General Membership Meeting-AFSCME 404
October 15, 2020
430 PM Video Conference
Present:
Adam Castle, Ryan Cates, Steve Wilking, Emilio Florez, Annie Jakacki, Alex Flores, Kurt Crosby, Eric Hesse, Antonino Guerrero, Stacey Mueller, Judy, Charles S, Will Moore, Nolan Siemers, Sarah Auge, Najib Jamac, Tina G, Erin
1.Secretary Report:
Motion to approve August meeting minutes by Adam Castle. 2nd by Eric Hesse. Motion passes.
2. Treasurer-Antonino Guerrero:
STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENSES FOR MONTH ENDING: September 2020
CASH BALANCE BEGINNING OF MONTH: $ 111511.31
INCOME FOR THE MONTH: $ 7989.20
EXPENSES FOR THE MONTH: $ 3224.53
CASH BALANCE ENDING OF MONTH: $ 116275.98
SAVINGS: $ 80261.37
SUBMITTED BY: Antonino Guerrero
Motion to accept upon audit by Adam Castle. 2nd by Eric Hesse. Emilio-Is everything accounted for now? Antonino-Yes, Council 5 taking their dues from us for months so now they were charging for those months they missed. They still need to take out some more fees but should be getting close to being caught up. Motion Passes.
3. Correspondence:
MSOP Meeting Minutes: https://www.union404.com/news/october-2020-msop-meeting-minutes
FMHP Meeting Minutes: https://www.union404.com/news/october-2020-fmhp-meeting-minutes
4. New Business: Negotiations Assembly is on January 24th. No call for delegates yet but we will send that out. Need a motion for delegates to the assembly. Motion by Hesse, 2nd by Emilio. Motion Passes.
Hesse motions that delegates to the assembly receive lost time. 2nd by Steve. Motion Passes
Eboard discussed moving money from checking to savings due to the large balance. 45,000 from checking to savings. Motion by Hesse, 2nd by Emilio. Motion Passes.
Steward training was last week. Motion by Kurt to pay for lunch and per diem. 2nd by Emilio. Motion Passes
Antonino-If staff come from Rochester or another town that isn’t local, they do get mileage also.
Kurt-We got approval from management to set up toy drive for kids. Would like to be connecting with people in Rochester as well. Right now, Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Seuer County will be involved. Boxes will be set up around campus. Send Kurt an email if you would like to help in any way. I am not sure on the dates yet. Judy-If Rochester participates, what happens? Kurt-If we can get staff in Rochester to participate and collect, we will keep those toys in that area. Reach out to DHS to see if they are interested in participating. Steve-Is the list just toy drop off or a list? Money? Kurt-Cash would be great as well. Fire department in St. Peter did a heroes thing where they would take some kids shopping and pick out gifts. We could do that as well. Judy-Heroes in Rochester program gets the money to the family to take their own family shopping. Steve-At the box, will there be a list at each drop off box? Kurt-I would like to do that. I went to each DHS office last year and I split up to each family with what they thought they could use.
5. Old Business:
6. Items from the membership: Judy-where are the grievances in Rochester sitting? There should be 5 right now. Hesse-One about ADA, I am setting up a meeting. Judy-OT with no call out also. HR sent one email wanting further explanation. I sent her a response on why and she never got back to me. Hesse-Send her another message and let us know. Emilio-CC us as well.
7. Good and Welfare: Kurt-Trying to work on the toy drive right now. We are missing addresses for retirees. Make sure you update your work contact information.
8. Officer Reports:
President: Ryan Cates- Attended Forensic Meet and Confer.
Attended Weekly covid-19 updates- Management continues to refuse to support hazard pay for employees working during this pandemic.
Attended MSOP Meet and Confer.
Attended Forensic safety Committee.
Attended a meeting with MSOP administration where they dictated what the new hospital coverage process would be in MSOP.
Filed multiple grievances and sat investigations.
Talked with members in multiple work areas and listened to their concerns.
Presented and argued grievances.
Became even more frustrated with management.
Communicated information to E-Board members about issues facing the Local.
Chaired the Executive Board Meeting
Chaired the General Membership Meeting- At this meeting we went over all the proposals members submitted for changes to our contract.
