Stepping Up: November-december 2014

Transcript

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO ONE STRONG, UNITED VOICE Volume 9, No. 7 November-December 2014 FOR MINNESOTA’S WORKERS FIGHTING FUTURE FOR OUR PAGE 4 Cheryl Kallhoff, of Willmar DHS Local 701, joins dozens of other delegates to Council 5’s convention who committed in writing how she is fighting for the future of her union. Making Our Union Stronger PA G E 6 Jennifer Wagner-Harkonen, of University of Minnesota Clerical Workers Local 3800, is one of hundreds of AFSCME members whose “get out the vote” efforts help Minnesota buck national trends. Rising Above the Tide FIGHTING FOR OUR FUTURE AFSCME Council 5 is a union of 43,000 workers who provide the vital services that make Minnesota happen. We advocate for excellence in public services, dignity in the workplace, and opportunity and prosperity for all workers. Executive Board Members 2014-2016 (elected September 2014) OFFICERS “United, we have the power to improve our jobs, our lives, and our communities.” 10 YEARS OF VISION AND GRIT Sisters and brothers, This year, we celebrate our 10th anniversary. Our union is a testament to collective action and the triumph of “we” over “me.” Together, we are stronger than anyone who threatens to outsource our work or drive down our wages and benefits. We’ve learned to pull together as a family, because the alternative is to perish alone. As Mother Jones said, “The union is the school, the college; it’s where you learn to know and love each other and learn to work with each other and bear each other’s burdens, each other’s sorrows, and each other’s joys.” We fused our fingers into one mighty fist 10 years ago when we created Council 5. Thanks to the visionary decisions we made then, we’ve survived a decade that destroyed many other unions. Victories fought and won In Minnesota, we: • Beat back the “right to work for less” • Dumped Team Extreme • Fought two government shutdowns • Won countless contract battles • Taxed the rich to save public services and our jobs • Prevented the layoff of thousands of state and local government workers • Protected our retirement security • Expanded collective-bargaining rights We’ve chosen to grow in the face of a raging anti-union storm. We believe that the ability of ordinary working people to organize and bargain collectively over their wages and working conditions is a fundamental human right. It’s a right just as critical to a democratic society as the right to free speech and the right to vote. We’ve focused on goals that benefit all working people, whether they are union members or not. Our Raise the Wage Coalition is proof that we can lift all boats 2 when labor, faith, and community groups join forces with common purpose. Always on the march for justice Despite enormous progress, our work is not complete. The arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own. It demands our constant vigilance. Every time we demand a fair wage and dignity on the job – we’re marching. Every time we help a new group of workers organize – we’re marching. Every time we hold a politician accountable – we’re marching. Every time we give mighty voice to our shared values – we’re marching. Every time we stumble and get back up – we’re marching. That’s how a movement is built. We are direct-care workers, corrections officers, maintenance workers, school-bus drivers, clerical workers, social workers, firefighters, nurses, lawyers, probation officers, and much, much more. We believe in the promise of the American Dream: If you work hard and play by the rules, you should earn enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and retire with dignity. United, we have the power to improve our jobs, our lives, and our communities. No one built this great union on their own. Council 5 is powerful because workers built it. If we hold fast to our solidarity, there is no challenge too great for us. As long as we maintain our common resolve, our future is hopeful and our union will remain strong. Please help us educate, agitate and motivate our members to work for a better Minnesota – where opportunity is abundant and prosperity is shared. In solidarity, Judy Wahlberg, Mike Lindholt, Mary Falk, Nickson Nyankabaria, Eliot Seide • S T E P P I N G U P • N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 14 • www.afscmemn.org President Judy Wahlberg, Local 66 Vice President Mike Lindholt, Local 221 Secretary Treasurer Mary Falk, Local 4001 Nickson Nyankabaria, Local 3532 EXECUTIVE BOARD Sabrina Becker, Local 3688, State Sector Carmen Brown, Local 977, District 6 (West Metro) Melanie Castellano-Swanson, Local 2474, District 5 (East Metro) Sara Chamberlain, Local 390, State Sector Kevin Clark, Local 4001, State Sector Jean Diederich, Local 34, District 6 (West Metro) Destiny Dusosky, Local 753, District 4 (Central) Jody Ebert, Local 3937, District 6 (West Metro) Gerry Firkus, Local 3887, District 1 (Northeast) Dennis Frazier, Local 66, County Sector Duane R. Gatzke, Local 2829, State Sector Patrick Guernsey, Local 552, District 5 (East Metro) Jen Guertin, Local 