanket underneath. It's strictly a day where everyone is welcome to share good food with good company.

Location:
Columbia Park – 800 Columbia Blvd NE
Minneapolis, 55418
(where we've held it the last three years)

When: Saturday, July 31st, 11:00-2:00

Grilled Food served from 11:00 to 2:00, but the park is reserved for us the entire day.

The park area has a tennis court, two playgrounds and a softball diamond so it is more than family friendly.

The AFSCME locals will supply:
Pop
Water
Ice
Hot dogs from Everett’s Meat market (a local family business!)
Hamburgers
Meatless alternative
Condiments
Plates, cups, flatware, tablecloths

Please bring something to share:
Ideas:
Chips
Desserts
Salads
Beans
Your Aunt's Secret Family Apple Brown Betty Recipe?

The most important thing to bring is you!

Voluntary Furloughs Update 6/14/2010

Hello,

As many of you know we have been engaged in discussions with the University Administration or Administration regarding what we refer to as forced, unpaid leave (and what the Administration has termed Mandatory Furloughs). Coming after a year in which we and our sister AFSCME Locals at the U of M have suffered over 100 lay-offs of our members, the union has remained opposed to anything that might further adversely affect our members’ economic well-being. Our Locals have taken the position while we understand that University of Minnesota faces budgetary hardships, we believe that any sort of unpaid leave should be voluntary. To properly explain the nature of the issue, some background information is necessary.

Working with our sister Locals, AFSCME 3800, 3801 and 3260, as well as a host of other allies within the University community, we formed a coalition opposed to any sort of forced unpaid leave for the University’s most vulnerable employees. This “Chop From the Top” coalition has managed to unite many different groups, from labor unions to faculty members to student groups. By raising the visibility of the issue with Administration we communicated our desire to meet and confer with the employer over this issue.

In February the U of M AFSCME Locals met with Vice President of Human Resources Carol Carrier and the University’s Chief Financial Officer Robert Pfutzenreuter III. The Administration explained that it needed to recoup $10 million to $12 million from payroll due to budgetary shortfalls and that forced leaves were the best way to guarantee those savings. The U of M AFSCME Locals expressed our belief that forced leaves were not acceptable, but that we wished to discuss with the Administration ways to implement a voluntary leave program and work with the Administration as partners to help resolve the budgetary hardship it faced.  We drew upon fellow AFSCME Locals’  past history in dealing with unpaid leave to propose to the Administration that voluntary leaves were far more effective and were far more productive in regards to employee morale. Our sister AFSCME Locals in the City of Minneapolis and in Hennepin County have each experienced very successful voluntary leave programs that ended up saving more money than their respective employers had anticipated and were thus able to prevent layoffs from occurring. Both parties expressed a desire to continue working together.

To further build upon our argument that a voluntary leaves were the preferred form of leave, we conducted a survey of over 19,000 University of Minnesota employees. The details of that survey can be found

In short, we found that voluntary leaves offered an opportunity for the Administration and U of M AFSCME to work together. It provided a chance for us to engage in a win/win situation that would signal to the University Community and to Minnesotans that we were working to find common ground to solve the Administration’s budget problems. Doing otherwise would result in a demoralizing, financial burden that would need to be born upon the backs of our members. The results of the survey, if extrapolated, would save the University of Minnesota an estimated $10.86 million, thus reaching the savings threshold established by the Administration.

In the Spring of this year, however, the Administration filed a petition for Impact Bargaining with the MN Bureau of Mediation Services. The purpose of Impact Bargaining is to engage in mediated negotiations  in hopes of reaching an agreement between both parties. We met on May 25th with the hope the Administration would see that it was to its obvious advantage to work with the U of M AFSCME Locals in implementing a voluntary, unpaid leave to ease the University’s budget problems. We felt that this created a golden opportunity for AFSCME and the Administration to build a relationship that was based on respect as well as a desire to achieve a win/win for both parties

Yet despite the fact that the U of M AFSCME locals have actively and consistently asked for the opportunity to work with the Administration on these proposals for the past six months; that there were previous example of other voluntary leave programs by large, public employers; that our research showed a tremendous willingness by University Employees to take voluntary leave, the Administration had nothing new to offer even though it was the party that requested Impact Bargaining.

