Present:
Amanda Mathiowetz, James Hemshrot, Adam Castle, Tim Headlee, John Knobbe, Ryan Cates, Marvin Sullivan, Lisa Hobday, Luke Frederick, Stacey Mueller, Jason Scrabeck, Kurt Crosby,Karla Hayluy, Cassy Rydell, Tom Kluntz, Connie Anderson, Shannon Pech, Charles Hottinger
1. Secretary’s Report:
No changes to be made on July’s General Membership Minutes. Motion to accept by John Knobbe, 2nd by Chuck Hottinger, motion passed.
2. Treasurer-Connie Anderson:
STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENSES FOR MONTH ENDING July 2014
CASH BALANCE BEGINNING OF MONTH: $ 65231.02
INCOME FOR THE MONTH: $ 5732.45
EXPENSES FOR THE MONTH: $ 9349.04
CASH BALANCE ENDING OF MONTH: $ 61614.43
SUBMITTED BY: Connie Anderson
3. Correspondence:
· 5 For the Fight Resolution- Please contact Amanda Mathiowetz if you would like to see the Power Point presented at the General Membership Meeting.
Resolution In Support of Five for the Fight
Whereas: Public Employees and AFSCME are under attack at an unprecedented level not just in Minnesota but nationally as well, and;
Whereas: What happened in Wisconsin could have happened in Minnesota if it were not for the efforts of all us, and;
Whereas: The Council 5 Executive Board has not asked for a per capita tax increase in a decade, and;
Whereas: Council 5 has had to cut staff and program in almost every area of the union, and;
Whereas: Council 5 has ran an annual budget deficit for the last three years, and;
Therefore Be It Resolved: That we will not allow Minnesota to turn into Wisconsin, and:
Be It Further Resolved: That our local union supports raising our Per Capita Tax by $5 to fund this fight, and;
Be It Finally Resolved: Our Local may be publically named as a supporter of Five for the Fight Campaign.
· 2014 Council 5 Convention- Connie had to have the completed list of delegates by Monday, August 25th. Motion by John Knobbe for the local to pay per diem, mileage, and usual expenses to the delegates attending convention, 2nd by Chuck Hottinger, motion passed.
· Kevin Bloom Fundraiser – The local is not putting the fundraiser on but will donate to the family. Motion by Marvin Sullivan to donate $1000 for startup costs with anything left over going in the donation box, 2nd by Chuck Hottinger, motion passed.
· If anyone is interested in phone banking please contact Luke Frederick. This would involve reading a dialogue given to you and would be anywhere from 2 or 4 hours, whatever you can do. Those doing this ask AFSCME members who they are going to vote for to gage where the vote is at. You will receive a T-Shirt.
· Labor 2014 Days of Action: Just two years ago, the Legislature shut down our state to protect tax breaks for the rich and big corporations while proposing major cuts to education, health care, and support for small businesses. Can we count on you to volunteer at the Labor 2014 Days of Action? We will be making phone calls and knocking on the doors of fellow union members, talking about the importance of the 2014 elections and getting out the union vote. Mankato’s location is to be determined. It will be Saturday, September 27th from 10:00am – 2:30pm and Sunday, October 19th from 12:00pm – 4:30pm. Any questions, call Audra @ 507-316-1999.
4. New Business:
· Chuck Hottinger will be taking the temporary role of Vice President to fill in for John Knobbe. This was voted on by the Executive Board.
· Please contact a steward if you have any contract proposals. The steward meeting on September 18th will be going through contract proposals.
· Reminder to MSH staff- If you are A-Team and respond to an incident, put on the shield and mask so there is proof the equipment is inadequate. An incident report can state, “Breathing was fogging up the mask.”
· If you see a camera being placed facing the unit station please contact Scott Grefe or Tim Headlee.
6. Items from the membership:
· Sarah Mueller expressed a concern for Local 404 to get a new website. Per Matt Stenger this has been quoted before and would be a minimum of $6000. The site we currently have belongs to AFSCME International. They own the domain name under labor web. All of the national announcements automatically post to Local 404’s site. Luke Frederick has been working to transfer the domain name over. Once that is finished we will have our own site. Our new site will take a lot of work and maintenance. Reminder that members cannot vote via email.