2508, District 5 (East Metro) Mike Hartel, Local 221, District 6 (West Metro) Eric Hesse, Local 404, District 3 (South) John Hillyard, Local 600, State Sector Martin Hoerth, Local 844, K-12 Sector JoAnn Holton, Local 607, State Sector Cherrene Horazuk, Local 3800, U of M Sector Roger Janzig, Local 668, Private/Special Sector Alison Kelly, Local 8, District 5 (East Metro) Anna Koktan, Local 1988, State Sector Travis Lenander, Local 722, Private/Special Sector Christine Main, Local 517, County Sector Eric Mattson, Local 2829, District 6 (West Metro) Sarah Maxwell, Local 9, District 6 (West Metro) Kevin Olson, Local 701, District 2 (West) Travis Ottum, Local 600, District 5 (East Metro) Patrick Pearce, Local 638, District 3 (South) Melinda Pearson, Local 4001, District 5 (East Metro) Steve Reeves, Local 1935, County Sector John Ross, Local 1842, City Sector Willie Snyder, Local 707, County Sector Sarah Sosa, Local 2822, County Sector Delphine Steiner, Local 735, State Sector Deb Strohm, Local 66, District 1 (Northeast) Sue Urness, Local 66, District 1 (Northeast) Judy Wahlberg, President Eliot Seide, Executive Director Information and story ideas should be submitted to: Michael Kuchta, Editor Published by AFSCME Minnesota, AFL-CIO 300 Hardman Ave. South South Saint Paul, MN 55075-2469 six times yearly: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, November/December Subscription price $1 per copy; $5 per year POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Stepping Up, 300 Hardman Ave. South, Suite 2, South Saint Paul, MN 55075-2469 Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN Publication No. 352180 Member International Labor Communications Association Design: Triangle Park Creative Printing: Seven Corners Printing Mailing: Accurate Mailing FIGHTING FOR OUR FUTURE T he determined campaign by Council 5’s corrections locals to end Minnesota’s risky outsourcing of food service in state prisons has paid off. The department will quit privatizing food service when the current vendor’s contract expires in June 2015, corrections commissioner Tom Roy says. The victory will improve security inside prisons and add 64 bargaining-unit jobs next year. AFSCME corrections locals documented problems with both the quality and quantity of food that outside vendors provide. The locals tracked how often vendors serve food that is spoiled or inedible, and how often they run out of food before every inmate has a chance to eat. In one case at Moose Lake, the vendor ran out of chicken, so it served offenders five ice cream sandwiches as a substitute. It may sound funny, but it’s no laughing matter to corrections officers. When offenders get riled up because of problems with food, it is corrections officers who deal with the fallout. Further, outside vendors lack the specialized training to properly supervise offenders who work in prison kitchens. That means corrections officers must keep an eye not just on offenders, but on vendor staff as well. Vendor employees have been caught bringing in contraband and implicated in other inappropriate behavior. CORRECTIONS LOCALS WIN VICTORY TO INSOURCE FOOD SERVICE Bringing food service back in-house will re-establish the position of “security cook” as a state employee. Security cooks are corrections officers who serve as kitchen supervisors and are trained specifically to work in that kind of risky environment with offenders. A’viands, a Roseville-based corporation, is the latest vendor to hold the prison system’s food contract. A’viands serves more than 8,000 inmates at seven state prisons – every facility except Red Wing and St. Cloud, where AFSCME security cooks already staff the kitchens. Our mission We advocate for excellence in public services, dignity in the workplace, and opportunity and prosperity for all workers Local 599’s Jim Sheely is a security cook who runs the butcher shop in the kitchen at St. Cloud state prison. Our values • We believe there is dignity in all work, and should be dignity for all workers. • We build power for all workers. • We all do better when we all do better! • We advance and defend the common good. • We are leaders in building a movement for social and economic justice. • We treat each other with respect and compassion. • We value pride, passion, excellence, integrity, and courage in the work we do. • We practice solidarity and member involvement. • What we do away from the negotiating table is more important than what we do at the table. Our Raise the Wage Coalition is proof that we can accomplish great things when labor, faith, and community groups pull together with common purpose. Dennis Frazier, from Local 66 in St. Louis County, and Kris Jacobs, from the Jobs Now Coalition, spoke at the AFSCME International Convention about how the coalition built support and pressure to increase Minnesota’s minimum wage to $9.50 by 2016. Our path to success Grow Membership: Organizing is the lifeblood of the labor movement. Robust unions like ours help Minnesota remain a high-wage, high-skill state where the profits of labor are shared fairly. Those strong economic