Nothing that signaled to the U of M Community that the Administration wanted a win/win outcome.

Nothing that indicated it was willing to work with AFSCME as partners;

Nothing that was fair for our members;

Nothing.

What was particularly troubling to the U of M AFSCME Locals was that with forced unpaid leaves, the Administration was unwilling to provide any assurances that these unpaid forced leaves would prevent further lay-offs. For those who had hoped the forced leaves might mitigate the number of lay-offs, given this information it appears likely that the Administration sees this as an opportunity to proceed with both lay-offs AND forced, unpaid leaves.  

While we view this as a disappointment in labor relations, it does not mean that we have given up on the idea of a better outcome for our members.

As a result of raising awareness of the forced leave issue within the University community and sharing our information with the Chop from the Top coalition, we have had some initial successes. We were able to move the Administration off of its initial 10 days of forced leave and have it reduced to a three-day forced leave. While we still view three days of forced leave as unpalatable, it signaled progress was being made. We have also managed to keep our 2% wage increase which will take effect July, 2010.

By working with the Minnesota State Legislature we have also secured our Minnesota State Retirement System contributions so that if there were any sort of unpaid leave, the employer’s contributions would still be made. We also have gotten enough support from the Legislature for them to place in the law an admonition stating that the University Administration should work with AFSCME and consider voluntary unpaid leave. These small victories are also steps in the direction, but we realize that the fight is not over.

We have one more day of Impact Bargaining scheduled for Tuesday, June 15th. We are still fighting for a better, more equitable outcome that will aid the University of Minnesota with its budget problems and allow our members to retain their hard won earnings.

Once we have more information on the proposed Christmas Furlough, we will let you know as soon as possible.

Respectfully,

Jason Iversen
President, AFSCME Local 3937

Voluntary Furloughs Update

AFSCME Voluntary Furlough Survey Report (pdf)

Voluntary furloughs are a fair, logical and cost effective alternative to the mandatory furloughs being pushed by the administration and the regents. AFSCME has presented this information directly to VP Kathy Brown and Regent Linda Cohen. Although both of these leaders said that the survey produced valuable and credible results, they also said that the administration would not consider voluntary furloughs.

We encourage you to contact your collegiate deans and administrators. Ask them to contact President Bruininks, and reconsider the decision on voluntary as opposed to mandatory furloughs. It is not too late to factor this alternative into the University’s budgetary process.

Our research showed that University employees are generous, and committed to the welfare of the U. We hope you share our belief that, given the flexibility to help on their own terms, they will give even more than if they are required too.

Welcome Our New Officers and Executive Board!

We welcome to our ranks the new Officers of AFSCME Local 3937 for 2010-2012 and we say a big THANK YOU to them and to all who work so hard to make our Union strong and successful!

Chair officers:
President: Jason Iversen
Vice President/Chief Steward: Chris Koehler
Secretary: Ryan Mattke
Treasurer: Mary Austin

Executive Board:
St. Paul: Brad Kraling
West Bank: Nicole Masika
Off-campus: Barb Bezat

Trustees:
(All Trustees serve a 3-year term)
Beth Wolszon (term ends 2012)
Ken Page (term ends 2013)

We send a big round of "THANKS" to all the Officers and E-Board members for all the work they do. We thank the Stewards and other activists for all their contributions. As we continue into this era of University budget reductions and layoffs, we might take a moment to think about the fact that we have a contract - a collective bargaining agreement that secures our workplace rights and benefits.

Our Union is only as strong as its members. There are some open positions in our governing structure and we encourage any of you to think about taking that next step up in your level of activity in the Union. Have you ever found yourself thinking "Why don't they do this?" Or "Why did they do that?" You = They. WE are the Union and we all have something to contribute!

