Above, MAPE member and Local 401 President Kurt Rud talked during one of the debates.

Above, MAPE member and teller Linda Lamb (right) counted votes of delegates.

Above, District 49 state Senate candidate Melisa Lopez Franzen talked to the Women's Caucus. She is running against anti-union incumbent Keith Downey.

Above, Ashley Peterson, who handles social media and video for MAPE, facilitated the social media caucus.

Above, Minnesota AFL-CIO President Shar Knutson stressed the importance of this fall's election and electing a union friendly Legislature.

Above, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman talked about how much voter fraud there is in his county (zero) and the importance of defeating the voter ID amendment.

Richard Carlbom, campaign manager for Minnesotans United for All Families, spoke about voting "no" against the proposed constitutional amendment restricting marriage.

Above, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie talked the need to defeat the voter ID constitutional amendment this fall.

MAPE’s Delegate Assembly (DA) passed the union’s budget and considered 22 resolutions Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21-22, during the annual meeting at the Double Tree Hotel in Bloomington.

The DA passed a budget that includes a dues increase of $6 for members and $5.10 for fee payers for MAPE bargaining unit employees, effective the first paycheck of 2013. It’s the first dues increase in six years and brings MAPE’s biweekly dues to $21 for members and $17.85 for fee payers.

The DA considered one resolution involving the MAPE Constitution, two dealing with the MAPE Election Rules, 10 asking for changes to the MAPE Bylaws, three related to negotiations, three addressing policies and three concerning other issues.

The DA will continue to meet in the fall as established by the Executive Committee. A resolution failed that would have changed the annual meeting of MAPE’s highest governing body to late March. An amendment to switch the DA’s annual meeting to the first half of October also was voted down. Another resolution failed that would have required that the DA be held only in the Twin Cities and not in Greater Minnesota.

Delegates approved the addition of the membership secretary position as a local officer. The change emphasizes the importance of membership recruitment, retention and involvement, and allows for an officer in each local to head up those efforts.

The deadline to accept or decline the nomination to a Statewide Officer or Trustee position has been extended. Instead of the last day of the DA, candidates will have until seven days after the DA to accept or decline nomination. Last year’s DA approved an extension for 2011 only.

Creation of, and the budget for, the Local Presidents Committee was approved by the DA. Consisting of presidents of each local, the new standing committee will meet at least once each year, with the first meeting the day before the 2013 DA.

The following resolutions were approved:

• Revised process to fill Statewide Officers vacancies. The First Vice President will still fill a vacancy in the office of President. However, the remaining Statewide Officer positions will be filled by vote of the Board of Directors or a special election, if an election won’t be held that same calendar year.
• Associate members can serve as non-voting members on local, regional and statewide committees.
• Clarification and expansion of substitutes for absent regional directors. Substitutes are provided at Board of Directors and DA meetings.
• Methods of dealing with proposed harmful resolutions for both the DA and the Board.
• Expansion of the scope of stewards to region-wide to agree with MAPE’s state contract, instead of restricted to a local.
• Established procedures for reassignment of worksite members to another local.
• Board of Trustees, in addition to the Board, may hear appeals on lost time/reimbursements.
   

The following resolutions failed:

• Establishing guidelines for if a member of MAPE’s Selection Committee intends to apply for a MAPE staff position.
• Term limits for Statewide Officers.
• Majority vote of local officers before a member can attend basic steward training at the local’s expense.
• Publishing of “draft” Board minutes.
• Publishing of “non-confidential” negotiations report in the public area of the MAPE website.

A resolution making changes to scholarship awards was referred to the Membership Committee. Three negotiations-related resolutions were not debated – long-term disability insurance through voluntary reduction of sick leave hours, sick leave pool establishment for state employees, and state employee tuition and fee waiver program.  Instead, delegates rated the resolutions and that information will be sent to the Negotiations and Government Relations committees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Constitution

 

 

Whereas, MAPE’s constitution currently states “The Delegate Assembly shall meet at least annually in the fall;” and

Whereas, Moving MAPE’s Delegate Assembly closest to one of the last two weekends in March, where weather typically shifts away from snow to rain would avoid fall family plans (i.e. fall colors) and hunting seasons (i.e. waterfowl opener) currently interrupted by the scheduling of the Delegate Assembly in the fall. This would move the fall 2014 Delegate Assembly closest to one of the last two weekends in March of 2015 to allow time for hotel reservations to be arranged. The fall 2013 Delegate Assembly would not be affected by this resolution, since hotel reservations have already been arranged for next year;