roots are why we enjoy a higher standard of living and stronger economic growth than most states. That is why we’re healthier, better-educated, and poised for a promising future. Mobilize Members: Workers who came before us marched, went on strike, and even gave their lives in the struggles that won the weekend, safe working conditions, secure retirement benefits, and the right to a voice on the job. To protect those hard-earned gains, we build strong local unions that mobilize their members to take action. Together, we build power to get the pay, benefits, and respect we deserve. Take Political Action: Better politics means better budgets and better contracts. It’s all about protecting our jobs, our retirement, and the public services Minnesota needs. We never surrender at the Capitol or the ballot box. Our tenacity makes us the most politically active union in Minnesota. Build Public Support: We project a bold, proud image of AFSCME. Our identity builds member pride and loyalty, and attracts new members. We reach politicians, allies and reporters with a powerful message of who we are and what we’re fighting to protect. Our side of the story gets attention on the news. W W W. A F S C M E M N . O R G • N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 • S T E P P I N G U P • 3 FIGHTING FOR OUR FUTURE ‘Five for the Fight’ is a go C onvention delegates voted overwhelmingly to increase Council 5’s per capita rate by $5 a month beginning Jan. 1, 2015. The “Five for the Fight” increase is the first constitutional increase since the unification that created Council 5 in 2005. The vote amends Council 5’s constitution so the per capita amount that local unions pay to Council 5 will rise from $23.64 per member per month to $28.64. The increase takes effect Jan. 1. Delegates opted against an alternative proposal to phase the increase in over four years. The increase in the per capita payment does not automatically mean dues will increase for individual members. Any dues increase will be on a local-by-local basis. However, delegates did pass a resolution encouraging locals to adjust dues to ensure that their local remains healthy and active. Choosing a stronger future Council 5’s Executive Board recommended the increase and promoted the vote as a decision about what kind of future AFSCME members will have in Minnesota. AFSCME International president Lee Saunders praised the courage and vision it took for Councils 6, 14 and 96 to take “a leap of faith” and unify into Council 5 a decade ago. The “Five for the Fight” proposal is in that bold tradition, he said, and the kind of decision that is part of AFSCME’s character. “We will never let our fate be decided by anybody but us. When we come together, when we organize together, we can change this state and we can change this nation... We don’t give up. We don’t give in. We fight back.” “Our most important convention before today was when we decided to unify,” executive director Eliot Seide said before the vote. “We unified and we didn’t become Wisconsin. “You have to decide: Are we going to be stronger, or are we going to be weaker? Are we going to fight or are we going to disappear into oblivion like other unions?” The Executive Board says the increase will prevent years of projected budget deficits, prevent staff layoffs and service cuts, and provide resources for additional leadership training at the local level. The convention paid tribute to outgoing Council 5 vice president Clifford Poehler. Poehler, who was president of Council 14 at the time of the unification 10 years ago, has served as a Council 5 chair officer for our entire existence. “As an individual, I’m not the bravest guy around,” Poehler told delegates. “But with my AFSCME brothers and sisters around, I’m not afraid of anything. I’m not afraid of anyone. We have fought and we fought together.” Leaders from Scott County Local 2440 with their award. Good work by locals, individuals rewarded David Doering, St. Cloud DOT Local 604, attends a workshop on retirement benefits. Shawnice Reid, Hennepin County Human Services Local 34, reads off members’ ideas during a workshop on generational differences. Scott County Local 2440 won the 2014 Mike Buesing Local Union Development Award. Through a series of escalating actions, members of this local fought off management’s attempts to eliminate general wage increases. The employer’s proposal would have made all pay raises arbitrary and left raises completely in the hands of supervisors. Members’ actions in the workplace expanded into a show of force at a County Board meeting. More than 125 members and fee-payers showed up, demanding the general increase. County commissioners were so convinced that they backed the union. The result: A three-year contract with across-the-board raises each year – and a local more engaged and active than ever. Above: Ryan Telschow and the Honor Guard from Stillwater Corrections Local 600 present the colors. Right: Leola Banks, Regions Hospital Local 722, talks about how her local’s activism helps to improve conditions both for workers and for patients. 