What's Happening in your union

USA Members,

     As the summer comes to a close I thought it would be good to update all of you on what we have been working on.  As a new full time release president I want you all to know that I am working hard with the other union volunteers to make sure that our rights are not violated.  Upholding our contract is key to gaining the respect that we as staff members on this campus deserve and now I can concentrate on that full time.  Here in no particular order are some of the issues we have been working on for all of you:

• Grievances- we have not had to file many and we are working on scheduling meetings for the ones we have out there.
• Labor- Management Meetings- we meet monthly with management to resolve issues before they become grievances and we have been successful.
• Working with the MTA and legislators to fund our contracts.  Summer has been tough but we continue to lobby.
• Health and Safety Issues- specifically Article 25 Sec 18- I am happy to say that we were successful in working with departments to make accommodations for the members that were affected.  Remember if you have problems to follow Art 25 Sec 18.
• SERV program- Article 9 Sec 14- I have been working with the governor's office to allow the Governor's expansions to apply to the University as well.  I have been back and forth with them for a couple of weeks and hope to have a resolution soon.
• Grant funded layoffs- we have had 4 grant funded positions not being renewed and we have been working on finding them positions on campus.  We have been successful with one thus far and hope to find the others something soon.
• Retirement questions- the memo that came out about retiring by October 1, 2009 has provoked many questions and concerns for some of our members and I have been working with them to resolve their issues.
• Overtime issues- specifically Article 8 Sec 2-C- we had an issue where in order to get some overtime out of folks they wanted to change their schedule so they wouldn't have to pay overtime and I am happy to say that our issues around this have been resolved and our members are happy.
• Coalition meetings with other unions- We have been meeting monthly to try and resolve issues that affect us all, we are trying to do something around the increased fees for the new health facility- more to come on this.
• Staff Advisory Committee-  Jane Litwin- Taylor and I have been attending these meetings and I am happy to report that we have put the issues of classism and bullying on the table and we are hopeful that this committee will begin to address these issues with the Chancellor.
• Essential Personnel Policy- Article 8 Sec 10- we bargained language that each area would have to provide us with an essential personnel list for their areas so we can make sure they are a.) properly categorized as essential and b.) make sure they are paid appropriately.
• Reclassification Project- we are meeting on this quarterly and we hope to have more to report soon.  In the interim we are gathering some of the information we need to make our case.
• Upgrades- Linda Hillenbrand our reclassification officer has been working with many of you to file for these upgrades and we have been quite successful.  Please contact Linda if you are ready to file for yours.

These are some of the highlights but as you know there are so many more issues we face.  Please know we are monitoring all the issues that pertain to USA and as information becomes available we will get it out to all of you.  I hope to see many of you at the ice cream social but if I don't have a great Labor Day weekend and I hope you have a smooth, productive start to our new school year.  Please feel free to contact me or any of our union team should you have any questions or concerns.  

Remember the union begins with "U"

In solidarity,
Donna Johnson
President USA 

Comments

[Linda Fortin]

Great Job Donna! Thank you for all the hard work you do. Thank you for your thoroughness!