AFSCME Local 34 Member News
Training! Elected as Local 34’s attendees to the Labor Education Service "Education the 99%", May 9 & 10: Ibrahim Abu-numye, Dana Hanson, Kay Powell, Katie Farber, Ilyas Farah, and Kim Kurth.
Labor/Management Health Care Committee (April 2012)! The County is working with two new Benefit Consultants: Milliman, Inc. and Associated Financial Group. Milliman will be providing basic actuarial services, as well as assessing Health Care Reform impacts, and strategies, assessing disease case management programs and our tiered networks through Preferred One. Associated Financial provides monthly claims analysis, risk recommendations, and coordination of our RFPs. They are also responsible for legal awareness and making sure the County is compliant with ERISA. The County’s Analysis shows that as of March, our 2011 Reserves exceeded $14.5 million, based on $95 million in funding, offset by $77 million in claims, which was the bulk of $80.5 million in expenses. Beginning in December, we had our first $500,000+ claims of the year, causing our Stop Loss Reimbursement protection to begin.
Union Leadership Program! President Diederich announced that the Labor Education Service is taking on new candidates for its Union Leadership Program for 2012-2013—6 meetings from September through May. The Local will sponsor up to three candidates - to be chosen in May - at a cost of $1250 per person. Deadline is May 18th.
Local 34 donation! A $250 contribution to the Hennepin County Special Gift Fund was approved, with Dana Hanson noting that contributions for the 5K Walk are also going to the Special Gift Fund.
Congratulations to Local 34's delegates to the International Convention in June: President Jean Diederich, our automatic delegate, and the five who were elected this evening: Kela Williams, Katie Faber, Kathy Kelly, Andrea Lazo-Rice and Heather Hemmer.
New steward appointed: Judy Stadler, effective 4/1/2012.
Audie Lussier (former Local 34 President) to retire! Be sure to join the Local at its May 2nd General Assembly meeting in the basement of HSB (Room L15). There will be good food and new officers to swear in! Our former President, Audie Lussier, will begin her retirement from the County on April 30. We will honor Audie at our May 2nd meeting! Join us! Thank you for your service, Audie!
AFSCME International Convention! AFSCME Local 34 will be electing delegates to represent our local at the International Convention at the April 4th General Membership meeting. Local 34 will be sending 6 delegates and 1 alternate to the convention to be held in Los Angeles. The Local 34 President is an automatic delegate to the convention.
Social Services Committee! Council 5 has resurrected its dormant Social Services Committee, which met at the Capitol, March 9. The Local pays lost time, parking and mileage for members who attend. Katie Farber is the Local’s point person. Contact Katie if you are interested in participating.
Health Savings Account Upon Retirement! Steve Cook, who is planning ahead to his retirement, approached the Local about a clause in the Contract which says the Local can vote on putting severance pay into a health savings account upon retirement. After a good discussion of Steve’s proposal to transfer 50% from the payout into ban HSA , the Local created an HSA committee, headed by Steve Cook and Jacquelin Poole (they are soliciting members, so please contact Steve, Jacquelin or Jean Diederich, if interested in serving on this committee). See their article on “Severance Pay” on Page 4 of the April 2012 Local 34 newsletter. This group will explore the options and the impact of this proposal, and report back to the membership in six months (September). It is expected there are different needs and receptivity to this proposal, depending on how close the member is to retirement. If the Local eventually adopts such a plan (by election), it will affect everyone in Local 34 - it is not done on an individual basis. It is expected that the Local will organize a series of brown-bag lunches for the membership to ask questions and discuss this plan.
HFA and HCMC Merge! Hennepin Faculty Associates (HFA) a private, non-profit physician practice plan will integrate its op-erations into Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc., doing business as Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), a public subsidiary corpo-ration owned by Hennepin County. It became official Jan. 1, 2012. There will be no change to the mis-sion of the medical center, which will continue its commitment to provide patient-centered care, medical education and research.
Dignity and Respect! Chief Stewards Dana Hanson and Cathy Cowden are planning to meet with Monica Long, Hennepin County, to learn more about the County’s complaint process, in particular, as it relates to bullying and dignity and respect issues.