4  indy Yund, of Cambridge DHS C Local 390, won the 2014 Jerry Wurf Organizing Award. Yund has made hundreds of house calls as a volunteer member organizer working on Council 5’s public-sector, privatesector, and child-care campaigns. Nancy Hernandez, Metro DHS Local 2181, shops for AFSCME wear from the Union House table. • S T E P P I N G U P • N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 14 • www.afscmemn.org Dennis Frazier, of Arrowhead Region Local 66, won the 2014 Communications Award. Frazier was praised for his advocacy of raising the state’s minimum wage and other Council 5 issues. Delegates from Department of Public Safety Local 3142 find a reason to celebrate. Melissa Degidio, MnSCU Local 4001 at St. Paul College, takes part in a crowded state sector caucus. Sharice McCain, University of Minnesota Clerical Workers Local 3800, sings the National Anthem. Jackie Spanjers and Chad Purvis, both of Anoka DHS Local 1307, meet with other state employees. Ashley Lokensgard, Met Council Local 668, and Mark Lawson, Lake Owasso Residence Local 707, attend an East Metro delegate meeting. Katherine Bartz, Rochester DOT Local 868, discusses what it takes to get members to become politically active. During a breakout session, Jacquelin Poole, Hennepin County Human Services Local 34, discusses the extra challenges that women face economically. See it for yourself If you missed the convention (or want to share or relive highlights), we’ve got it covered. Videos include: Gov. Mark Dayton talks with John Oas, from Rochester DOT Local 868, while Janice Gasper, Anoka DHS Local 1307; Brian Bruckhoff, Mankato DOT Local 280; and Juan Sanchez, Owatonna DOT Local 106, wait in line. • Delegates pledging to fight for our union’s future. • Warnings from Wisconsin AFSCME leader Boyd McCamish about life without collective bargaining. • Speeches from Gov. Mark Dayton, AFSCME International president Lee Saunders, and others. • Slideshows highighting 10 years of Council 5 members in action, and paying tribute to outgoing vice president Clifford Poehler. You can view all the videos on Council 5’s You Tube channel: Go to afscmemn.org, then scroll down the left column and click the You Tube icon. Mario Lee, Ramsey County Local 8, listens up during a delegate caucus. Photos: For more than 150 pictures of your brothers and sisters in action, see Council 5’s Flickr site. Go to: www.flickr.com/photos/afscmemn; click “Albums,” then click “2014 Council 5 Convention.” Chad Montgomery, Moose Lake DHS Local 1092, and John Kelly, Oak Park Heights Corrections Local 915, vote in Executive Board elections. New board members elected Delegates elected 10 new Executive Board members to serve two-year terms; re-elected president Judy Wahlberg and secretary Mary Falk; elected current treasurer Mike Lindholt as vice president; and elected current board member Nickson Nyankabaria as the new treasurer. All four chair officers ran unopposed. Lindholt replaces Clifford Poehler, who is retiring. The new Executive Board members: • Melanie CastellanoSwanson, Local 2474, District 5 (East Metro) • Sara Chamberlain, Local 390, State Sector • Destiny Dusosky, Local 753, District 4 (Central) • Eric Hesse, Local 404, District 3 (South) • John Hillyard, Local 600, State Sector • Martin Hoerth, Local 844, K-12 Sector • Anna Koktan, Local 1988, State Sector • Eric Mattson, Local 2829, District 6 (West Metro) • Sarah Maxwell, Local 9, District 6 (West Metro) • Travis Ottum, Local 600, District 5 (East Metro) Delegates also re-elected 28 board members. A complete list is on Page 2. W W W. A F S C M E M N . O R G • N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 • S T E P P I N G U P • 5 FIGHTING FOR OUR FUTURE Minnesota rises above the tide V ictories by Gov. Mark Dayton, Sen. Al Franken, and Congressman Rick Nolan on Nov. 4 showed the rest of the country that bold champions of working families win elections. Minnesota bucked the red tide of corporate money that gave Republicans control of Congress and the governors’ offices in every other Midwestern state. Minnesota unions ran their biggest midterm electoral program ever – and it made a difference. AFSCME members alone put in more than 1,000 shifts on the phone or knocking on doors to get out the vote. There weren’t enough of us to overcome the outside money and negative advertising in 10 House districts in Greater Minnesota. That makes it harder to move initiatives such as fixing transportation. But our efforts won all but one competitive House district in the Twin Cities suburbs, and every statewide office. We know that Gov. Dayton and a pro-worker Senate will protect our right to bargain collectively for a better life.   