Contract Information Meetings
Noon information meetings regarding the agreement have been scheduled for this week in areas throughout the campus. See the list below for meeting dates locations.
Voting on the agreement will take place after we have held all of our informational meetings. Only members may vote. Non-members are urged to join the Union and participate in this process. We will notify you of the voting process later this week.
All informational meetings will be held from noon to 1:00pm.
Tuesday, June 23: West Bank 105 Blegen Hall
Wednesday, June 24: WBOB/1100 Washington Ave. 142 WBOB
Wednesday, June 24: St. Paul 120 Coffey Hall
Thursday, June 25: Med Area Mayo A110
Friday, June 26: East Bank 170 Tate Hall Monday, June 29: Como Area Printing Services Room 111
Tuesday, June 30:
Conference call for outstate members.
Details on the call will be emailed out later this week.
Testimony from Clerical Workers at Regents Budget Hearing, 6/17/2009
Click on the links below to read the testimony given by clerical workers at the Regents' budget hearing on June 17, 2009.
Mary Lou Middleton's testimony
Kelly Alghamdi Zimmerscheid's testimony
And click here for coverage from KARE 11 of the union's press conference before the Regents hearing: Higher Education Reeling from State Budget Cuts
Anti-Layoff Campaign Organizing Meeting - 6/24 - 5:15 pm
Wednesday, June 24
5:15-7:15
101 Walter Library
AFSCME 3800 invites our members and other concerned staff, students, and faculty to join us on Wednesday, June 24 to plan a campaign to stop layoffs and defend the landgrant mission of the U.
Last week, President Bruininks announced his intention to eliminate 1240 jobs at the University. This includes people who took RIO and some attrition. However, it will also include a significant amount of layoffs. Frontline staff have already had our positions cut to the bone. Cutting more frontline staff will jeopardize the academic mission of the U, result in minimal savings given our salaries, and will increase the workload for people who are already doing the jobs of multiple people.
The administration's recent message of "either we raise tuition astronomically or we lay off a large number of staff" is a false dichotomy and serves to pit frontline staff against students. Clerical workers are not the problem. Our salaries have remained stagnant while the number of vice-deans, vice-provosts, and vice-presidents has risen dramatically. The budget is not a zero sum game between students and frontline staff, with upper level administration remaining inviolate. Lower paid employees have already made their sacrifices, and continue to do so, especially now with the cut to the Regents Scholarship.
While we have seen frontline jobs eliminated, senior administration positions and salaries have ballooned. There are 254 U employees making over $200,000 per year. If they took a 5% pay cut, the U would save over 3 million dollars. If the U got rid of 10% of the top administrative positions, over $7 million would be saved. If the goal is to reduce salary expenditures without shortchanging students, they should eliminate bloated salaries and unnecessary administrative positions. Chop from the top!
Tentative Contract Agreement Reached
(see summary in PDF format | See summary as a Grid )
Tentative Agreement Summary for contract 2009-2011, June 10, 2009
On Wednesday, June 10, 2009 at 9:00 p.m., our AFSCME clerical negotiating committee and the University reached a tentative agreement in settlement of our negotiations for the contract year 2009-2011.
A summary of the terms of settlement follows. Information about voting on the tentative agreement will be distributed to members as the details are finalized. Only members may vote, but you are urged to sign a membership card to join the Union and participate in this process.
Article 19, Wages
- All Clerical Bargaining Unit employees whose pay rate falls within the pay ranges for the Unit will receive a 2% general wage adjustment on July 1, 2010. The pay ranges will all move up 2%.
- Progression steps will be temporarily suspended from July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011. All language regarding step increases remains printed (as shaded paragraphs) in the contract. The University dropped its proposal to include an additional sentence that stated, “Step movement shall be discontinued until a new agreement is negotiated.”
Article 20, Insurance
- There are several changes to the section entitled “Basic Coverage”, but for most employees these will have a relatively minor impact. These changes will become effective 1/1/2010.
- The Union and the University agreed that there will be no changes in the percentages to employees’ contributions to their Health Plans (90%/10% for the employee-only contribution; 85%/15% for family coverage)
- One of the most important pieces of information we received from the University is that in any situation in which the use of a higher-priced drug is a medical necessity, the Prior Approval process will apply.