Whereas, Adjusting MAPE’s Delegate Assembly from September to March requires MAPE bylaws to be adjusted and shift the calculation date of the number of MAPE Delegates to be assigned to each local for Delegate Assembly based on membership from April 1 to October 1; therefore, be it 

Resolved, MAPE’s constitution shall be amended and state, “The Delegate Assembly shall meet at least annually closest to one of the last two weekends in March starting in 2015 and beyond. The 2014 fall Delegate Assembly will be held instead closest to one of the last two weekends of March 2015, thus waiving the annual requirement to meet for this scheduled shift of the Delegate Assembly;” and

Resolved, MAPE’s bylaws shall be amended and state, “Delegates shall be allocated to each Local by dividing total membership by 100 and dividing the membership of each Local by the quotient obtained and rounding off to the nearest whole number. Each Local is guaranteed at least one Delegate and one Alternate.  The first Delegate shall be the Local President. Calculation of the number of members for this purpose shall be done annually by the Second Vice President, using data effective October 1.”

 

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Local	1702	6-27-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Nicholas Snavely	NicholasSnavely@gmail.com	763-232-4921

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Constitution Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE IV Structure Section 1.        Delegate Assembly.  All sovereign powers of MAPE shall be vested in the Delegate Assembly, when in session.  Its powers include, but are not limited to, the authority to establish MAPE policies, approve budgets, levy dues, amend the governing documents, and adopt procedures for statewide, regional and local officer elections.  The Delegate Assembly shall meet at least annually in the fall closest to one of the last two weekends in March starting in 2015 and beyond. The 2014 fall Delegate Assembly will be held instead closest to one of the last two weekends of March 2015, thus waiving the annual requirement to meet for this scheduled shift of the Delegate Assembly.

ARTICLE IV Structure Section 1.        Delegate Assembly.  All sovereign powers of MAPE shall be vested in the Delegate Assembly, when in session.  Its powers include, but are not limited to, the authority to establish MAPE policies, approve budgets, levy dues, amend the governing documents, and adopt procedures for statewide, regional and local officer elections.  The Delegate Assembly shall meet at least annually closest to one of the last two weekends in March starting in 2015 and beyond. The 2014 fall Delegate Assembly will be held instead closest to one of the last two weekends of March 2015, thus waiving the annual requirement to meet for this scheduled shift of the Delegate Assembly.

 

 

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY Section 1. Composition. The Delegate Assembly shall consist of the members of the Board of Directors and the delegates elected by Locals.   Delegates shall be allocated to each Local by dividing total membership by 100 and dividing the membership of each Local by the quotient obtained and rounding off to the nearest whole number.  Each Local is guaranteed at least one Delegate and one Alternate.  The first Delegate shall be the Local President. Calculation of the number of members for this purpose shall be done annually by the Second Vice President, using data effective April October 1. The Second Vice President shall be responsible for completing this calculation and for notifying Locals in writing of the number of delegate and alternate positions.

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY Section 1. Composition. The Delegate Assembly shall consist of the members of the Board of Directors and the delegates elected by Locals.   Delegates shall be allocated to each Local by dividing total membership by 100 and dividing the membership of each Local by the quotient obtained and rounding off to the nearest whole number.  Each Local is guaranteed at least one Delegate and one Alternate.  The first Delegate shall be the Local President. Calculation of the number of members for this purpose shall be done annually by the Second Vice President, using data effective October 1. The Second Vice President shall be responsible for completing this calculation and for notifying Locals in writing of the number of delegate and alternate positions.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate. However, the committee needs to point out that this resolution will change the statewide election cycle to the spring with officers seating in January. Also, regional/local elections would coincide with statewide elections.

 

Election Rules

Whereas, MAPE's strategic plan includes goals of promoting membership and member activism; and

Whereas, Although all officers and stewards should recruit new members, MAPE’s bylaws do not designate a local officer to lead the effort; and

Whereas, A local office of membership secretary (even if vacant) emphasizes the importance of membership recruitment, retention, and involvement; and

Whereas, A member who wants to be more involved--but not hold a traditional office--may be an excellent recruiter; and

Whereas, Locals are not penalized for having vacant offices; and

Whereas, Having five officers instead of four would facilitate a local executive committee’s having a majority and avoid ties (Three is a majority of both four and five.); and

Whereas, Having a local membership secretary can make a difference. (Local 2101 began in December 2005 with 80.4% membership and no membership secretary. Within three years, the membership percentage dropped to below 77%. The local then added a membership secretary. Within three years, the membership percentage reached 85% of 600+ represented employees.); therefore