Executive director Eliot Seide says, “We’re living proof that when union members vote, working families win.” Amber Gullickson, of Dakota County Human Services Local 306, and Karma Gangkhar, of HCMC Local 977, get training at a Hopkins “action center” before knocking on doors for Rep. Yvonne Selcer in District 48A. Their efforts played a key role: Selcer won re-election by only 36 votes. Joining the fight to end inequity “ Working in Minnesota Life Bridge feels like an nonstop experiment, Local 390’s Jesse Gillespie says. “Every day is an incredibly unstable, uncharted environment.” Pushing to keep staff safe M ore than two dozen members of Local 390 and other DHS locals crammed into a conference room on the old METO campus in Cambridge, challenging administrators of the Minnesota Life Bridge program to care as much about the well-being of staff as they care about the wellbeing of patients. The members work in group homes. They care for residents with, in DHS’ own words, “developmental disabilities who exhibit severe behaviors that represent a risk to public safety.” AFSCME members described life-threatening incidents in which residents tried to stab one with a butcher knife or grabbed the wheel of a van in freeway traffic. Yet administrators’ default reaction, staff say, is to question what they – not the resident – did wrong. Minnesota Life Bridge needs to ramp up its frontline staff, safety, support, and real-world training, AFSCME members told deputy commissioner Anne Barry and others. “We just don’t feel like they’re committed to keeping us safe,” says Local 390’s David Ruth. “It’s not just a Minnesota Life Bridge issue. This is a statewide issue.” Equal protection under the law is not an idea; it is a foundation and cornerstone of American democracy,” the founder of the Moral Mondays movement told 250 union members and others at a march through downtown Minneapolis. “These are not just policy issues,” the Rev. William Barber II said. “These are not just left vs. right debates. These are not conservative vs. liberal discussions. These are the centerpieces of our deepest traditions of faith, our values, our sense of morality, and the very soul of our democracy.” Elyse Ward, of MnSCU Local 3998, joins the Minneapolis march against inequity. Barber was in Minneapolis to challenge a state that has some of the worst gaps in the nation in education, employment, and economic opportunity for people of color. “The reality is, the costs are too high if we don’t address systemic racism and poverty,” he said. “It costs us our integrity as a nation. It costs us our soul as a nation.” Turning transportation into a priority C ouncil 5 members and retirees teamed with Move MN partners to collect more than 2,800 signatures at the State Fair, urging legislators to fix transportation funding in 2015. Lynn Page, of Bemidji DOT Local 637, talks with fairgoers about the need for reliable transportation funding. Keapproth was honored for his leadership of Council 5’s Veterans Initiative. In its first six years, the Initiative raised more than $100,000. The money improves facilities and services at Minnesota’s state-run Veterans Homes in Fergus Falls, Hastings, Luverne, Minneapolis, and Silver Bay. AFSCME members gather around Local 915’s Mike Keapproth to help celebrate his award for outstanding volunteer work. Keapproth wins award for Veterans Initiative Mike Keapproth, retired president of Oak Park Heights Corrections Local 915, is the winner of the 2014 Community Services Award from the Minnesota AFL-CIO for outstanding volunteer work. The donations pay for equipment and programs that the homes cannot afford in their own budgets. 11 members elected to AFL-CIO General Board Eleven Council 5 members were elected to the Minnesota AFLCIO’s 46-member General Board during the state labor federation’s convention in St. Paul. In addition, Council 5 executive director Eliot Seide and retired Local 66 president Alan Netland were appointed to the 23-member Executive Board. BRIEFS 6 As part of the Move MN coalition, AFSCME is promoting balanced, longterm investments in roads, bridges, transit, and bike Scholarships build toward the future The deadline to apply for AFSCME’s Family Scholarship is Dec. 31. The renewable, $2,000 scholarships are for current high-school seniors who graduate in 2015. For application details and full eligibility requirements, go to www.afscme.org/family. Council 5 announces winners: Congratulations to these winners of annual Council 5 scholarships: • Elena Bisoc, of Minneapolis Veterans Home Local 744, Robert Norberg Scholarship. She is attending St. Paul College. • Jessica Vitalis, of MnSCU Local 4001, Robert Norberg Scholarship. She is attending Century College. • Callista DePauw, Richard Patterson Scholarship. Callista is the daughter of Catherine Rinaldo, of Hennepin County Human Services • S T E P P I N G U P • N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 14 • www.afscmemn.org and pedestrian facilities. That kind of commitment will protect our jobs at MnDOT, Met Council, and state and local governments; provide dedicated, sustainable revenue for transportation projects; and make sure Minnesota has the infrastructure to support a future with more jobs and a high quality of life. Local 34. Callista attends the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. • Kelly Jean Running, Clarence J. Moss Scholarship. Kelly is the daughter of Robert Running, of City of Maplewood Local 2725. Kelly attends the University of Minnesota. Crash