If any member of Local 404 feels they are not being represented by our Union, please let me know. We cannot fix problems if we do not know there is a problem.
We ask that all members who are interviewed as non-subjects in an investigation, request Union representation. If management refuses, then members should refuse to answer questions. Participation in investigations is completely voluntary and they cannot coerce you to answer their questions. We need to do this to compel management to discontinue their practice of refusing to allow Union representatives into investigations.
VP: Steve Wilking-
VP: Eric Hesse- Have been keeping busy with meetings regarding concerns with COVID, staffing within MSOP, and grievance hearings this past month.
Contract proposals were received and voted on by the membership whom attended the General Membership meeting on Thursday, October 15th. The next step will be all approved contract proposals will be sent to the Negotiations Assembly on Friday, January 28th. Delegates will be selected from each Local that represents State of Minnesota workers to attend the Assembly. At the assembly, all approved proposals from every local will be looked at by the delegates, split into a caucus of their own bargaining units, and will propose what they would like to do with each proposal and send it to those that get elected to the State Master Negotiating Team. The Master Team will then decide, with help from each bargaining units’ recommendation, whether to bring a proposal to the bargaining table or not. Once that is done, they will provide the Assembly with the final list of proposals to go to the bargaining table with, which will go to a vote of the Assembly to approve the final list of proposals.
If you have any concerns or questions on anything, please feel free to contact one of us. If we don’t hear from you, we have no clue if there is issues going on within the facilities we represent.
In solidarity,
Eric Hesse
Vice President – Administrative
AFSCME Local 404
Executive Board: Jake Schoenecker- I have been sitting investigations and attending monthly meetings.
Executive Board: Chief Steward Emilio Florez- I attended our Council 5 convention this last month. I also attended all regular meetings as well. Please see minutes when posted. Please continue to bring forward your issues, ideas, and concerns. We are having good quality conversations with members. We are finding a lot of issues are just needing some clarification or better understanding of processes. Your input helps recreate these processes to better service our members. Please remember you may also bring up issues or concerns at our the gen. membership meeting held every third Thursday of every month.
Thanks.
Executive Board: Chief Steward Alex Flores- Presented grievances, sat an investigation. I need agenda items from membership to bring to CARE/CBHH meet and confer. If you have items you want presented to management, questions, concerns, and you work in one of these work areas please feel free to email me.. [email protected]
Executive Board: Chief Steward Nick Weerts- October went by so quickly. I continue to attend the regular monthly union meetings & our labor management meetings. The extremely slow process in getting Health Services transitioned over to Atlas Scheduling continues but will hopefully resolve soon. Proposed permanent scheduling changes and processes are still be discussed with management and HR… hopefully there is resolution to that soon as well. There continue to be meetings and regular communication as this evolves.
I’ve also sat a few investigations as they’ve come up and field various member questions and concerns as they arise. All Members are encouraged to stay informed of any COVID leave policy changes, especially as we get into the Winter and influenza season. We continue to stay on top of budget concerns as well as any staffing changes during these uncertain times. All members are encouraged to reach out with any concerns & questions or their own. Communication continues to be key to our success & strength, so Members are encouraged to reach out with concerns/observations. Please see www.union404.com for all meeting minutes.
Executive Board: Chief Steward Marvin Sullivan-
Executive Board: Jamie Sheppard-
CS Facility Support: Stacey Mueller- In the last month I have sat investigations on ETL and going off the books with sick leave. I know there are always emergencies that happen, and with the COVID illness, there is a lot of concern if your symptoms could be COVID related or if they are common colds, allergies, other viruses. Please keep in mind that your supervisor is available to assist you with getting FMLA if you or a family member are having health issues and you do not have FMLA or if like others who were out on COVID leave, you do not have enough hours. The first part of Contract Proposals was last Thursday evening. We have a lot of good issues to bring forward at Assembly which is January 28, 2021. We are allotted so many delegates each negotiation. I strongly recommend attending these negotiations if at all possible. There is a lot of work that goes into these negotiations to keep our benefits, wages and rights intact for the next 2 contract years. Please, if you are at all interested in going to negotiations, attend the next Membership meeting on the 19th of November or December 17th to put your name in for delegate.