Resolved, That the governing documents be amended, as described below, to provide for a local membership secretary.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Committee	Membership Committee	4-26-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Election Rules Amendment	Resulting Language
Article IX Elections at a Meeting   3.         Consecutive Voting. This method can be used only when more than one position is open. Positions are voted on consecutively in the order listed below: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership Secretary, Other Local Officers, Delegates and Alternates, other.	Article IX Elections at a Meeting   3.         Consecutive Voting. This method can be used only when more than one position is open. Positions are voted on consecutively in the order listed below: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership Secretary, Other Local Officers, Delegates and Alternates, other.

 

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE VII REGIONS AND LOCALS   Section 4.        Local Officers.  All Locals shall have a President, Vice President, Secretary, Membership Secretary, and Treasurer.  Locals may also elect any other officers deemed necessary.  The Local officers comprise the local executive committee.  The terms of these offices shall be two years. Officers of newly formed Locals shall be elected as part of the formation process and shall serve until the normal expiration date of other Local officers in their Region. Section 5.        Local Officer Duties. The SECRETARY shall maintain a record of the Local's proceedings and the Local’s membership records.   The MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY shall maintain a record of the Local’s membership records and promote member recruitment, retention, and involvement.

ARTICLE VII REGIONS AND LOCALS   Section 4.        Local Officers.  All Locals shall have a President, Vice President, Secretary, Membership Secretary, and Treasurer.  Locals may also elect any other officers deemed necessary.  The Local officers comprise the local executive committee.  The terms of these offices shall be two years. Officers of newly formed Locals shall be elected as part of the formation process and shall serve until the normal expiration date of other Local officers in their Region. Section 5.        Local Officer Duties. The SECRETARY shall maintain a record of the Local's proceedings.   The MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY shall maintain a record of the Local’s membership records and promote member recruitment, retention, and involvement.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, The current practice of requiring statewide officer and trustee nominees to accept the nomination by the last day of the Delegate Assembly puts a severe hardship on the nominees not at the Delegate Assembly; and

Whereas, The 2011 Delegate Assembly voted unanimously to extend the deadline in 2011; and

Whereas, The Election Rules defines “days” as “calendar days, unless otherwise stated”; and

Whereas, ”Free Distribution” and “Free Mailing” are inconsistent and misleading, as, although MAPE pays postage for distribution of statewide officer and trustee candidates’ literature, the candidates pay for the printing; therefore

Resolved, That the MAPE Election Rules be amended as shown below.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Member	Royce Tyre	7-3-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Election Rules Amendment	Resulting Language
Article V Campaign Conduct 7.         Free Postage-Paid Distribution. Candidates for statewide positions shall be allowed to participate in a single, combined distribution of campaign literature to members.  The distribution shall be at no cost to the candidates, except candidates shall supply, at their own expense, sufficient copies of the literature to be distributed.	Article V Campaign Conduct 7.         Free Postage-Paid Distribution. Candidates for statewide positions shall be allowed to participate in a single, combined distribution of campaign literature to members.  The distribution shall be at no cost to the candidates, except candidates shall supply, at their own expense, sufficient copies of the literature to be distributed.

 

 

Amending Language

		MAPE ELECTION TIMETABLE  Appendix A
Last Possible Date		Statewide Officer & Trustee Election Timelines	No Later Than
		Membership deadline to be eligible as candidate	120days prior to close of nominations
		Announce Opening of Nominations	60days prior to Delegate Assembly
		Membership deadline to be eligible to vote	2 weeks prior to ballot mailing
		Nominations Close	Delegate Assembly
		Candidates accept or decline nomination	7days after Delegate Assembly
		Affirm and/or Protest Candidate Eligibility	57 days after Delegate Assembly
		Provide Proof of Bondability (where required)	57days after Delegate Assembly
		Candidate Eligibility Report	712 days after Delegate Assembly
		Free MailingPostage-Paid Distribution Submission Deadline	7days prior to free mailing postage-paid distribution
		Free MailingPostage-Paid Distribution	7days prior to ballot mailing
		Ballots Mailed	21days after Candidate Eligibility Report
		Ballots Returned	21days after ballot mailing
		Ballots Tabulated	5days after ballots returned
		Election(s) Committee Report	5days after ballots tabulated
		Results posted on the website	As soon as practical after Election(s) Committee Report
		Protests	5days after the results are posted on the website
		Seating	Officers: First Board of Directors meeting after January 1.  Trustees: Immediately after the Election(s) Committee Report.
		Financial Report	10days after ballots tabulated