kills Local 1574 president Michael Dolney – a Council 5 Executive Board member, president of Brainerd DHS Local 1574, and General Board member of the Minnesota AFL- Michael Dolney CIO – was killed Oct. 25 when a pickup truck hit his motorcycle on Highway 10 near his home in Randall. Dolney was 45. BIG STEP Private group-home workers win breakthrough organizing victory I n an organizing drive that completely blind-sided their bosses, 173 workers at Stepping Stones for Living joined AFSCME in an overwhelming election victory. The new members work at 16 group homes in the Duluth area and at a day program in Hermantown. The workers provide residential and support services for adults with traumatic brain injury or mental illness. “Basically, we try to provide them the most normal life possible given the circumstances,” says John Pietz, a crisis float who helped lead the union drive. Many of Stepping Stones’ residents come from secure state sites such as Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center. Council 5 represents hundreds of workers at such state facilities, but workers at Stepping Stones are the first members in private group homes in Minnesota. Pay dead-ends quickly Pietz and his friend and co-worker, Cody Jakowski, hope a union can help transform what are now demanding but low-paying, deadend jobs. “That is a big thing,” Pietz says, “because we do have a pretty cool job: We get to help people.” Most of their co-workers are in their 20s. They’re trying to pay their way through college or starting families – and finding it impossible to make ends meet, Pietz says. Pay starts at $9.50 but caps out at $10.50 for most workers, they say. Training is minimal; the company can fire workers for any reason – or no reason; and turnover is sky high. Earlier this year, more than 40 percent of workers bailed in just five months. “If you could go sell T-shirts at American Eagle for the same money, which way are you going to go?” Pietz asks. High turnover ultimately hurts residents, they say, because it replaces consistency with instability. “We’re not working with machines,” Jakowski says. “We’re working with people who don’t have the ability to adapt, to build trust, the way you would.” Upheaval in homes makes it harder for residents to move toward independent living, he says. St. Louis County is filled with group homes like Stepping Stones, Pietz says. That makes it even more important to improve wages and working conditions in ways that turn the jobs into careers. Trusted leaders Jakowski and Pietz learned about AFSCME – and the advantages of a union job – through former co-worker Aaron Allen, who now is a member of DHS Local 1092 in Moose Lake. In leading the campaign at Stepping Stones, the duo had one key edge: As crisis staff, they regularly defuse Cody Jakowski (left) and John Pietz led the union drive among workers at Stepping Stones for Living. situations at all 16 houses. Coworkers know them, see them in action, and trust them. So, when they stressed keeping the union drive secret, co-workers listened. “Not a peep,” Jakowski says. By the time workers filed for the election, 70 percent had signed union cards. But management hadn’t caught a whiff of what was going on. Welcome to AFSCME 173 Group home workers at Stepping Stones in the Duluth area 155 Members of Dakota County Community Corrections, who formed Local 450 1,065 Total members organized in Council 5 in 2014 Company president Stephanie Ericksen scrambled to convince workers they were all “a big family.” But not everything was so kumbaya. In private, management shunned Jakowski and Pietz. Then, in a final attempt to undermine the election, management tried to reclassify the two of them and 13 co-workers as supervisors. That would have pulled them out of the bargaining unit. 80 percent of workers voted to join AFSCME. The final vote: 94-22. The move did stall the election. But in a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board, the company went 0 for 15. When the election finally took place in September, management lost again: More than Now, as they prepare to negotiate their first contract, Jakowski says: “I never expected us to be here. But this is the right thing to do. It’s right for current employees, and it’s right for everyone following us.” Probation officers gain strength by uniting with AFSCME P robation officers in Dakota County already had a union. That wasn’t enough. So they voted overwhelmingly this summer to affiliate their independent union with AFSCME. They hope that, by working arm in arm with Human Services Local 306 and Library Local 693, they can improve the situation for all county workers. “We’re hoping to find our collective strength,” says Brad VanderVegt, an adult probation officer. Combined, the three AFSCME locals represent almost half the county workforce. Decisions didn’t include workers Probation officers formed the Dakota County Community Corrections Association in 2007. This year, it became obvious it was time to do more, says Kaaren Hensrud, who works in the juvenile unit. Over the past few years, more and more pay