Stacey Mueller
Chief Steward MSH / CRP / Nursing Nights: Kurt Crosby- This month has been continued busy with a few investigations and preparing for the contract proposal meeting. I will be handing out masks to all NOCs staff here at MSH, also Stacey M will have some as well. Please reach out if we missed you. We will have a list so we can be sure to try and catch everyone in the near future. Also, the toy drive is starting for local youth in need. If you can contribute any unwrapped gifts or any gift card, they will be very much appreciated. Also, a reminder….all members have a right to voice their concerns and each member can have their own opinions, but please respect others as well. It is not a one way street….we are all the same union and each area has its own positives and negatives…try and be understanding of each persons situation. WE RULE.
Annie Jakacki- There is going to be two GO TV on the 17th and 24th this Saturday and next Saturday. Phone banking on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Information is on memberlink and AFSCME website. Contact myself or the Mac Team.
858 members out of 905 total for 94.8 percent.
Bonding bill passes yesterday. We don’t have specifics yet for what DHS will get. 16 million for DCT and DHS. Funding to keep Willow, River and Togo open.
All Approved Contract Proposals:
2019-2021 AFSCME Contract Proposals
Local 404
Article 4 – Seniority
*Change Section 3 to read “ On the first day of every month that does not fall on a weekend or a holiday, the Appointing Authorities shall prepare and post on all employee bulletin boards seniority rosters for each seniority unit and one (1) copy shall be furnished to the Local Union.”
*If you separate from employment and return to employment within 6 months within the same job classification, you maintain your prior seniority.
Article 5 – Hours of Work
*Change Section 3C to read “The number of hours between scheduled and mandated shifts shall not be less than seven and a half (7 ½) hours”
*In Section 1C, strike the word “unreasonably” before “denied” to make language read as “Employees who are qualified and capable may mutually agree to exchange days, shifts, or hours of work with the approval of their supervisor which shall not be denied and provided such change does not result in the payment of overtime”
*Add “All paid hours of work shall be considered as "time worked" for purposes of this Article.”
Article 6 – Overtime
*Add “Short staffing and short scheduling will not be defined as an emergency” to “In emergencies, notwithstanding the terms of this Article, the Appointing Authority may assign someone to temporarily meet the emergency requirements regardless of the overtime distribution,” in Section 4
*Change Section 5B-1 to read “The maximum amount of hours that may be in the compensatory bank at any given time is two hundred fifty (250) hours, or up to three hundred (300) hours at the Appointing Authority’s discretion.”
*In Section 5D, change to “At the option of the employee” for liquidating comp bank into cash.
Article 7 – Holidays
*Change Section 2B to read “All employees except intermittent, emergency, and temporary employees shall also receive three (3) floating holidays each fiscal year of this Agreement. However, seasonal employees shall be eligible for only two (2) floating holidays per season and intermittent employees shall receive two (2) floating holidays each fiscal year of this Agreement if they complete ninety-one (91) working days in that fiscal year.”
*Make May 1st (International Workers’ Day) a paid holiday
*If you are mandated overtime on a holiday, holiday pay will be paid for all hours required to work.
Article 8 – Vacation Leave
*Strike the word “posted” from language on Vacation Leave (Article 8, Section 3) to read as follows: “However, an employee may request vacation which commences more than six (6) months in advance if a request contains days which are within six (6) months.”
*Add sick leave and comp time to banks you can use in Vacation Donation Program
*Increase each accrual rate by one hour.
*Increase maximum accrual balance from 275 to 350
*Make the difference paid out in cash for any hours past the maximum accrual balance when it’s automatically reduced at the end of the fiscal year
*All vacation requests shall be answered before a schedule is posted.
*Change Section 5 to read “No employee shall be required to work during the employee's full vacation day once the vacation request has been approved.”
Article 9 – Sick Leave
*Increase sick leave accruals to 5 hours per pay period
Article 10 – Leaves of Absence
*Double Military Leave days to 30.