 

Resulting Language

		MAPE ELECTION TIMETABLE  Appendix A
Last Possible Date		Statewide Officer & Trustee Election Timelines	No Later Than
		Membership deadline to be eligible as candidate	120days prior to close of nominations
		Announce Opening of Nominations	60days prior to Delegate Assembly
		Membership deadline to be eligible to vote	2 weeks prior to ballot mailing
		Nominations Close	Delegate Assembly
		Candidates accept or decline nomination	7days after Delegate Assembly
		Affirm and/or Protest Candidate Eligibility	7days after Delegate Assembly
		Provide Proof of Bondability (where required)	7days after Delegate Assembly
		Candidate Eligibility Report	12days after Delegate Assembly
		Postage-Paid Distribution Submission Deadline	7days prior to postage-paid distribution
		Postage-Paid Distribution	7days prior to ballot mailing
		Ballots Mailed	21days after Candidate Eligibility Report
		Ballots Returned	21days after ballot mailing
		Ballots Tabulated	5days after ballots returned
		Election(s) Committee Report	5days after ballots tabulated
		Results posted on the website	As soon as practical after Election(s) Committee Report
		Protests	5days after the results are posted on the website
		Seating	Officers: First Board of Directors meeting after January 1.  Trustees: Immediately after the Election(s) Committee Report.
		Financial Report	10days after ballots tabulated

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Bylaws

Whereas, Local Presidents have a broad base of unique and valued experience from working with their local membership; and

Whereas, Formal opportunities for sharing this experience do not currently exist in MAPE’s bylaws

Whereas, There are 39 Locals (25 metro and 14 greater MN) and, if the 2013 DA is in the Twin Cities, the cost for lodging ($90 per night, per room, 14 Local Presidents), expenses ($25/Meals per person) and lost time ($200/day), is approximately $10,035 (a Board of Directors’ Meeting costs approximately $18,000); therefore be it

Resolved, That a Local Presidents Committee be created that will meet at least once annually, and

Resolved, That the 2013 budget be adjusted to allocate funds for lost time and expenses for the Local Presidents Committee ($18,000) to meet all day the day before the first day of the 2013 Delegate Assembly.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Local	601	6-6-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Andrew Bahn	Andrew.bahn@state.mn.us	651-201-2249

