Michigan Association of Governmental Employees
Board of Directors Meeting
Lexington, Lansing Hotel
January 12, 2013
Present: Alan Quattrin, President Michael Herendeen, 1st Vice Pres. Ann Sanders, Secretary-Treasurer Michael DeShambo 2nd Vice Pres.
Karilyn Sanders, Past President
District Director Deputy Director
1 Kay Hiltunen Douglas Barry
2 Keena Jones Mark Krupiarz
3 Scott Nicewander Brent Mitchell
4 JoAnne Cripps Cathy Babbidge
5 Georgia Green Richard Koch
6 Thomas Welch Lloyd Conway (late)
7 Margaret Shultz
8 Olivia Bruce
9 Maria Perez Brant Wimbush
Staff/Guests: John DeTizio and Aaron Sanders
Excused: Judy Pigg-Behrendt, District 7 Director
Absent: Cynthia Coleman, District 8 Deputy
CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m. and roll was called by Sec/Treas Ann Sanders who announced that a quorum of the Board was present.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
MOTION: Made and seconded to approve the Board minutes of September 29, 2012. Motion carried.
PRESIDENT'S REPORT: President Quattrin reported that much has happened since the last time we met, particularly in the legislature. The two things that have surfaced a lot in legislation recently are privatization and prison closures. There was a late night amendment made wherein privatization in corrections may only occur if there is a 10% savings. Having a single party controlling both houses of the legislature has resulted in the loss of the checks and balances. We’ve received notice that the aids at the Grand Rapids Vet’s facility will soon be privatized.
President Quattrin recognized the efforts of John DeTizio and Mike Herendeen in the Employment Relations Board hearing, which resulted in a lot of good press for MAGE. An email was circulated highlighting the interviews with the Detroit News, Free Press, Gongwer, etc. Without MAGE’s intervention our members would not be getting the raises
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we were able to procure for FY 2014.
LABOR RELATIONS DIRECTOR’S REPORT: John DeTizio asked the Board to refer to the hand outs in the Board packets. The Coordinated Compensation Proposal can be used to prove that NEREs would not have received the 1% wage increase without MAGE’s intervention. Anytime an employee states that they think employees would have received this without MAGE; show them this document. MAGE members should thank Mike Herendeen and Al Quattrin for all their time and effort.
John recognized the efforts of JoAnne Cripps for the balancing act that she does every day – as the director of nursing in the Grand Rapids Vet’s facility, she is required to walk a very fine line between management and employees. She always does this with the utmost professionalism and is a great example to employees why they should belong to MAGE.
The second hand out is the colored list of bills supplied by the AFL-CIO which details all the bills currently in the legislature that affect State and Public employees. Board members should note the incredibly large number of bills that have been introduced solely to bust unions. It is astounding when you see how many bills there are and the lengths to which they go to stop unions. One bill requires the teacher’s union to get annual approval for payroll deduction, which is already causing a decrease in membership in the teacher’s union. In the very near future we expect an attack on the powers of the Civil Service Commission, who now are now solely responsible for the pay and benefits of State employees. The only thing that has been protecting the State employees is the Michigan Constitution which gives the Civil Service Commission plenary authority over State employee’s wages and benefits. The legislature was stultified to find out that the recently passed right to work legislation would not apply to State employees. Our primary focus this year must be to make sure that they don’t dismantle the commission. If they succeed and we no longer have the commission to protect us, you can expect to lose all of your benefits, and will see lower wages. Our lobbyists are already watching for this – and we have asked the AFL-CIO for assistance to guard against this as well. Senator Gretchen Whitmer shares our concerns and is expecting a protracted fight in the legislature over this issue. Board members should be aware that the possibility of multiple lawsuits are on the horizon. Mr. DeTizio shared with the Board several of the more deleterious bills that are expected to affect MAGE and State Employees. He urged Board members to keep an eye on these bills and share this document with their constituents so that members can contact their legislators and voice their opposition.
As Al mentioned previously the bill regarding the privatization services in Corrections must show a 10% savings before privatization can occur. While this is a small victory, it is quite common for a private contractor to take a loss the first year to show that savings, then raise the rates in the following years to recoup the lost income. The 12 hour shifts in Muskegon are going well, so well in fact that they are considering it at other facilities such as Baraga and Board Meeting Minutes
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Newberry. Level 2 prisoners arrival at Alger and Oaks will result in the loss of the high security status. Ryan Correctional facility has been re-purposed as a re-entry facility, and that transition was achieved with minimal staffing problems.
MAGE members should be aware that having a medical marijuana certification does not mean that you can use without consequences. Firings have already been held up in the courts when employees were terminated for marijuana use. Tasers have been extremely helpful in correctional facilities – and have helped make injuries to officers much less likely.
In the Dept. of Community Health mandatory overtime remains a serious problem. Having Kay Hiltunen on the OPEIU Nurses Council is very helpful. OPEIU is sponsoring bills in the US legislature that is expected to shed light on this issue and hopefully will result in a positive resolution.
The right to work legislation was drafted by Snyder’s cronies and passed in the dead of night during the lame duck session. Many legislators were unhappy to find out that this legislation cannot affect State employees because of the protections the Constitution provides.