- Specialty drug coverage (in which a drug is administered in a lab or a clinical setting, such as the infusion of a medication) will now be covered through the pharmacy plan rather than the medical plan. This is primarily an administrative change rather than a change that will affect how the actual drug is administered.
- Low-dose Lipitor, when not used for its secondary therapeutic value, will be moved to a non-formulary copay in order to encourage the use of low-dose generic equivalents.
- The pharmacy plan will provide only one brand of diabetic testing equipment and supplies at the generic copay. The University will arrange for informational presentations by the provider and manufacturer, and will make detailed information available regarding the use and capabilities of the meters and test strips. (The Prior Approval process will continue to apply to exceptions for these products as well.)
- Pharmacy copays will increase for the medications that are not listed as Generic Plus:
- Generic Plus drugs will remain at $8
- Brand formulary drugs will be raised from $20 to $25
- Non-formulary drugs will be raised from $35 to $50
- Emergency Room copays will be raised from $50 to $75, but the copay will continue to be waived if the patient is admitted to the hospital
- A new copay for MRI and CT scans will be instituted at $25, but there will still be no copays for lab/diagnostic testing.
- The office visit copay will be increased from $10 to $11 for the Base Plan and Health Partners.
- Obsolete language regarding a one-time 2008 open-enrollment for life insurance will be deleted
MOUs and other material appended to the contract
· An MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) from the 2007-09 contract regarding an agreement to meet and confer on issues relating to our salary steps (compression of steps, length of pay ranges, etc.) will be modified to a letter, which will recognize what we have already accomplished and acknowledge that either party may wish to pursue the next logical steps in a more favorable economic climate.
- There will be a new MOU to address issues surrounding Respectful Workplace and anti-bullying language. Representatives from the Union and the University will meet and confer to discuss the issues and possibly arrive at some processes to address them. The speed of this negotiations process did not allow us an opportunity to fully discuss all the parties’ concerns.
“Housekeeping changes”
- All the appropriate date changes will be made, along with continuing all the Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and the Fitness Incentive Letter.
The Unit 6 Clerical Union Negotiations Committee recommended acceptance of this Tentative Agreement.
Phyllis Walker Cherrene Horazuk
Peter Lunney Sven Erik Olson
Laura Mirelez Kelly Alghamdi Zimmerscheid
Andy Carhart Julia Gladhill
Ginger Nohl Laura Stolle Schmidt
Kem Tae Lynch
Tentative Agreement Reached in Contract Negotiations
The clerical negotiating committee reached a tentative agreement with the University of Minnesota at 9:30 on Wednesday night, June 10th. Details regarding the agreement will be posted by the end of the day Thursday.
Union and Management Opening Negotiating Proposals
Union's Opening Proposal (5/18/09, PDF file)
Management's Opening Proposal (5/1/09, PDF file)
2009 Negotiations Committee & Negotiation Dates
Negotiations Committee
The Clerical Bargaining Unit Negotiations Committee for the upcoming contract bargaining round was elected at a special membership meeting on April 21, 2009.
Your co-workers who will be representing you at the bargaining table are:
- Phyllis Walker, President
- Cherrene Horazuk, Chief Steward
- Peter Lunney, Med Area
- Sven Eric Olsen, Med Area
- Kelly Alghamdi Zimmerscheid, East Bank
- Laura Mirelez, East Bank
- Andy Carhart, West Bank
- Julia Gladhill, St. Paul
- Ginger Nohl, Morris/Crookston
- Laura Stolle Schmidt, UMD
- Kem Tae Lynch, At-large
- Kurt Errickson, AFSCME Council 5 Negotiator
Negotiation Dates
May 16 – Walter Library, East Bank, First meeting with University
May 26 – Heller Hall, West Bank
June 4 – Appleby Hall, East Bank
June 8 – Coffey Hall, St. Paul
June 16 – Location TBD
June 19 – Location TBD
June 23– Location TBD
May 7 - Rally for Regents Scholarship
Rally to Save the Regent's Scholarship
Thursday, May 7
MacNamara Plaza
12:00 - 1:00 pm
