9/16/10 Local 404 General Membership Meeting Minutes

Present: Jill Gorman, Anne Mehltretter, Ann Sullivan (Recorder), Molly Kennedy, Connie Anderson, Chuck Carlson, John Knobbe, Kevin Graves, Jesse Roseberry, Shannon Pech, Matt Stenger, Mike Homer, Mark Huffman, Pam Enter, Angie Mace, Chris Griffith, Greg Naumann, Deb Burger, Ann Zeiher, LaRae Ackerman, Michelle Rodning, Kristy Christianson, Laurie Halverson, Jennifer Johnson, Tim Headlee, Britta Higginbotham, Chad Cabanilla, Paul Ploog, Rich Delestre, Julia Gilbertson, Kelly Woelpern, Julie Filand, Rita Loeffler, Leah Gustafson, Bryan Herberg, Linda Voegele-Allore, Steve Wilking, Justin Nelson, Nate Vetter, Jamie Shepard, Chris Schwartz, Bruce Bauman, Justin Soberg, Jason Dittmer, Michael DuBeau, Luke Lange, Jonas Thompson, Kelli Johnson, Mindy Ridout, Yvonne Caldwell, Lisa Spurr, Adam Castle, Kim Seys, Mary Wolfe, Brett Christenson, Keir Carstensen, John Dunlap, Tom Farinacci, Scott Gorans, Shawn Kennedy, Bridgette Mathias, Mark Fischer, Daniel Quittem, Adam Courtland, Brian Wells, Brandon Baker, Troy Weiers, Melissa Damlo, Courtney Buchan, Nichole Oachs, Charles Johnson, Thad Ehlenfeldt, Joe Weller, John Collins, Jill Gorman, Scott Grefe , Tyler Nelson, Eric Ridout

1.Secretaries Report:--August meeting minutes- Additions or Corrections? Minutes will be approved at the October general membership meeting due to contract negotiations.
Correspondence Review (See File)
a) Appeal to Arbitration Memos – 5 MSOP and 1 MSH
b) AFL-CIO Fair Share expenditures report
c) 2011 AFSCME Family Scholarship Program Application memo
d) Appointment to C5 Convention Rules Committee - CC
e) Negotiations Assembly Reminder Memo, Convention Update with attached tentative schedule, Negotiations Assembly Hotel information correction
f) Arbitration Award – DHS MSOCS Division
g) Chuck Carlson read and commented on a letter that Kathy Sheran wrote to Read Sulik.
2.Presidents Report:
• FD M&C today- Minutes will be posted - Any questions, please see Chuck Carlson or John Knobbe
• CBHH Meetings- Minutes will be posted - Any questions, please see Chuck Carlson or Kevin Graves
3.Old Business:
a) There will an election for contract negotiation delegates at the October meeting. Delegate nominations need to be in by September 16th 30 day notice for fall convention delegates- fall convention is Sept. 30-Oct. 2. There are 18 spots available
b) Voting for C5 Convention- this will take place at the September General membership meeting. 32 delegates selected to attend.
c) Contract Proposals were discussed and voted on. Any questions please contact Chuck Carlson or John Knobbe.
4.New Business

