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:
Off-campus: Fred Pulling:
St. Paul: Brad Kraling:
East Bank: Chris Koehler:
Medical Area (AHC): Krista Gallagher:

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 [email protected]). 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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