Nov 2013 |
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AFGE, Local 3937 Local Business Meeting November 13, 2013 Labor Temple, Seattle WA Present were: Carrie Kitchin-Kofahl, Laura Novakoski, Ivan Weich, Ana Rivers, Susan Campbell, Tim Roark, Leri Harper and Steffen Pleiness. The meeting was called to order at 7:01pm. Agenda:
Treasurer’s Report: The full report must be deferred because the Treasurer is not present due to a death in the family. However, she provided summary account data for Carrie to present to us, with information through 10/31/13 that we can use when we discuss the budget. Old Business: None. New Business: Budget: We need to pass a local budget for the upcoming year at this meeting, despite the fact that our Treasurer isn’t here tonight. Below, the 2012 allocations are included just for comparison purposes – last year we decided to reduce some of our budget categories since we weren’t using most of the funding allocated. We sent per capita dues to National Office in the amount of $125,347.45 (thru 10/31/13). We get about $7,000 per pay period in dues, but the amount we keep for our Local is very little. We’ve used approximately half of our allocated budget items over the past year, and although that sounds good we’re still “deficit spending” and we try to budget high and then spend low; also we are still 2 months short of the year end. Tim made a motion that we roll the previous fiscal year (2013) budget amounts over to 2014; if we need to make adjustments later in the year we can do so by bringing a motion to the LBM. Ana seconded the motion. Motion passed. Budget Category 2012 Allocation 2013 Allocation spent thru 10/31/13 General Overhead $20,500 $20,500 (spent $14,129.62) Union Administration $18,500 $18,500 (spent $1,666.66) Representation $20,000 $15,000 (spent $8,456.10) Legislative/Political $20,000 $15,000 (spent $10,423.07) Officer $35,000 $30,000 (spent $20,022.02) Employee $5,000 $2,500 (spent $0) Contributions/Gifts $1,000 $1,000 (spent $350) Total $120,000 $102,500 (spent 55,047.47 = 54%) Election / Nominations: Ivan made a motion that we suspend business to receive nominations and a report from the Election Committee (EC); Tim seconded. Steffen Pleiness, a member of the EC, took over this part of the meeting. Ben Konrady and Susan Blackwell also serve on the committee but are not present tonight. We previously sent a mailed notification to all members for nominations, and our Post Office box in Kenmore for elections business held 4 envelopes tonight as of 5:00pm. We had 19 undeliverables/returned mail. Steffen opened the 4 nominations here and found them to be valid. Mailed nominations: Stephen Kofahl – self-nomination for Local President and Regional Vice President for Seattle Regional Office of Quality Performance. Mahilet Bekele – nomination of Leri Harper for Vice President for the Regional Office of Quality Performance. Andrea Wassner – self-nomination for Local Caucus and Convention delegate. Leri Harper – self-nomination for Regional Vice President for Seattle ROQP. Nominations from the floor: Carrie Kitchin-Kofahl – nominated Tim Roark for 1st VP, Susan Campbell for 2nd VP, Ana Rivers for 3rd VP, Ardeth Bolin for Treasurer, Laura Novakoski for Local Secretary, Ivan Weich for Sgt-at-Arms, Monica Rodgers for Local Caucus and Convention Delegate, and herself for Executive VP. The Election Committee, using the Secretary’s most recent membership list sent by the Agency, confirmed that the nominator and all those nominated are members in good standing (other than our retired nominee, Monica Rodgers, for whom the EC will verify status with the Treasurer). 2 additional calls were made for more nominations from the floor and then Ivan made a motion for nominations from the floor to be closed by the EC, and for all uncontested nominees who accept the nomination to be elected by acclamation; Susan seconded. All nominees present accepted their nominations (Carrie Kitchin-Kofahl, Susan Campbell, Laura Novakoski, Tim Roark, Ana Rivers, Ivan Weich, Leri Harper); Monica Rodgers and Ardeth Bolin will be contacted for their nomination acceptance. Self-nominees do not need to be contacted. Motion passed. Steffen announced that all non-contested nominees (all but the 2 local delegate nominees) are considered to be elected by this body by acclamation. Officers will be sworn in at our January Executive Board Meeting. If all candidates accept, the printed ballot will consist of the RVP for OQR (formerly OQP) and the remaining 2 delegate positions. We thanked the Election Committee for giving their time and energy to help us through this process. Reports: Today our Local agreed to help the Economic Opportunity Institute (the fiduciary body for Social Security Works WA) produce a video that advocates preservation of and support for Social Security benefits; the theme will be “Work till You Die”. Several years ago, they made a video about “Scrap the Cap” and it’s been very successful, with around 100,000 views on YouTube. Since our paychecks come from Social Security, we agreed it is important to support them in their goals and the Executive Board agreed to donate $1,000 (total costs are around $15,000). We have a new Telework agreement, which was one of the new Contract articles ratified nationally by the membership. In our region, for the first roll-out or pilot there are only 22 employees who may participate initially: 10 in FOs, 10 in the ATSC WSU and 2 in the RO. There were 5 FOs selected, with 1-2 CR/TE positions each (Everett, Boise, Portland Metro, Salem and Spokane). The employees will be allowed to flex location 1 day per pay period. The solicitations for interest will be coming out from the Agency this month or next, and management will have discretion over which positions and workloads will be appropriate for the pilot. The other ratified articles were Merit Promotion, Work at Home by Exception and Performance, and all 4 were approved by Agency head review on 11/3/13. Awards funds weren’t made available for fiscal year 2013, but OMB just this week issued advice to federal agencies regarding awards for fiscal year 2014, so we hope there may be awards this fiscal year. OQR already had Telework/Flexiplace in the past but is entering negotiations to expand their program (to more days per week) and clarify it under the new article. Ivan reported that a resolution our Local supported, related to sub-minimum wages paid to disabled/sheltered workshop employees, has now been endorsed by the AFL-CIO. They will include the subject in their educational campaign to Congress and hopefully the pending bill on this issue will be passed. Minutes review: Tim made a motion that this evening’s LBM minutes be approved as read; Ivan seconded. Motion passed. Tim moved to adjourn at 8:05pm. Motion passed. Minutes written and submitted by Laura Novakoski, Secretary. |
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