Recent Officer Training proves popular with members

MAPE leaders recently participated in a Feb. 7 Officer Training program that was revamped the week of the training to highlight what the federal attack on government workers could mean for civil servants in Minnesota. 

The White House is continuing its quest to fire thousands of federal government workers in its pursuit to gut government agencies. On his first day in office, the president reinstated Schedule F, which would allow for the reclassification of thousands of federal workers, allowing them to be fired without civil service protection and reclassifying their jobs as political appointments.   

“If anyone thinks these attacks will stop at the federal level, they are mistaken. State employees could be next,“ MAPE President Megan Dayton cautioned. In response, MAPE has developed a webpage for Public Worker Attack Response Resources. 

Nearly 100 MAPE leaders attended Officer Training, which included sessions on the state budget, the contract, role-specific breakout sessions, communications and organizing.  

Local 802 President Jerry Schmitt said he thought it was “one of the better trainings. More members were on the agenda this time and I enjoyed hearing from them about projects they were working on. I liked hearing [Local 2001 President] Ren Olive talk about the newsletter they do for their region. I’m not sure if we have the team to do that yet.”  

Schmitt said he also enjoyed the breakout session for presidents and vice presidents. “The hour was over before you knew it. I learned what other locals are doing and what their struggles are. A pressing priority for our local is developing a fully staffed team - we’re missing a secretary and membership secretary. Others also don’t have a full slate of officers. We just have to keep working on it – keep plugging away and do the best we can,” Schmitt added.   

Region 1 Director Claudia Hochstein led a session on organizing. “The Officer Training was a great opportunity for people to get together and learn from each other. Having time and space for the people doing the same role in different locals to exchange ideas was really valuable,” Hochstein said.  

Regarding the funding chaos in Washington and attacks on government workers, “The one message I want to get through: You should be angry. We can’t just be angry by ourselves. The best thing people can be doing is talking with your coworkers about their anger and figuring out what we can do together. Then use that community to fuel your hope and your action in three dimensions: Contact federal legislators, use MAPE’s public response tool kit, go beyond that,” urged Hochstein. 

Hochstein, who also chairs the Coalition Building Workgroup, had additional recommendations for members, “This list of actions as well as the Substack "Chop Wood, Carry Water" are great places to start going beyond our MAPE response resources. I also recommend Meditations in an Emergency, which is Rebecca Solnit's newsletter, for an ongoing source of realistic hope.”