became based on performance reviews, she says. The county’s health-insurance benefit began eroding. The county reorganized job classifications and assignments, which uprooted just fit us better. There was a vision of the future and how to get there, and it just made sense.” The final decision to affiliate was relatively smooth and seamless, Hensrud says. Members built a general consensus through a lot of one-on-one discussion. When members voted in June, there was a huge turnout, and 89 percent chose AFSCME. The final vote: 97-12. Someone to be reckoned with Brad VanderVegt (left), Kaaren Hensrud, and Dan Finley of Dakota County Community Corrections Local 450. a lot of officers. “It felt like the employees really had no control or input or anything,” Hensrud says. Plus, contract negotiations were going nowhere. “There were other bargaining units out there working hard for their members, and we weren’t connected,” says Dan Finley, an assistant probation officer at the juvenile lock-up. “We were really an island unto ourselves. We lacked the resources and the size that, in the larger context, a broader affiliation could bring us.” Made for each other Finley compared notes with a friend, Tim Blase, of AFSCME Local 8 in community corrections in Ramsey County. Other members explored other affiliation options. The possibility of “strength in numbers, power in unity” certainly favored AFSCME. But so did the union’s culture. “We weren’t looking for another boss,” VanderVegt says. “We were looking for a partner.” In the end, Finley says, “AFSCME Since affiliating, probation officers have realized two other advantages of joining AFSCME. One is the expertise and training available through Council 5. “When you’re going up against a management where you haven’t felt as strong as you wanted to, training is important,” Hensrud says. The second advantage is being part of a union that is politically active and savvy. “Some of the new commissioner candidates were seeking endorsements from us,” VanderVegt says. “And therein lies the power. They weren’t seeking endorsements when we were just the association.” W W W. A F S C M E M N . O R G • N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 • S T E P P I N G U P • 7 WA L K I N G O U R TA L K Kidney donor gives a piece of her heart, too L ocal 9’s Kim Johnson just had to disagree. She was about to donate a kidney, so was spending a whole day meeting with surgeons at the University of Minnesota Medical Center-Fairview. “They keep telling you: ‘You’re getting nothing from this’,” Johnson says. “They pound it into your head.” After all, selling a kidney is illegal in the United States. But Johnson told the surgeons: “You’re wrong. I am getting something from this: I’m giving somebody a chance to live.” So, on Oct. 17 – after more than a month of delays – Johnson donated her left kidney to Joanie Kocher, who is a friend of her roommate. From Day One, the transplant seemed to be a complete success. “It’s a good feeling – it’s fantastic,” says Johnson, the vice president of Local 9 and a 28-year Minneapolis employee in the water department. “The kidney is a rock star. Joanie started producing urine right away. They said they’d never seen a kidney work so quickly.” Kocher, of Waverly, had suffered from polycystic kidney disease for 15 years. Her condition began deteriorating four years ago, and she’s been on a Want to be a living donor? Fill out the online questionnaire at www.UofMMedical CenterLivingDonor.org transplant list ever since. Medical progress means donors do not have to be blood relatives and recipients do not have to wait for an organ donor to die before they can receive a kidney. In fact, transplants from living donors have a higher success rate. And compared with years of dialysis, transplants tend to keep recipients alive longer, with a better quality of life overall. After Johnson met Kocher in April, she decided to try to help. She went through six weeks of tests and interviews. The process finally verified that Johnson not only was a medical match to donate a kidney, but could handle the logistical and mental challenges as well. “I called her and said, ‘You want a piece of me?’” Johnson says. Joanie Kocher (front) and Local 9’s Kim Johnson. Local 1164’s Tiffany West handles much of the recordkeeping in the donor process. Making it all possible Medical Center’s Transplant Center, Local 1164 members such as Tiffany West are part of a team that guides applicants through the process of donating a kidney, liver, or other organ. In Johnson’s case, she was not the only AFSCME member involved. Behind the scenes at the U of M Living donors now account for about half the 200 kidney transplants that the center does each year. Potential donors such as Johnson first fill out an online questionnaire, which screens their physical and psychological health. West and a nurse coordinator personally process all applications. They handle the correspondence, lab results, logistics, and handholding that can make a transplant successful. Often, West says, donors apply with the hope of donating to a specific