Labor Agreement (Union Contract)! The Local approved a motion to print 540 copies of the new contract - enough to give every Steward at least 10 copies to hand out upon request from members. The contract can also be viewed on the Local 34 website.
Add
Labor History to Your Lunch! Our
Next Wave members have scheduled a lunchtime Labor Education session to be
held on January 24, 2012, 12:00 noon - 1:00 PM, in the Hennepin County
Government Center Auditorium. Eric Lehto, Organizing Director from AFSCME
Council 5, will be the guest speaker. He will give an overview of the labor
movement and unions as well as answer any questions you might have. Light
refreshments will be provided. We hope to see you there. Click
Here to get more information regarding the "Next Wave"
movement!
Local
34 Elections!
LaQuita
Williams has been appointed as Nominations Chair for this year's
elections. Joe Weston was appointed as the Elections Chair.
Nominations will be taken at the February and March General
Membership meetings. Please note that our Constitution has been
amended to change terms of office from one to two year
terms. To effect that change, the following officers will be
elected to a one year term in 2011: President, 2nd Vice
President, Financial Secretary (Treasurer), Sergeant-at-Arms,
Junior Chief Steward, and three Executive Board
Members-at-Large. These officers will serve May 2011 – April
2012 with those positions up for election for a two year term in
2012. The following officers will be elected to a two year term
in 2011: 1st Vice President, Recording Secretary, Senior Chief
Steward, Membership Secretary and three Executive Board
members-at-Large. These officers will serve May 2011 – April
2013.
New Executive Board Member! Join us in welcoming Laura Ross as our newly elected Member-at-Large. She was elected at our Executive Board meeting held on 12/21. Laura has been one of our Local 34 stewards as well a distributor of our newsletter. She will serve the remainder of the 2 year term previously held by Mara Hill. That term of office goes through April 2013.
Respectful Workplace Committee! Jean Diederich , Local 34 President, was selected to serve on the county's Respectful Workplace Committee, established as a part of the negotiations process this year.
Nellie Stone Johnson Scholarship
Dinner! Local
34 has
purchased a table for 8 to this fundraising event. The local will select
members to attend at our January General Membership meeting. This
dinner honors the scholarship winners for the past year as well as raises
funds for future scholarships. Nellie Stone Johnson scholarships are awarded
to union members or dependents of union members who attend Minnesota
schools.
Local 34 Elections! LaQuite Williams has been appointed as Nominations Chair for this year's elections. Joe Weston was appointed as the Elections Chair. Nominations will be taken at the February and March General Membership meetings.
MSSA! Local 34 renewed its agency membership to MSSA. Our local representatives will be selected at the December GA meeting.
Delta Dental Open Enrollment! for Local 34 members will be from 11/1/2011 - 12/1/2011. This is the time to enroll, make name/address changes or add dependents. The effective date for coverage will be 1/1/2012. Call AFSCME Council 5 at 651-287-0564 with questions.
Union dues! There will be no minimum union dues increase for AFSCME International in 2012. Dues increases are tied to average wage settlements for union members across the country and increases have been very sparse this past year.
MSSA! AFSCME Local 34 has renewed our annual membership in MSSA, Minnesota Social Service Association, and will be electing our local representatives at the December General Membership meeting.
Donation! AFSCME Local 34 voted to donate $340 to Toys for Tots through the Child Care Providers Together www.CCPTmn.org towards their annual Xmas collection for children. Local 34 members are also encouraged to bring an unwrapped toy as a gift to the December General Membership meeting to add to the donation.
Name change! Dana Meyer, Local 34 Chief Steward, is now Dana Hanson. Congratulations Dana!
Fact! Tax cuts for the rich cost $11.6 Million every Hour!
Where are you? AFSCME Local 34 member Katie Farber indicated that as new MAT Coordinator she is working on mapping the work-place for Hennepin AFSCME‘s six locals. Our overall goal is to increase the speed with which we are able to communicate to our members on any given issue.
Future Event! Next Wavers are organizing a Labor History Brown Bag lunch (Lindsay Schwab - contact) to be held early in 2012 in the GC Auditorium.