1. Lost Time for Labor Management Meetings: Management is now refusing to pay officers to attend on the state’s clock.
a. A motion was made by Ann Sullivan to pay officers to attend these meetings. This motion was seconded by Rich Delestre and carried.
2. Tamara Weller and Audra Waylett spoke about political activeness and voting effectiveness. They encouraged members to vote and volunteer for things such as phone banking, door knocking and the PEOPLE program. Sign-up sheets were passed around for volunteers to sign up.
5.Items from the membership- Britta Higginbotham brought a request to sponsor a basketball team. The request included a $395 sponsorship fee and the cost of jerseys. Molly Kennedy made a motion to pay $25 for each AFSCME member on the team and AFSCME t-shirts for the team. This motion was seconded by Britta Higginbotham and carried.
Social Committee: Nothing new to report.
Officers Reports:
VP-John Knobbe: “Since last month the local completed the re-cert process for our stewards. Attended the 1/4ly MSOP M&C in St. Paul. Met with Tessner, Fowler, & admin over safety & staff morale in St. Peter. I sat an investigation on a NOC staff, did MSH Forensic M&C last week & presented multiple 3rd steps, did new employee orientations for MSH & MSOP & met with local MSOP administrators today. As per the norm, management again wants to reinterpret our contract. Next Wednesday we will be meeting with DHS HR over these changes in contract interpretations & how work rules are being used on our campus.
Remember, we must stand together in Solidarity,
W. John Knobbe Administrative V.P.”
VP- Molly Kennedy: “I would like to start out the contract proposals by saying that we need to understand that we come from all walks of life and what may be good for some people may not be good for others. Having said that I think we should respect each other and hear what people have to say with an open mind. Thank you.
Monthly Report;
We had MSOP Labor Management on 9.16.10. The topics discussed were; when staff is bidding on positions between MSOP and MSH they are NO longer going to place people on a 6 month probationary period, if you are currently on this type of probation this will stop immediately and your comp time will no longer be cashed out. For the people that this has already affected we asked HR if you can buy it back. They said they would have to ask central office and get back to us. I plan on e-mailing them this week to find out if this is an option. Please contact me if you would be interested in this.
We also brought up having some business casual clothing available through uniforms unlimited. Management said they would speak to the vendor and get back to us.
We also asked if we could have a vacation forum held in St. Peter to discuss everything about the scheduler and vacation process. Management said they would speak with Tim Lokensgard and get back to us.
We discussed our upcoming new steward training on October 18th and 19th. Anyone interested in taking this training Please contact me ASAP so that you can request the days off. Please see the union404 website to see all of the minutes from MSOP Labor Management.
This month I also worked with MSOP HR and the scheduler and I was able to get about 8 people released for AFSCME convention.
We held a Steward Meeting on 9.16.10 at Godfathers from 7pm-9pm where we went through all of the contract proposals and discussed how we proceed with the contract proposal process. If anyone has questions about the process please go to our Facebook page which is called local 404 and it is located in the discussion portion.
In Solidarity,
Molly Kennedy VP Steward Coordinator”
Treasurer-Connie Anderson: Treasurers report will be accepted subject to audit at the October general membership meeting due to contract proposals.
CS MSH/Transition: John Collins: Check us out on Facebook under “Local 404” for updates, communications, and announcements.

CS-AMH/CARE: Kevin Graves: “Extended Campus Report: Sept.
CBHH Rochester – no meeting
CBHH St. Peter
• Preparing to argue 2 – 3 step grievances relating to inversing during “emergency” situations.
CARE St. Peter – no meeting

Respectfully
Kevin Graves, Chief Steward.”

CS- NOCs/CRP: Jeremy Tubbs: No report submitted.

CS – Facilities and Forensic Nursing Home: Jill Gorman: “The laundry is closing with the employees moving to different spots on campus. Rumor has it that the supervisor of the laundry is moving to the warehouse in place of an early retirement. According to the early retirement guidelines they were not to be replaced. I will be looking into this later. Grievance wise it has been pretty quiet.”
CS – MSOP : Matt Stenger: “In MSOP we have filed three grievances and have gotten a couple of issues straighten out prior to having to file the grievance. Management must give holidays to the most senior employee no matter what the employment status of the employees is. As of lately we have been getting a lot of push back from management on trying to prevent all three union officers from going to the labor management meetings. Management has been trying to use the language on us to go to general membership meetings and saying they only have to allow 1 person from each work area to attend. This isn't correct we are allowed to have up to seven members no matter what the work area is. Lastly if you feel that the contract was violated and want to file a grievance please get a hold of one of us as soon as possible. We only have 21 days to file a grievance. After that time our hand are tied and the grievance will come back denied no matter how strong of a case we have.”
EB-Anne Mehltretter: “2 OT grievances won. Nothing new.”
EB-Charles Johnson: Newly elected and sworn in at this evening’s e-board meeting.
EB- Eric Ridout: “The only thing I have is we are currently at 10 members out Injured on Duty to my knowledge. Two are expected to be back (Limited Duty) soon.”
Good and Welfare: Bob Ratzloff, Julia Gilbertson, Patty Balderas, Janeille Ringeisen, Nicole Rock, Alex Rock, Jerrad Aspelund, Teresa Heath, Dodie Spellman-Gonzales, Allan Campbell, Roxanne Christ, Lynn Erickson, Amy Peterson
CLU delegate report: Nothing to report this month.
Council 5 Field Representative Scott Grefe: Members are encouraged to volunteer for phone banking and/or door knocking to help get our new bosses elected.
Message to Members: “Vote your job!”

Drawing for door prizes: No drawings due to contract proposals.
Progressive Drawing: $470. Must be present to win!
David W. Dillavou- not present