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Bylaws Amendment	Resulting Language
Article VI STATEWIDE STANDING COMMITTEES Section 1.        Committees. MAPE shall have Statewide Standing Committees as defined below. ·       Affirmative Action Committee ·       Constitution and Rules Committee ·       Elections Committee ·       Employee Rights Committee ·       Executive Committee ·       Finance Committee ·       Government Relations Committee ·       Job Action Committee ·       Local Presidents Committee ·       Meet and Confer Committee ·       Membership Committee ·       Negotiations Committee  ·       Women’s Caucus   Good faith effort shall be made to see that statewide committees are comprised of members from Greater Minnesota in proportion to their membership in MAPE as of January 1 of each year.  Committee vacancies shall be filled following the same procedures as for the committee appointments.    Appointed committee members serve for a term corresponding to that of the Statewide Officers and continue their duties until their successors have been appointed.	Article VI STATEWIDE STANDING COMMITTEES Section 1.        Committees. MAPE shall have Statewide Standing Committees as defined below. ·       Affirmative Action Committee ·       Constitution and Rules Committee ·       Elections Committee ·       Employee Rights Committee ·       Executive Committee ·       Finance Committee ·       Government Relations Committee ·       Job Action Committee ·       Local Presidents Committee ·       Meet and Confer Committee ·       Membership Committee ·       Negotiations Committee  ·       Women’s Caucus   Good faith effort shall be made to see that statewide committees are comprised of members from Greater Minnesota in proportion to their membership in MAPE as of January 1 of each year.  Committee vacancies shall be filled following the same procedures as for the committee appointments.    Appointed committee members serve for a term corresponding to that of the Statewide Officers and continue their duties until their successors have been appointed.
Article VI STATEWIDE STANDING COMMITTEES   Section 10      Local Presidents Committee. There shall be a Local Presidents Committee that will meet, at least once, annually. The meetings will be called by the Chair or at the request of at least 10 local presidents.   The Local Presidents Committee shall consist of each Local President from all MAPE Locals.   The Local Presidents Committee will share information between Locals in regard to Local policies and issues. The Local Presidents Committee may make recommendations and offer assistance to the Delegate Assembly, Statewide Officers and the Board of Directors.   The Local Presidents shall elect a Local President to chair the Local Presidents Committee for a one-year term. The election will occur at the annual meeting. The Chair must be a Local President for the entire one-year term.In the event of a vacancy in the chair the Statewide President, with concurrence from the Board of Directors, will appoint a Local President to chair the committee for the remainder of the one-year term.	Article VI STATEWIDE STANDING COMMITTEES   Section 10      Local Presidents Committee. There shall be a Local Presidents Committee that will meet, at least once, annually. The meetings will be called by the Chair or at the request of at least 10 local presidents.   The Local Presidents Committee shall consist of each Local President from all MAPE Locals.   The Local Presidents Committee will share information between Locals in regard to Local policies and issues. The Local Presidents Committee may make recommendations and offer assistance to the Delegate Assembly, Statewide Officers and the Board of Directors.   The Local Presidents shall elect a Local President to chair the Local Presidents Committee for a one-year term. The election will occur at the annual meeting. The Chair must be a Local President for the entire one-year term. In the event of a vacancy in the chair the Statewide President, with concurrence from the Board of Directors, will appoint a Local President to chair the committee for the remainder of the one-year term.
Article VII REGIONS AND LOCALS   Section 5  Local Officer Duties   The PRESIDENT shall conduct the affairs of the Local and preside at Local meetings.  The President shall be a member of the Local Presidents Committee.   The VICE-PRESIDENT shall preside at Local meetings at which the President is not in attendance and shall chair the Local Job Action Committee.   The SECRETARY shall maintain a record of the Local's proceedings and the Local’s membership records.   The TREASURER shall be responsible for any funds received or disbursed directly by the Local, and shall maintain a record of the Local's financial transactions.	Article VII REGIONS AND LOCALS   Section 5  Local Officer Duties   The PRESIDENT shall conduct the affairs of the Local and preside at Local meetings.  The President shall be a member of the Local Presidents Committee.   The VICE-PRESIDENT shall preside at Local meetings at which the President is not in attendance and shall chair the Local Job Action Committee.   The SECRETARY shall maintain a record of the Local's proceedings and the Local’s membership records.   The TREASURER shall be responsible for any funds received or disbursed directly by the Local, and shall maintain a record of the Local's financial transactions.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, The MAPE Selection Committee (aka Hiring Committee) is defined in the Hiring Policy but not referenced anywhere in the Bylaws; and

Whereas, The committee is defined as composed of the Executive Committee, the Chair of the Affirmative Action Committee and two members appointed by the President; and

Whereas, The selection committee creates the vacancy posting, creates the interview questions, reviews all resumes that are submitted to MAPE, reduces the pool of applicants down to a manageable number for interviewing, interviews and then selects/ranks the final 3 candidates to move forward for a second interview; and

Whereas, The selection committee obviously has great influence over the entire hiring process; and

Whereas, Statewide officers, even if recused from the selection committee, could have considerable influence on members of the committee by the nature of their positions and unfettered physical presence at the MAPE office, and

Whereas, Even if not on the selection committee, a statewide officer could get access to applicants’ information and potentially interfere with the process, and

Whereas, Trustees and Elections Committee members are required to resign their positions before seeking another MAPE position, and the same high standard should be set for statewide officers seeking a MAPE staff position; therefore

Resolved, That the Bylaws be amended as shown below to prevent a candidate for a MAPE staff position from serving on or inflicting undue influence on the selection committee for that position by retaining their position of power within the organization.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Local	2101	6-12-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Jill Hiatt	Jill.hiatt@state.mn.us	651-431-2943

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

 

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE VIII ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES Section 1. Eligibility.                  E. Selection Committee.  The composition of MAPE’s selection committee is defined in policy. A member of the selection committee for a MAPE staff position who intends to apply for the staff position must resign from their statewide officer position or if not a statewide officer, recuse themselves from the selection committee before interview questions are compiled or before the first resume is reviewed, whichever comes first.  The vacancy will be filled in accordance with the governing documents.