Executive Board Vacancy! Mara Hill resigned from the Local 34 Executive Board in October. The Executive Board will interview and elect a replacement at the November 16th meeting held in the Health Services Building, Room 917. If interested, contact Jean Diederich, AFSCME Local 34 President, and plan to attend the meeting.
Child Care Providers Fight for Union! A bizarre, three-hour legislative hearing – in which Republican legislators bullied child-care providers for three hours – shows how far the right-wing will go to stop the state’s providers from organizing a union. These 11,000 licensed providers care for 129,000 children every day. They make sure kids are healthy, safe, and prepared for school. They provide affordable, quality care in their homes so parents can go to work with peace of mind. The providers deserve respect, support, a decent living, and the ability to act with a unified voice – especially when the state sets the rules and subsidy rates for the care they provide. That’s why providers want a union. AFSCME is organizing 5,600 providers in Hennepin, Ramsey and St. Louis counties, and much of northern Minnesota. Most already have signed cards saying they want a union. Whether they get their chance through an executive order from Gov. Dayton, or through a union election, they are ready to raise the standards, unity and skills of their profession. Find out more: See the website of Child Care Providers Together/AFSCME.
Help Obama Push Jobs, Fair Taxes! President Obama’s American Jobs Act would create or save more than 26,000 jobs in Minnesota. It injects at least $1.5 billion into the state’s public and private sectors. It invests in infrastructure, invests in longer unemployment benefits for job seekers who are still looking, and invests in all sorts of projects in between. Obama fully pays for the $447 billion plan through $1.5 trillion in new revenue. That includes about $800 billion from taxing the rich. The president wants to repeal the Bush-era tax breaks for couples making more than $250,000, limit tax deductions that the wealthiest Americans can take, and end some corporate loopholes and subsidies for oil and gas companies. Take action: Urge your U.S. representative and U.S. senators to support the legislation. Contact them online or call 1-888-665-9823.
Negotiators! Your Local 34 Negotiation Table Team members are: Dana Meyer, Jean Diederich, Kathy Kelly, Maggie Keating, Paul Madison and Wes Volkenant.
Newsletter Distribution: If you do not get the newsletter early in the month and are willing to serve as a distribution person for your work area, please let President Jean Diederich know. We do need more people to help out with this task as we are so spread out now and, with CSDM, will become even more dispersed to heck and gone.
Newsletter Deadline: Articles submitted to the newsletter are due by the 12th of the month- new target date for completion of newsletters is the 15th.
Hennepin County Insurance: Self-insuring has been successful so far, with $15.2 million in reserve (through first half of 2011). The county averages about 8,235 contracts per month involving approximately 15,000 members (family members and retirees).
Phased Retirement Option (PRO): This option allows 62-65 year olds to return and work up to 1040 hours a year, will apparently sunset in one year; PERA has come out against PRO - which may doom it‘s chance of renewal.
Health Insurance Problems? Are you having any problems with your health insurance, your flexible spending account, or just in dealing with Preferred One? The County has made Sue Hoel (348-9075) from the Benefits Unit available to assist employees with their issues.
Do You Have Friends Who Would Like to Receive Our Newsletter? There is now a quick and simple way for you to be-come informed on a wide variety of issues concerning AFSCME Local 34. Just sign yourself up for our free on-line newsletter! Please follow these directions: send an e-mail to the fol-lowing address: cwvolkenant@msn.com. In the Subject Line or Text, state "Subscribe to 34 Newsletter", identify who you are, and send it off. You will receive a confirmation e-mail within a week. You should have the lat-est issue attached, so you can determine if you will be able to receive – and read – the e-mail newsletter attach-ments. Note: If at any time you want to stop receiving these updates, all you have to do is send an e-mail to the address listed above, state "Unsubscribe"in the Subject Line or Text, and your name will be removed from our list.
New to the County: Just transferred into Local 34? To sign up as a union member, or to get answers to questions about AFSCME and membership benefits, please contact Kela Williams, AFSCME Local 34 Membership Secretary, Century Plaza - Mail Code 630. Phone: 612-596-0954.