7. Officer Reports
Presidents Report:
Dear 404 Members,
I've been amazed with the volume of change 404 has brought about. There have been large leaps forward when you consider the growth the Union has made within these past 9 months. It hasn’t always been easy and at times felt like a battle but we have and will continue to gain ground ensuring positive change. AFSCME Local 404 Members continue to strengthen in numbers at each meeting and continue to empower our Officers, E-board, AFSCME Business Representative, Chief Stewards & Stewards providing us solid communication. I will commend 404 leadership for your perseverance and enthusiasm as voluntarily reaching out to our 404 members asking for a commitment and insisting we become a better, stronger and a more united Local 404. Together we have nearly doubled the number of our Stewards and that alone is very impressive. Multiple fair-share members have come forward wanting their voices heard to help strengthen themselves and their 404 sisters and brother. Together we didn’t stop there. Together we broke through several issues at the Forensic Nursing Home maintaining their rights within our contract by negotiation and demanding improved workplace relations including better communication. MSOP & MSH united will continue to work diligently with CARE, CBHH, CRP, and with Local 404 members with in Transition services, empowering all with the knowledge of our Contract language and providing all with the right resources ensuring we receive fair and equitable treatment from management and above. All this being accomplished while providing Local 404 members representation & support during endless investigations and from within our grievances process. The above is a small glimpse of what can be achieved in a short period of time when WE (MSOP, MSH, CRP, CBHH, CARE, and Transitions services) LOCAL 404 remain active, united, and work together.
As of more recently many of you have been informed an election was held at the E-board meeting Thursday, August 21 to determine who would temporarily replace Mr. Knobbe as he works out of class as an AGS. We wished Mr. Knobbe good luck within his new position and will wait to hear this made permanent for him or if he will possibly be returning as our VP upon the expiration of his WOC position. In the interim, the E-board voted to allow Mr. Hottinger as Mr. Knobbe's stand-in as Vice President of administrations. In the meeting, Mr. Hottinger stated he would be retiring as of next year but with this opportunity he will be working extremely hard for 404 during negotiations as the terms 404 send forward for our next contract. Mr. Hottinger also stated he will make training the next generation of 404 a priority, helping ensure 404 members remain and become even more proficient in protecting our contract. During this meeting we also recognized the loss and soon retirement of other senior 404 activist and leaders. We have quickly become a young and yet powerful union hungry for experience. With that I will strongly encourage all of 404 to gain and attain knowledge of our contract and the process of our union to help ensure 404 has a prosperous future.
I have heard some feedback from AFSCME Members who stated that a majority voted Mr. Hottinger out of chair last November as they felt he was not working in the best interest of our majority. I have spoken with Mr. Hottinger about this and again he assures us that with so little time left until he retires and felt nothing to lose. He promises he will continue to work hard with the E-board and the Membership to help facilitate the best course of action to benefit ALL of the Local 404.
Furthermore in the last 9 month unfortunately we 404 members have also been confronted with a critical incident in which we all suffered a major blow when a patient took another patients life. Even though 404 for several years shared and has made several valid attempts at requesting, voicing concerns and our opinions in regards to safety and security with hopes for improvement done in the best interest of our patients, staff, and the public. Only to find we 404 members have found ourselves in one fashion or another, directly or indirectly targeted as being the majority to blame for occurring incidents and unresolved issues. Our integrity, empathy, compassion, and professionalism has been attacked and bruised in the public eye of Minnesota and most of 404 were left demoralized in many ways. In the ten years I’ve worked on our campus I’ve personally experienced, taken witness, and heard from 404 members past and present that have suffered at the hands of Mental Illness or that of dangerous behavior. Sadly we continue to be assaulted on so many levels from, spit on, dowsed with bodily fluids, stabbed, bitten, burned, beaten and beaten beyond recognition, punched, kicked, choked, and attacked with contraband/weapons, even being stalked outside of the workplace including none the less verbally threatened and abused. These reported injuries provide very unacceptable numbers or percentages of our 404 members and several other employees as being physically and mentally injured. None the less, just like those before us, we are driven by empathy and a unique unwillingness to give up our responsibilities and will not surrender our jobs. 404 continues to come to work knowing the extreme challenges and dynamics we face when providing care for the Mentally Ill and Dangerous. 404 only ask we are provided the resources that will help us provide care, treatment, safety and security that will be beneficial to everyone (the patients, staff and the public).
We have also come to recognize that during meetings with management that 404 members have become colored graphs, numbers, or percentiles. We hear from the membership that a majority is feeling they are no more or less than that. 404, I will say the time is now with Term #9 (licensing of units 900,800 &700), the OSHA citation (safety and security), Contract negotiations (our proposals) being brought to the table, we must put our minds, bodies and faces behind those numbers and graphs! WE must show Minnesota that we are much, much larger in life than on paper!! I have faith in our AFSCME 404 Membership and with the continued support and activism I truly look forward to the positive changes we can and will make in Solidarity!