ARTICLE VIII ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES Section 1. Eligibility.                  E. Selection Committee.  The composition of MAPE’s selection committee is defined in policy. A member of the selection committee for a MAPE staff position who intends to apply for the staff position must resign from their statewide officer position or if not a statewide officer, recuse themselves from the selection committee before interview questions are compiled or before the first resume is reviewed, whichever comes first.  The vacancy will be filled in accordance with the governing documents.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

 

Whereas, Holding the DA outside of the Twin Cities metro area exceeds the metro DA costs by $60,000; and

Whereas, Currently MAPE  traditionally holds the Delegate Assembly two years in the metro and then one out of the metro; and

Whereas, The cost of hosting a Delegate Assembly out of the metro is becoming increasingly difficult due to not having many out of metro union hotels or with sufficient facilities to choose from; and 

Whereas,  Upon implementing this resolution, the savings would benefit the organization as a whole; and

Whereas,  It is not the intent to ignore the wishes of the delegates, so this is being brought before the body that it affects for a vote; therefore,

Resolved, That the Bylaws be amended as shown below.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Committee	Finance Committee	6-8-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Michelle Doheny	Michelle.doheny@state.mn.us	651/431-3049

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY Section 2.        Meetings.  The annual Delegate Assembly will begin on a Friday.  The Delegate Assembly will always be held in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.  Times and places of meetings of the Delegate Assembly shall be established determined by the Executive Committee. The President may call meetings other than those required by the Constitution with the concurrence of a majority of the Board of Directors or on petition of 25% of the delegates eligible for attendance to the last-held Delegate Assembly and representing no less than 80% of the Locals.  The President shall be the presiding officer of the Delegate Assembly.

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY Section 2.        Meetings.  The annual Delegate Assembly will begin on a Friday.  The Delegate Assembly will always be held in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Times and places of meetings of the Delegate Assembly shall be determined by the Executive Committee.   The President may call meetings other than those required by the Constitution with the concurrence of a majority of the Board of Directors or on petition of 25% of the delegates eligible for attendance to the last-held Delegate Assembly and representing no less than 80% of the Locals.    The President shall be the presiding officer of the Delegate Assembly.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

 

Whereas, The bylaws require automatic succession of the statewide second vice president to fill a vacancy in the office of statewide first vice president; and

Whereas, The skill set of the second vice president--whose duties are primarily to promote member recruitment, retention, and involvement--may be different from the skill set of the first vice president, whose primary duties are to chair the Employee Rights Committee (ERC)  and the Job Action Committee and to coordinate training of stewards, steward curriculum and policy; and

Whereas, Members deserve the most qualified leader available to chair the ERC, and that person may not be the second vice president; therefore

Resolved, That the bylaws be amended as indicated below.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Committee	Membership Committee	4-26-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

 

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE VIII ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES   Section 3.        Vacancies.   D.  Vacancies in Statewide Offices.  When the office of statewide President or First Vice President becomes vacant, the office shall be filled by automatic succession of the First Vice President(s), and the vacancy is then in the office of Second First Vice-President.    When the position of statewide First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer becomes vacant, and an election for that office is scheduled to be held within the same calendar year, the office shall be filled by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.  Otherwise a special election shall be held to fill the vacancy.    If the office of statewide First Vice President becomes vacant, and until such time as an election or appointment by majority vote of the Board of Directors, the statewide Second Vice President shall perform the duties of the statewide First Vice President.   If the office of statewide Treasurer becomes vacant, and until such time as an election or appointment by majority vote of the Board of Directors, the statewide First Vice President or Second Vice President, in respective order, shall prepare and sign checks for such purposes as are required by the governing documents or are authorized by the Delegate Assembly, the Board of Directors, or the statewide President.

ARTICLE VIII ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES   Section 3.        Vacancies.   D.  Vacancies in Statewide Offices.  When the office of statewide President becomes vacant, the office shall be filled by automatic succession of the First Vice President, and the vacancy is then in the office of First Vice-President.   When the position of statewide First Vice President, Second Vice President, Secretary, or Treasurer becomes vacant, and an election for that office is scheduled to be held within the same calendar year, the office shall be filled by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.  Otherwise a special election shall be held to fill the vacancy.    If the office of statewide First Vice President becomes vacant, and until such time as an election or appointment by majority vote of the Board of Directors, the statewide Second Vice President shall perform the duties of the statewide First Vice President.   If the office of statewide Treasurer becomes vacant, and until such time as an election or appointment by majority vote of the Board of Directors, the statewide First Vice President or Second Vice President, in respective order, shall prepare and sign checks for such purposes as are required by the governing documents or are authorized by the Delegate Assembly, the Board of Directors, or the statewide President.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, Associate Members have much to offer as participants in meetings and on committees; and

Whereas, “Suspension” of membership is meaningless; and

Whereas, Associate members may wish to remain at large rather than choose a local; therefore

