Local 888 Executive Board Meeting
Schrafft Building, Charlestown, MA
June 24, 2010
The meeting was called to order at 10:37 a.m. when a quorum was present.
Present: Marilyn Bassett, President Bruce Boccardy, Darlene Bryant, Regina Capone, Anita Christon (Trustee), Mark DelloRusso, Gerald Durkin, Rosalie (Rocky) Gillis, Mike Kelly (Trustee), Mike Krasinkiewicz, Helen Ramirez, David Reno, Brenda Rodriques, Fred Simmons, Tina Swift, Steve Tenaglia.
Absent: Secretary Angel Alvarez, Michelle Durand, Treasurer Tony Koumantzelis, William Murray, Mary Beth Phillips (Trustee),Lynda Scolamiero, Evelyn Thorpe.
Staff also Present: Executive Director Patrick McCabe, Legal Director Harold Jones, Finance Director Antonio Nunes, Communications Director Paul DeMarco, External Organizing Director David DiMaria.
Guests: Joe Buckley, Northeast Region Director SEIU; Ray Dzialo, SEIU International; Greg King, SEIU 888 member.
Consideration of the Minutes: Add Fred Simmons as present at the last Executive Board (EBoard) meeting. A member asked where Angel and Tony were. It was explained that Angel had negotiations.
Motion: To approve the Minutes of April 29, 2010 as amended. Vote: Unanimous.
President’s Report: Bruce met with Mary Kay Henry, President of SEIU Intl. She was in Massachusetts to meet with the Governor regarding the Family Childcare bill. That would bring in 5,000 new members if this bill is passed.
Governor’s Political forum May 22, 2010: Charlie Baker did not appear, all other candidates were present. The members present endorsed Gov. Patrick for governor. This endorsement will be negotiated with the State Council so that we follow the State Council vote.
Pres. Boccardy told the group that SEIU will bring forums with a straw vote to any SEIU populated area in order to empower members regarding working people’s issues.
He continues to forge alliances with other unions. Currently, NAGE is being raided by other unions and we will support them in an effort to stop this.
Scapegoating of public sector unions: There are newspaper articles calling us ‘The new privileged class …’ We are fighting back, but it’s difficult. We want to get the message out that the demonization of public workers is wrong. Private sector unions have been eviscerated and now they are going after us to distract the public from the failures of the economy.
The lease is up at the end of October. Pres. Boccardy distributed information on 52 Roland St., Charlestown as a potential new office site for SEIU 888. (See: attached info sheet.)
SSO: The accounts payable section is in place. The dues part will be in place on June 28th.
Antonio Nunes: Distributed rent information (see: purple highlighted packet). 52 Roland St., Charlestown is their choice. They would be saving ~$4/sq. ft. They could eventually own this building. Eighteen parking spaces would go with the lease, but there are 320 spaces there, so more could be utilized. Utilities are extra and we have requested energy efficient lighting. Real estate taxes are also extra.
Pres. Boccardy said we will open a Springfield office in cooperation with Local 509. Paul DeMarco said there are two sites. The rent will be approximately $500/month and the Intl. will be putting some money in toward this.
Discussion of owning a building: If we owned a building, there is the possibility of renting rooms to union members. We could also “Go Green” saving energy and being a positive force in the community.
Patrick McCabe introduced Joe Buckley and Ray Dzialo from SEIU International to lead a discussion about Executive Board members’ roles and staff roles.
Joe Buckley: He has worked with SEIU for 40 years. He distributed a survey of the best and worst boards for the members to fill out. He spoke of: If you don’t have Goals, Roles, and Procedures to resolve disputes, you will have Interpersonal problems. He then discussed the theory of Board/Staff roles. After distributing two questionnaires, a Board member stated that he did not need a tutorial in being an EBoard member and people new to the EBoard could learn at another time separate from an EBoard meeting when votes on issues were of prime importance. Mr. Buckley and Mr. Dzialo left.
Patrick spoke of wanting the Board’s input on large issues such as:
Public employees are under attack financially. He was just impact bargaining on behalf of Grafton cafeteria workers, who have been privatized and will have no medical for eight months. Most of those workers are part timers and will have no medical insurance.
Pres. Boccardy asked the Board for strategies to give them directions to alleviate big problems such as the public’s negative opinion of us. The discussion turned to supporting area representatives who are overloaded with negotiations. It was suggested that local chapters could do all of their negotiations if there were more training of stewards. More training, leadership, and support is needed for inexperienced stewards.
Greg King spoke saying that he was not happy with the cost of the SSO at first, but now feels it is worthwhile if the non-dues paying members will now pay.
Antonio delivered the EBoard checks, having printed them through the SSO software. President Boccardy noted that he had authorized payment of those check with one push of a button on his iPad. The SSO has voted to unionize.
Lunch 1:10 pm.
Discussion: Patrick asked if there can be Internet voting or conference calls between Executive Board meetings?
Motion: To have a conference call between Board meetings if there is an emergency situation. Vote: Mike Kelly voted Nay, All other members voted yes.
Motion: To make the dues for the Lexington Crossing Guards 1.6% for all levels of pay . Vote: Unanimous
Motion: To make the dues for the City of Somerville crossing guards 1.6% for all levels of pay. Vote: Unanimous
Patrick McCabe: Told the group that Michelle Durand and two UMass Lowell members had attended the Women In Leadership conference at Hampshire College. Ten scholarships had been approved by the Board, so this was a disappointing turnout.
Dues equity update from Mark DelloRusso: Many locals merged into 888, all bringing a different dues structure. Mark is forming a committee to discuss the best rate of dues. The going rate seems to be 1.6% and he favors that.
Pres. Boccardy left at 2 p.m. Three members left to support Harold in three different grievances.
Executive Director’s Update: FMAP: Medicaid money that comes to the state. Massachusetts receives $687 Million (estimated). Scott Brown is against allowing this money to come to the state. He does not support the Jobs Bill which funds part of unemployment. There will be a Rally on Monday at Scott Brown’s office to get him to allow debate on funding. Patrick wanted as many as possible to attend the afternoon rally.
The State Council (made up of five different locals) must have 75% of locals in favor in order to endorse a candidate. Mac D’Alessandro is challenging Lynch and SEIU endorses D’Alessandro.
Internal organizing update: There are 176 contracts in negotiations. Shanna (Internal Organizing Director) is on maternity leave, having had a healthy baby girl. Patrick has been acting as the IOD. Tina Hardy is now a Member Information Dept. Representative, not the Central Mass. Area Rep. She will continue her representative duties until a replacement is found.
David: External organizing: He is trying to identify towns where there is already a presence. He wants to bring in new members who are strong in their union commitment. He wants to foster a culture of participation.
Paul DeMarco requested info from the chapters to put onto the web site.
LA SEIU investigated uncollected city revenue (parking lots not paying city taxes), subcontractors, and banks. Banks are not paying fines on unmaintained property. (There is $100/day fine if you do not maintain a property and it looks abandoned.) These are sources of revenue for the city of Los Angeles that SEIU found.
The next meeting will be at 10:00 a.m., Schrafft Building, August 26, 2010.
Motion to adjourn at 3:00 pm. No quorum but everyone agreed.
Respectfully submitted,
Tina Swift
Acting Secretary