Steward Spotlight: Region 13

For MAPE members in Region 13, chief steward duties and expertise are provided by not one, but two stewards who serve as co-chiefs for the large geographic region. Uyanga Bayandalai, a release planner for the Dept. of Corrections in Lino Lakes, has worked in the sex offender program since 2017 and has been involved in MAPE since she first started with the State.

“I always wanted to be involved with the union, so I got involved with MAPE,” Bayandalai said. 

Desiring an officer position, she started out as her local treasurer and jumped at the chance to be a steward shortly thereafter.

“I like to help my coworkers and stay busy, and becoming a steward seemed like it made sense to help people,” Bayandalai said. “I enjoy not only helping my clients, but also my coworkers.”

Region 13 is a vast region, spanning wide in both mileage and agencies represented, so when now-MAPE Statewide Vice President Angela Halseth asked Bayandalai to step into the chief steward role for their region, she suggested splitting it with another steward.

“Region 13 is really wide and the way Angela explained it, it was too much to do alone, so Amee (Nefzger- Banks) and I took it on together,” Bayandalai said. “Having it as co-chief was much easier and it made sense to have that shared responsibility and work together as a team.”

The region has four locals, and Nefzger-Banks works in a different MAPE local than Bayandalai, who works at North Hennepin Community College as an academic advisor. She saw the importance of stepping up as a steward when she saw roles open after steward retirements.

“I’d already helped with other worksites in our region, so that’s why Angie (Halseth) asked if I’d help co-chief the region,” Nefzger-Banks said.

As a steward since 2015, Nefzger-Banks said she’s most proud of how she helped some “very passionate members” organize at the local level on campus to make changes that benefited employees after the administration started improperly enforcing new policies.

“I like the coaching part of being a steward,” Nefzger-Banks said. “We all make mistakes; we’re all human. But listening to a member about what’s going on and deciding together how to move forward or to create a plan for avoiding mistakes again - that’s so rewarding.”

Bayandalai shared a similar story of helping a member who was struggling to communicate with their supervisor.

“Their communication styles were so different that the member was getting into trouble all the time because she wasn’t really understanding her supervisor and her supervisor wasn’t understanding the member,” she recalled. 

Bayandalai helped the member clearly communicate and express herself in a way the supervisor could understand, and since then, the member has been successfully communicating with both her supervisor and Bayandalai, keeping her updated on her new working relationship with her supervisor.

Nefzger-Banks encourages anyone else struggling at work or with questions about MAPE or the contract to reach out to a steward, too.

“We don’t know what we don’t know. We can’t help advocate for you if we don’t know what’s happening,” Nefzger-Banks said. “If you want our help or to make changes, you have to tell us. We want to help, that’s why we do this."

"We’re stewards because we have big mouths and even bigger hearts."