Resolved, That the bylaws be amended as described below.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Committee	Membership Committee	4-26-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP   Section 2.        Associate Membership.   B.        Benefits. Associate members shall receive MAPE publications, may participate in Local meetings, and shall have such other benefits as may be determined by the Board of Directors.  May serve as non-voting associate members on local, regional, and statewide committees, with expenses—but not lost time—paid.  (They will not be included in the required number of committee members.)  Associate members may attend the annual Delegate Assembly at their own expense, except MAPE will pay for breakfasts and lunches. However, associate members serving in volunteer positions at the Delegate Assembly such as teller, timer, etc., will have mileage and lodging paid for by MAPE. Associate Members have no voting rights in MAPE.   Section 4.        Application for Membership.   B.        Associate Members. Application for associate membership shall be on forms established by MAPE. Associate membership shall continue for the period that dues are paid, until membership is suspended terminated, or until a written resignation is received. Written resignations shall become effective 30 days after receipt of resignation.   Section 5.        Dues.   B.        Associate Members. The dues amount will be $25.00 per year, which will be credited to the associate member’s local if one is chosen.  Associate members shall initially be billed a prorated dues amount and shall thereafter be billed annually.

ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP   Section 2.        Associate Membership.   B.        Benefits. Associate members shall receive MAPE publications, may participate in Local meetings, and shall have such other benefits as may be determined by the Board of Directors.  May serve as non-voting associate members on local, regional, and statewide committees, with expenses—but not lost time—paid.  (They will not be included in the required number of committee members.) Associate members may attend the annual Delegate Assembly at their own expense, except MAPE will pay for breakfasts and lunches. However, associate members serving in volunteer positions at the Delegate Assembly such as teller, timer, etc., will have mileage and lodging paid for by MAPE. Associate Members have no voting rights in MAPE.   Section 4.        Application for Membership.   B.        Associate Members. Application for associate membership shall be on forms established by MAPE. Associate membership shall continue for the period that dues are paid, until membership is terminated, or until a written resignation is received. Written resignations shall become effective 30 days after receipt of resignation.   Section 5.        Dues.   B.        Associate Members. The dues amount will be $25.00 per year, which will be credited to the associate member’s local if one is chosen.  Associate members shall initially be billed a prorated dues amount and shall thereafter be billed annually.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

 

Whereas, The goal of any member driven organization is to recruit more members to participate, share in the workload and contribute new ideas; and

Whereas, Although it is sometimes difficult to find people to participate, the rewards for encouraging this participation is a stronger, more vibrant organization; and  

Whereas, Forced term limits may be the impetus that convinces new people to step forward and accept the challenge; therefore 

Resolved, That the bylaws be changed as shown to establish term limits for statewide officers; and

Resolved. That this change will be effective as of the 2014 statewide elections.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Member	Gretchen Scharmer	7-3-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Gretchen Scharmer	gretchen.scharmer@state.mn.us	507-537-7180

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

 

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE VIII ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES   Section 1.        Eligibility.  B.        Position-Specific Eligibility.   1) Statewide Officer Term Limits. A member shall not serve in any combination of statewide offices for more than three consecutive 2-year terms, plus time served to fill a vacancy in a statewide office.  After serving three consecutive terms, a member may again serve after one complete term not serving as a statewide officer.   2)Statewide First Vice President. Candidates must have completed Advanced Steward Training or agree to complete it within the next two offerings after being elected and must complete it before chairing the ERC.

ARTICLE VIII ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES   Section 1.        Eligibility.  B.        Position-Specific Eligibility.   1) Statewide Officer Term Limits. A member shall not serve in any combination of statewide offices for more than three consecutive 2-year terms, plus time served to fill a vacancy in a statewide office.  After serving three consecutive terms, a member may again serve after one complete term not serving as a statewide officer.   2) Statewide First Vice President. Candidates must have completed Advanced Steward Training or agree to complete it within the next two offerings after being elected and must complete it before chairing the ERC.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, Bylaws language addressing a regional director’s absence in a Board of Directors meeting is confusing in that it could be misunderstood to also be addressing an actual vacancy in the office; and

Whereas, The absence of a regional director at a Delegate Assembly is not addressed; therefore

Resolved, That the bylaws be amended as shown.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Member	Royce Tyre	6-20-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE V BOARD OF DIRECTORS   Section 2.        Substitutions. In the an absence from a Board of Directors meeting or Delegate Assembly of an elected a Regional Director, the Regional Director shall select his/her substitute by rotation among the Local Presidents from his/her Region followed by Local Vice Presidents in the Region.  If no Local President or Vice President is available to substitute, the Regional Director must select a member from his/her Region.