If you are a member you can thank yourself for stepping forward to keep our Union strong. Let's work toward an even better and stronger future for our Union!

We Support Voluntary Furloughs!

The leaders of the U of M AFSCME Locals met on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 with Carol Carrier, VP for Human Resources, to talk about furloughs at the University. We'd all heard very different things about the University's plans to implement mandatory furloughs and we wanted to get information directly from the Administration about these plans.

We learned that the University was considering "closing" the University during the winter holiday of 2010 (from Dec. 27 to Dec 31) and imposing mandatory 3-day furloughs for all employees. Now, without calling another meeting with us, President Bruininks sent University employees an e-mail yesterday (March 16) in which he wrote about this "shut down" and wrote about forced furloughs for all employees.

The University is looking at a target of about $12-13 million dollars in savings as a result of three-day mandatory furloughs for all staff, the savings coming from the unpaid compensation. We believe that this $$ target is very do-able as part of a voluntary unpaid leave program. There are models in other public institutions (Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis for example) in which voluntary furlough programs met the savings goals.

On February 24th we talked with Vice President Carrier about fixing the budget crisis in a way that would have a fairer impact on University staff. We talked about the fact that voluntary unpaid leaves (furloughs) would have a far greater benefit than imposing mandatory unpaid leaves.

We believe that a voluntary program has benefits for all parties concerned - employees who are able to do so contribute to the continued success of the University; the University has an opportunity to show that its employees are committed to fiscal responsibility, and that the employees and administration together recognize the depth of the current economic crisis; and, not the least, it shows that the University and its employees are able to work together to solve a significant operational difficulty.

We all win in a voluntary situation. Those of us with the fewest resources are harmed the least, and those of us with an ability to take unpaid leave are able to lessen the impact of the budget cuts that the University has taken from the legislature.

Since the February 24th meeting and the rally on March 4th we have sent letters to the Regents and are in the process of scheduling meetings with many of them. We intend to tell them that we believe a voluntary leave program is best for the University.

We remain opposed to forced furloughs as a solution to the problem. We can work together voluntarily and we can meet this challenge head-on.

Area Meetings Scheduled for TC Campus

All of our Metro area Executive Board members have put together a regular schedule of meetings for each of the 4 TC Campus geographic areas. These meetings will be held from noon to one o'clock, once a month. The meetings will give you a chance to meet your E-Board rep, to get your contracts (at the January meetings) and hear about news and updates for the Local.

For January - expect to hear about AFSCME Day on the Hill 2010, February 17, 2010

Your area E-Board rep will send out an e-mail to remind you about the meetings, and will notify you in this e-mail of the location of each meeting. We're trying to get them all scheduled in the same room each month, but that can't always happen, so make sure you check that e-mail, or look at the calendar on the Local web page:
AFSCME Local 3937 Calendar

Here are the days for each area:
- West Bank: Fourth Tuesday (January 26th)
- WBOB: Fourth Wednesday (January 27th, 140 WBOB every month)
- St. Paul: Fourth Wednesday (January 27th)
- East Bank: Second Tuesday (January 12th)
- Medical Area (AHC): Second Wednesday (January 13th, Room 555 Diehl Hall)

Your Metro Area Executive Board representatives are:
West Bank: Nicole Bretall: Nicole's e-mail
Off-campus: Fred Pulling: Fred's e-mail
St. Paul: Brad Kraling: Brad's e-mail
East Bank: Chris Koehler: Chris's e-mail
Medical Area (AHC): Krista Gallagher: Krista's e-mail

Job Postings at the Council 5 Office

Check the AFSCME Council 5 Web site for current job postings. Look under NEWS in the right hand collumn.

Do you know of members who are going through hard times?

If so, please let Priscilla Pope, Library Assistant 2 in Wilson Library know (612-624-3383 or p-pope@tc.umn.edu). Priscilla is the new 'Good and Welfare' contact for our Local and will be the wonderful person sending cards of condolence or cheer to members in need of one or the other. We thank Priscilla for helping us stay in touch with our members through their difficult times.

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