*An additional 3 days or 24 hours of sick leave will be accredited to your sick leave balance to use for Bereavement Leave
*Article 10 Section 4J- Remove last sentence about Unit 4.
*Change Section 3M to read “The Commissioner of Minnesota Management & Budget may authorize the leave to be extended for a period not greater than another thirty (30) calendar days, unless the Local Union has agreed to an extension(s) of longer duration and will be furnished a signed document from the Commissioner lengthening the extension.”
Article 11 – Job Safety
*Add the words “and workplace violence” after “the prevention of accidents” in Section 1
Article 12 – Vacancies, Filling of Positions
*Change Section 3 to read “Upon request, the Appointing Authority will provide to the Local Union a list of current work areas within 10 business days.”
*Change Section 10B to read “All probationary periods for all unlimited and seasonal employees who work 50% or more time shall be six (6) months or 1040 hours worked, whichever is comes first.
Article 16 – Discipline and Discharge
*Coaching sessions/corrective conversations will be removed from your file after six (6) months
*Strike the language regarding oral reprimands not being grievable
*Any material entered into your supervisory file (coaching sessions/corrective conversations) will be made known to the employee by their supervisor before being entered into your file
*A coaching session or a corrective conversation will be done in person and will not be via letter or e-mail. If a coaching session or corrective conversation is issued via letter or e-mail, it will be removed from the employee’s file
*Change Step 2 in Section 7C to read: “a written record of a suspension of three (3) days or less provided that no further disciplinary action has been taken against the employee for two (2) years from the effective dates of the suspension,” and add a new step 3 to read: “a written record of a suspension of ten (10) days or less but more than three (3) days provided that no further disciplinary action has been taken against the employee for three (3) years from the effective dates of the suspension.”
*All letter of expectations shall have an expiration date of 6 months or less from the implementation of the letter of expectation. If the employee has not met the expectations laid out in the letter, the letter of expectation can be extended for up to an additional six (6) months. If the employee’s supervisor has not met the supervisory expectations laid out in the letter at any time during the duration of the letter of expectation, the letter of expectation will be terminated and removed from the employee’s personnel files. The letter of expectation will be removed from the employee’s personnel files at the satisfactory completion of the expiration date.
*A letter of expectation will not be implemented alongside of a discipline
*When the criteria for removal of filed material under Article 16 - Discipline and Discharge, Section 7C are met, the material shall be removed from both the official personnel file and from any supervisory files and offered to the employee before being destroyed.
Article 17 – Grievance Procedure
*In Section 6, delete the words “the Union or its agents may elect to treat the grievance as denied at that step and immediately appeal the grievance to the next step” and have the language read: “If the Appointing Authority does not answer a grievance or an appeal thereof within the specified time limits, the grievance will be considered approved.”
Article 18 – Wages
*Remove the 300 hour cap on Injured on Duty pay
*Make the Injured on Duty – Medical Attention language permanent
*LPNs and HSTs get a $100/shift weekend/day off OT bonus
*CDPA be added to weekend/day off OT bonus
*MHPA be added to weekend/day off OT bonus
*HSSS be added to weekend/day off OT bonus
*Up the percentage of sick time you get in a Health Savings Plan when you retire from 35% to 70%.
*Delete “Employees working the regular day schedule who are required to work overtime or who are called back to work for special projects shall not be eligible for the shift differential.”
*Add two steps to the top to the Unit 4 compensation grid
*Increase shift differential to $1.65 an hour and shift differential only applies for any hours worked between 7pm and 7am
*Wage inequity for COTA 1 & 2 position
Article 19 – Insurance
*55 retirement eligibility changed so that people who are vested within CERP do not have to complete the 5 consecutive years of service in order to retire at 55 for insurance eligibility
*Open up short-term disability to be increased before the expiration the contract
Article 20 – Expense Allowances
*Change Section 5 to read:
- Breakfast. Breakfast reimbursements may be claimed only if the employee is on assignment away from their regularly scheduled work area, in a travel status overnight or departs from home in an assigned travel status before 6:00 A.M.
- Noon Meal. Lunch reimbursement may be claimed if the employee is in travel status or the work assignment extends over the normal noon meal period for greater than half of their shift.