person. In Johnson’s case, that worked. If donors are not a medical match, West then talks with them about entering the “paired exchange” program. That national registry improves the chances of finding matches for the donors and recipients alike. Members, locals come through for those in need C Guadalupe Tarau and her 2-year-old daughter, Stephanie, are among those benefiting from AFSCME donations to the Neighbors food shelf. ouncil 5 members and locals donated $10,804.63 and more than 800 pounds of food to the Neighbors food shelf in South St. Paul. allow the food shelf to continue buying milk even after a state subsidy ran out this fall, and to offset a decline in meat donations from grocers. Neighbors serves more than 600 families a month in Inver Grove Heights, South St. Paul, and West St. Paul. That includes union members who recently lost their jobs after the shutdowns of Rainbow food stores and Dakota Premium’s packing plant. Straight A results Director John Kemp says the food shelf is serving 25 percent more people than it did a year ago. AFSCME’s donations LA B O R H I S TO RY Mother Jones Artist: Rupert Garcia (Mother Jones Magazine) Date: 1989 Mary Harris “Mother” Jones was a fearless labor and community organizer. She is known best for her work with coal miners and textile workers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was revolutionary in breaking down racial barriers within unions and in mobilizing workers’ families. To protest the conditions of child labor, she led a march of children from Philadelphia to New York City, ending at the Long Island home of 8 President Theodore Roosevelt. A federal prosecutor once labeled her “the most dangerous woman in America.” She is a charter member of the Industrial Workers of the World, and described her occupation simply as “hellraiser.” Jones was held in such esteem among workers that she is buried in the Union Miners Cemetery in Mount Olive, Ill. Council 5’s 2014 convention theme was “Me to We.” That focus on the power of collective action to improve circumstances – not just for ourselves, but for all of humanity – is reflected in the famous quote from Jones that is embedded in the poster. • S T E P P I N G U P • N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 14 • www.afscmemn.org Meanwhile, Lino Lakes Corrections Local 2728 contributed $500 and held a food drive to benefit PowerPack, which makes sure school children have enough nutritious food to get through weekends and holiday breaks. PowerPack is a joint program of the Centennial Community Food Shelf and Centennial School District. Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation 1. Publication Title: Stepping Up 2. Publication Number: 352-180 3. Filing Date: Oct. 16, 2014 4. Issue Frequency: Bi-monthly, plus Voters Guide in October 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 7 6. Annual Subscription Price: Free to members; others, $5 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: AFSCME Minnesota Council 5, 300 Hardman Ave. South, South St. Paul, MN 55075-2469. Contact Person: Michael Kuchta. Telephone: 651-287-0537 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: Same as above 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor and Managing Editor: Publisher: AFSCME Minnesota Council 5 (address same as above). Editor: Michael Kuchta (address same as above). Managing Editor: None 10. Owner: AFSCME Minnesota Council 5, 300 Hardman Ave. South, South St. Paul, MN 55075-2469 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or Other Securities: None 12. Tax Status: Has not changed during the preceding 12 months 13. Publication Title: Stepping Up 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: 2014 Voters Guide (October 2014) 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Membership Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months / No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date a. Total Number of Copies: 39,321 / 40,500 b. Paid Circulation 1. Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541: 39,092 / 40,227 2. Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541: 0 / 0 3. Paid Distribution Outside the Mails: 0 / 0 4. Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS: 0 / 0 c. Total Paid Distribution: 39,092 / 40,227 d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution 1. Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies included on PS Form 3541: 0/0 2. Free or Nominal Rate InCounty Copies included on PS Form 3541: 0 / 0 3. Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS: 0/0 4. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail: 75 / 75 e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution: 75 / 75 f. Total Distribution: 39,167 / 40,302 g. Copies not Distributed: 154 / 198 h. Total: 39,321 / 40,500 i. Percent Paid: 99.8% / 99.8% 16. Electronic Copy Circulation: Not applicable 17. Publication of Statement of Ownership will be printed in the November-December issue of this publication 18. Signature and Title of the Editor, Publisher, Business Manager or Owner: (s) Michael Kuchta, Editor, 10/16/14