On the 3% pay raise lawsuit, the Supreme Court’s short order tells the Court of Appeals that it should have considered the appeal, and orders it to do so based on the merits of the case. Hence, the Court of Appeals has ordered the appeal to proceed in accordance with its usual procedure, with briefs by the parties, and presumably after that, with oral argument. Final resolution is not likely for many months.
In the 4% deduction for retirement lawsuit, Ingham Circuit Judge Joyce Draganchuk held that PA 264 of 2011 infringed upon Article XI, Section 5 of the Michigan Constitution that gives the Civil Service Commission the power to set the rates of compensation for classified State employees. “By mandating that members contribute 4 percent of their compensation to the employees’ savings fund, the Legislature reduced the compensation of classified civil servants – an act that is within the sphere of authority vested in the CSC”. “In order to ‘elect’ to keep the benefit, the member must agree to pay for it. A mandatory deduction to retain a fringe benefit is not comparable to a voluntary election to purchase service credit”. The State has appealed, and no date has been set yet for that hearing.
A MAGE member is expecting to lose his grievance over a position abolishment, and has indicated that he will be asking for Board approval to take the issue to court. Mr. DeTizio reminded that Board that MAGE has never taken a personal case to court, and should be very wary about setting this precedent, as it would open the doors to scores of MAGE members who all feel that MAGE should take their case to court. With Board approval this will be addressed by the Executive Committee should this request be made formally.
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SECRETARY-TREASURER’S REPORT: Ann Sanders reported that the latest financial report for the month end November 2012 shows that MAGE is currently in the black, showing an income balance of $51,000 for the current year. The 990 was filed with the IRS in early November, a week before the IRS deadline of November 15. A statement of financial position is available for members to view.
The MAGE website is functioning, with no major complaints. We do occasionally have some anomalies, but they are quickly corrected. Any Board member not able to negotiate the website can call the MAGE office for quick resolution to the issue. The calendar was recently updated so that users of smartphones can properly view the calendar.
I completed the social media seminar, which has given me many new tools to use with our website, Facebook, as well as ideas for the future for use in Twitter, Linked-in, Blogs, etc.
Now that the holidays are over I will be devoting time to get the Facebook contest up on the site. We will also be sending out postcards to all the members notifying them of the contest. I would also like to mention the OPEIU Delegate election on the postcard.
The MAGE employee’s 401k plan has been updated to meet current IRS regulations. There are no changes to the plan that affect MAGE finances, however restating the plan requires that the Board adopt the standard resolution. We will not know if there will be any penalties until the document is filed with the IRS.
MOTION: Made and supported to approve re-stating the MAGE employee’s 401k plan as outlined by KDP Retirement. Motion Carried.
Several Districts have already turned in their District Financial Reports for the 2nd Quarter (Oct – Dec). Those who have not already turned in their report have until January 30 to do so. Districts that report after February 14 will not receive a rebate, per MAGE Bylaws. District Directors should have noticed that with the dues increase, this has also increased the rebate amounts
DISTRICT REPORTS (in addition to written reports):
District 1 – Kay Hiltunen reported that members are concerned about the 1% raise, the right to work legislation and the new requirement that does not pay holiday pay if sick or annual leave is used. They also are questioning the lawsuits, and when they will be resolved.
District 2 – Keena Jones reports that there was no formal activity, and members are concerned about budget cuts, the possibility of 12 hour shifts and high security pay cut.
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District 3 – Scott Nicewander reported that his members are concerned about the
Right to work legislation and about the 4% deducted for retirement health care.
District 4 – JoAnne Cripps reported that her members are also concerned about privatization, and there is a District meeting planned for February.
District 5 – Georgia Green relayed that her members are also concerned about right to work. Other concerns include a manager at the Dept. of State, and how MAGE is handling the situation.
District 6 – Tom Welch reported that in his District there are some major concerns about right to work, he attended the demonstration at the Capitol. Thanks to the pay increase his members are more happy. In Community Health there is some concern because of new
Director who is all about change. There were a large number of senior staff that retired with very little notice.
District 7 – Margaret Shultz reported that Judy is currently in a care facility, and hopes to get out soon.
District 8 – Olivia Bruce reported that her members are also concerned about the right to work and the status of the lawsuits.
District 9 – Maria Perez reported that a meeting was held in December with Al Quattrin and John DeTizio in attendance. The members were able to raise $80 for the foster children’s gifts. In DHS her members are having issues with the “other duties as may be assigned”.
COMPENSATION COMMITTEE: Michael Herendeen reported that the committee had agreed to ask for an across the board raise of 3% plus a 1% lump sum. Lump sum payments are a losing proposition in that they are not rolled into the base rate, and are not technically a raise after the initial payment. We try to stay away from asking for those whenever possible. We are still arguing that NEREs have not been made whole for the 3% raise we were denied when the unionized employees received 3% in 2010. We were able to get a 3% plus a 2% lump sum this last October while unions got 1% raise and 1% lump sum. We are still down 6% for the 2 years we were denied that initial 3% raise. MAGE was able to show that pay compression was a serious issue as a result of the raise not being received. In some cases a supervisor actually made less that the employees being supervised. MAGE represents a classification of employees that are listed as “confidential” and they in the exact same position as unionized employees, doing the exact same job, with the exception being that the person they work under makes them “confidential”, and are listed as a NERE. These employees were
denied the 3% raise that their counterparts in the exact same position received. OSE had recognized this inequity and planned to rectify the pay difference for those positions. State