Local 1501 minutes May 23, 2018

Local 1501 Meeting Minutes
May 23, 2018 - Lueken’s Village Foods North- Conference Room
Call to order- 12:00 p.m.

President Report- TJ Melcher
Introductions
Membership recruitment- Katherine Kingsland volunteered to be the Membership Chair and has hit the ground running. Along with a membership drive from the Statewide Membership Committee a couple weeks ago, our local now has over 70 percent membership. Which is an increase of over 10 percent from this time last year. This is great news for our local, and the interest, attendance, and volunteerism is skyrocketing. Our goal over the next year is to duplicate that effort and reach 80 percent. Thank you all!

Elections- Elections will take place this summer and during new business we will be taking nominations. Our board has been working shorthanded for quite some time and we have some individuals that have volunteered to help guide us through this tumultuous time. Nominations close on Friday, I will follow up with an email to the rest of the local calling for any further nominations. If there are any contested positions, electronic voting will take place this summer. For any non-contested seats, those nominated will be the new officers.

Delegates Assembly- Delegate’s Assembly will be held Saturday, Sept 15th, at the Doubletree by Hilton, Bloomington, MN. Each local is authorized delegates based on the number of members in the local as of April 1, 2018. The local’s president takes part as one of the delegates, and locals are authorized an additional alternate per delegate. Local 1501 has two delegates and two alternates. Delegates is a great opportunity to take part and learn more about MAPE and help shape our operations. Be thinking about it and if you would like to take part. We will select our attendee’s at our next meeting in July.

Secretary Report- Melissa Columbus
No report, unable to attend

Treasurer Report- Jennifer Theisen
No report, unable to attend

Business Agent Report- Debbie Prokopf
Contract/legislative update- Contract was passed and the retroactive pay went out last pay period. The contract includes an additional 2.25 percent increase next fiscal year (in July). Because the length of time to get approved, we will be moving into contract negotiations again shortly.

Some other items of note in the new contract includes vacation accrual credit for qualifying private sector experience. There are some requirements to meet in order to be eligible:

• Must have worked in a vacation eligible position that applies to your current position (e.g. it can’t be as part of a career change)
• Must have worked there within four years of your state position. (The years of experience may be longer than the four years, but your ending date must be within that period)
• Only applies to vacation accruals and it is not retroactive (will receive the benefit moving forward)
• Agencies can limit the amount of credit (e.g. a maximum amount, an amount to just gets you to the next level)
• Agencies handle the process differently, check in with your HR for the proper procedure

Health care remains similar to what it was before, with only minimal increases in monthly premiums. Single increases $1.38 and family coverage increases $9.41 per month. There will be no increases in members’ out-of-pocket costs and co-pays for office visits and prescriptions, and there will be no co-pays for convenience clinics visits. The dental plan’s annual maximum benefit payable will increase to $2,000, it is currently $1,500 payable per person. Orthodontia benefits will now cover adults as well as children. Monthly premiums for single employees will increase from $5 to $13.50 and family (individual and dependent combined) premiums will increase from $38 to $52.48 each month. There are no increases in health care deductibles, co-pays and out-of-pockets costs for members. There are also no additional cost shifts or structural benefit changes.

Other highlights of the contract include a phased-retirement program and deferred compensation match increase. Details of the new contract can be found at mape.org/mape/news/qa-mape-2017-19-proposed-contract

Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court case update- The Supreme Court heard arguments on the Janus Case, so waiting to see what their ruling ends up being. The Janus case is important because it will set the legal precedent regarding fair share members, as it will take away the right of the Union to charge a Fair Share. So essentially it means you would either be a paying member or a non-paying member, so it would have a huge effect on how Unions can operate and is the beginning of a dedicated and well-funded effort by some entities to erode the power of Unions.

MAPE has been preparing for this case for a couple of years, so it won’t come as a shock to operations, but it does highlight the importance of recruitment and getting people to sign on as full members. We must work together in order to fight this intentional attack on Unions.

Legislative update- The pension bill was approved, and importantly the MnIT reorganization plan was removed from consideration.

Local elections- Along with the local officers, the Regional Negotiations Representative is up for election. That is an extremely important position and they sit directly at the negotiations table. There is one representative for each region. Let me know if you’re interested in taking part; go into it know that it does require an increasing amount of time especially as the process moves forward.

Statewide Membership Drive- In early May we conducted a membership drive and met directly with Local 1501 members at the DNR, DOH and BSU. We were able to sign 19 new members in the drive which pushed us towards 70 percent, which is the highest this local has seen in a very long time. Membership has a real impact on the work we do for the Union and contract negotiations. More importantly though is the support to the workers and the ability to band together.

Regional Director Report- Bryan Kotta
No report, unable to attend

Old Business
None

New Business
Local Officer elections nominations:

• President: TJ Melcher (current- TJ)
• Vice-President: Mike Bates (current- none)
• Secretary: No nominations submitted (current- Melissa Columbus)
• Treasurer: Brody Karger (current- Jen Theisen)
• Membership Secretary: Katherine Kingsland (current- Katherine)

Elections will close on Friday. We will send out an email calling for any further nominations.

Membership: 70%

• 172 Members
• 75 Fee payer

Local 1501 Contacts
Chief Steward
Bryan Kotta (MnState) 218-477-2606 kotta@mnstate.edu

Local Stewards
Brian Jambor (MnState) 218-755-2056 bjambor@bemidjistate.edu
Brodie Karger (MnState) 218-755-3777 bkarger@bemidjistate.edu
Kat Kingsland (DPS) 651-793-2900 katherine.kingsland@state.mn.us
Kerry Ross (DNR) 218-308-2660 kerry.ross@state.mn.us
Mark Edevold (DNR) 218-308-2667 mark.edevold@state.mn.us
Mike Bates (DNR) 218-308-2364 mike.bates@state.mn.us
TJ Melcher (MnDOT) 218-755-6552 tj.melcher@state.mn.us

MAPE Local 1501 2018 meeting schedule (12 p.m. – 1 p.m.)
July 25- Lueken’s North, 1171 Paul Bunyan Dr NW, Bemidji
Sept 26- Lueken’s South, 609 Washington Ave S, Bemidji
Nov 28- Lueken’s North, 1171 Paul Bunyan Dr NW, Bemidji
* (meetings are held the 4th Wednesday of odd numbered months)

Meeting adjourned- 1:05 p.m.
Next Meeting: July 25 at Lueken’s North