**404 please join me, your President, the Chair Officers, the Executive Board, Chief Stewards & Stewards in a show of solidarity during an informational picket on the date of September 11th, from 12pm ~ 4pm. We planned on walking up & down the side walk to the corner of Hwy 99 & Nicollet Ave. Public parking is available at the soft ball fields (two blocks down from Nicollet Ave, take a right on Menk Dr.) We ask that if you make a sign to keep them respectful as we will be in the eyes of the public and please no comments if approached by the press or media. We are planning on providing lunch! …Let’s show Minnesota we are and remain a strong united AFSCME Local 404 and lets empower Local 404 Leadership at the table when negotiating the above topics and ensure they see and remember YOUR/OUR faces behind the referenced colored graphs and numbers that we will grapple over because WE/YOU are not just numbers!! Our requests, demands and proposals are not unrealistic!! WE are NOT the PROBLEM!! We are the solution!! Because WHO does the WORK!! We DO!!
In solidarity!
Headlee Tim
MSH Unit 700, SCL
AFSCME Local 404 President.
VP-John Knobbe:
In the past month I stepped down from the DHS policy E-Board at large position and forward Molly into this position. This also removes me from SEPC E-Board and put Molly on this E-Board. Today the E-Board will be appointing someone to take my place as I am in a WOC AGS position now.
It has been an honor to serve you for the last 18 years and I will continue to support our contract.
In Solidarity,
W. John Knobbe
VP- Chuck Hottinger
Thank you to the Executive Board for having me come back for a sunset tour to fill behind John Knobbe’s departure. This is a critical time for us with all the issues in every division we represent and opening the negotiation process for the 2015-2017 contract. We have a critical need to renegotiate the Forensic Supplemental that hasn’t been addressed in 6 years despite our attempts to reach a reasonable settlement. I don’t need to explain the challenge we face with staff safety at MSH/CRP because if you reading this you know the issues already.
I have to admit that being away for the past 6 months has been good for the old guy’s mental health. I’ve been present at the last two Labor/Management meetings and came away steaming instead of last year’s borderline homicidal.
We have a set of priorities (no real order);
1. Use the OSHA Citation to ramp up the pressure on the administration on safety
2. Shepherd the local through the upcoming contract negotiations (starts next month)
3. Push through the pay inequities (SC/SCL, WTA, and LPN)
4. Train the next set of leaders so I can walk away confident that everything we have struggled with for the past 10 years is carried forward.
In times of stress, the Administration will attempt to marginalize and break the union into warring factions, please join me in helping Tim , the Chair Officers, the Executive Board, and the stewards in maintaining a strong united local that is at the table – not-on the menu.
Chuck
VP- Molly Kennedy:
Executive Board: Luke Frederick
Executive Board: Adam Castle
I continue to track grievances but have only received one in the last month so please forward them to me. I also attended International Convention in July. If you have any questions about the International Convention and items discussed, please email me.
Executive Board: James Hemshrot
CS MSH/Transition: Ryan Cates
I have had a lot of grievances concerning overtime and inverses. If you have an issues please let a steward know.
CS CBHH / CARE & MSOP: Matt Stenger
CS FACILITY SUPPORT: Mike Homer
CS Nursing Home: Eric Hesse
The new schedule at the Nursing Home was implemented this month and from what I hear, most are happy with the new schedule. I have won four grievances for the Nursing Home this month, 3 of them about improper inversing and one about having someone use vacation on their normally scheduled day off. I have one in the works for the Nursing Home about a temp person overlooked when hiring for a permanent positon. I have also been working on two grievances outside the Nursing Home, a non-cert in MSOP and a one-day suspension in Facilities. The AFSCME Council 5 Convention is September 11-13 and I will be attending. Looking forward to going and possibly seeing some new faces there. I encourage all Nursing Home staff that if you have any questions or concerns to feel free to contact me. In solidarity, Eric.
CS MSH / CRP / Nursing Nights: Shannon Pech
CLU delegate report-
Council 5 Field Representative Scott Grefe:
I attended International Convention in July as a Local 404 delegate. Thank you for that. It was a little less intense this year due to it not being an election year. You were well represented by your delegates. They got where they were supposed to be and did what they were supposed to do. I did hear one of the best speakers while at Convention. If you have a chance I strongly encourage you check him out on the Council 5 website.
http://www.workdayminnesota.org/articles/minnesotans-called-upon-address...
Thank you to John Knobbe. He has a great opportunity to do a lot of good in the scheduling office that should cut down on grievances. John has done a lot of good work and is a very good asset to this local.
Motion to adjourn meeting by Luke Frederick, 2nd by Martin Mervin. Meeting adjourned at 6:36pm