- Dinner. Dinner reimbursement may be claimed if the employee is away from their regularly scheduled work area for more than half of their shift, in a travel status overnight, or is required to remain in a travel status until after 7:00 P.M
Article 24 – Management Rights
*Remove article in its’ entirety
Supplemental Agreements – ALL
*Remove “unreasonably” before “denied” in mutualling to doubles language
*Add work areas to mutualling to doubles language
*Strike the language limiting mutualling to doubles
*Change “by 30 minutes” to “by 1 hour” in mutualling to doubles language
*Vacation requests may be submitted up to twelve months in advance
*Add to Fixed Night Shift language: “If you have successfully executed a bid and then get ‘bumped’ to overnights before you regain your bidding rights, your bidding rights will be restored.”
*For overtime language, short staffing and short scheduling will not be defined as an emergency
*Remove emergency language from all overtime language
*You can only be mandated overtime for the job class that you work in
*Change language in overtime to read “If you work 75% time or more, you cannot be assigned mandatory overtime between the last scheduled shift before your days or day off and your next scheduled shift unless there is an emergency.”
*Strike the bidding to a different appointing authority vacation language in its entirety.
*Under Vacation Requests, add “All requests will be reviewed prior to posting of the schedule.”
*Add “and bargaining unit” after work area in overtime distribution language
*Remove “on-duty” in step 2 of subsequent shift overtime process
*Remove Step 1 from subsequent shift and other than next shift overtime processes
*Remove “”whose shift ends more than thirty (30) minutes before the start of the overtime” and change to “whose overtime assignment will begin immediately upon the end of their shift” in Step 3 of subsequent shift overtime process
*In Hours of Work – Part-Time Only, change “At least two (2) of the days off must be consecutive” to “At least two (2) sets of two (2) days off must be consecutive.”
*If a Part-Time Employee gets scheduled Full-Time Hours during a pay period, their schedule shall then follow the Full-Time Hours part of the contract for that pay period.
*Change Involuntary Overtime Assignment language to read: “An involuntary overtime assignment is counted when the employee is required by a supervisor to stay beyond the end of their regularly scheduled shift for any length of time. The employee required to stay shall be classified as inversed. Should you find another capable and qualified employee to fill any part of the overtime shift that employee will be classified as voluntary.”
*In Involuntary Overtime Assignment, add “The person who was mandated involuntary overtime cannot be required to stay after the voluntary overtime replacement has arrived.”
*Change “approved” to “full” in distribution language to read: “You are not eligible to work overtime on a day in which you have a full day of approved vacation unless you relieve someone who has been mandated to work overtime. The day will be defined as the calendar day in which the majority of the hours of your shift fall.”
*In Job Posting language, change two hours to four hours to accept or reject a bid
*In Job Posting language, change 8 hours to 24 hours to accept or reject a bid when a voice message or email was left.
*In Job Posting language, add “You will have twenty-four (24) hours to rescind the bid.”
*In Discipline and Discharge language, change “may” to “will” so language reads: “Management will initiate a developmental plan for performance related issues prior to imposing discipline.”
*The Appointing Authority will not discharge an employee without the Local Union’s approval
*Change Shifts Between Days Off language to read one shift change between days off instead of two
Supplemental Agreements – CARE/CBHH
*CDPA be added to weekend/day off OT bonus
*MHPA be added to weekend/day off OT bonus
Supplemental Agreements – Nursing Home/Transition
*Add “mutual to double” language from MSH/MSOP/CRP supplemental
*HSSS and CNA Lead be added to weekend/day off OT bonus
Supplemental Agreements – MSH and Support Staff
*Add “When in a different classification and taking a demotion, besides Security Counselor Lead to Security Counselor, the class seniority will be determined by time in current classification minus previous classification,” in Section 1B
*Eliminate bid movement language
*Change you can voluntarily sign up for subsequent shift overtime for a shift that starts an hour after the end of your shift
*Determination for Holidays and Vacation for GMWs will go by class seniority
*GMWs work areas will be put out to bid
*GMWs will work straight Monday through Friday and any weekend hours scheduled for job classification will be rotated through by the five least senior staff by class seniority