ARTICLE V BOARD OF DIRECTORS   Section 2.        Substitutions. In an absence from a Board of Directors meeting or Delegate Assembly of Regional Director, the Regional Director shall select his/her substitute by rotation among the Local Presidents from his/her Region followed by Local Vice Presidents in the Region.  If no Local President or Vice President is available to substitute, the Regional Director must select a member from his/her Region.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

 

Whereas, Robert’s Rules of Order includes a motion (Objection to the Consideration of the Question) that, if passed by a two-thirds vote, drops--without debate--a motion that is believed to do harm if even discussed; and

Whereas, A written method to handle harmful resolutions is desirable; and

Whereas, Bylaws Article XV Amendments, Section 2 requires proposed amendments to the bylaws for Board action to be presented at a Board of Directors meeting prior to being posted on the Web”; and

Whereas, “Presented” can be, and has been, interpreted and implemented differently by different statewide presidents; therefore

Resolved, That the bylaws be amended as shown below to provide a method to deal with proposed changes to the bylaws that are submitted to the Board of Directors when discussion of the proposed amendment would be harmful to MAPE:

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Member	Royce Tyre	5-9-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

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Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE XV AMENDMENTS   Section 2.   Notice of Amendment by Board of Directors. Written notice containing copies of all proposed amendments to the bylaws must be sent electronically to the members of the Board of Directors and posted on the MAPE website at least 30 days prior to the Board of Directors meeting at which they will be considered.  The proposed amendments must be presented at a Board of Directors meeting prior to being posted on the Web.   Before a proposed resolution is sent to the members of the Board of Directors and posted on the MAPE website, any member of the statewide Executive Committee can object by motion to the consideration of the question.  If the objection motion is passed by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee, the resolution will be dropped, not sent, and not posted, and the resolution’s submitter will be notified as soon as possible.   The submitter of a resolution rejected by the Executive Committee may appeal to the Board of Directors in a Board meeting.  A two-thirds vote of the Board members present and voting would sustain the Executive Committee’s action.  If less than two-thirds of the Board members present and voting vote to sustain, the resolution will be posted on the website and the Board of Directors will consider it after the 30-day notice period.

ARTICLE XV AMENDMENTS   Section 2.   Notice of Amendment by Board of Directors. Written notice containing copies of all proposed amendments to the bylaws must be sent electronically to the members of the Board of Directors and posted on the MAPE website at least 30 days prior to the Board of Directors meeting at which they will be considered.     Before a proposed resolution is sent to the members of the Board of Directors and posted on the MAPE website, any member of the statewide Executive Committee can object by motion to the consideration of the question.  If the objection motion is passed by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee, the resolution will be dropped, not sent, and not posted, and the resolution’s submitter will be notified as soon as possible.   The submitter of a resolution rejected by the Executive Committee may appeal to the Board of Directors in a Board meeting.  A two-thirds vote of the Board members present and voting would sustain the Executive Committee’s action.  If less than two-thirds of the Board members present and voting vote to sustain, the resolution will be posted on the website and the Board of Directors will consider it after the 30-day notice period.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, Robert’s Rules of Order includes a motion (Objection to the Consideration of the Question) that, if passed by a two-thirds vote, drops--without debate--a motion that is believed to do harm if even discussed/debated; and

Whereas, Harmful DA resolutions have been removed and not posted on the website or given to delegates in the past; and

Whereas, A written method to handle such resolutions is desirable; therefore

Resolved, That the bylaws be amended as shown below to provide a method to deal with resolutions that are submitted to the Delegate Assembly when mere discussion/debate of the resolution would be harmful to MAPE:

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Member	Royce Tyre	5-9-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

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Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY (DA)   Section 5   Resolutions Submitted to the Delegate Assembly. (This section does not apply to resolutions modifying a governing document.)   Before the mailing and posting of proposed resolutions to the DA, any member of the statewide Executive Committee can object by motion to the consideration of the question.  If the objection motion is passed by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee, the resolution will be dropped, not mailed, and not posted, and the resolution’s submitter will be notified as soon as possible.   The submitter of a resolution rejected by the Executive Committee may appeal to the Board of Directors at the next Board meeting.  A two-thirds vote of the Board members present and voting would sustain the Executive Committee’s action.  If less than two-thirds of the Board members present and voting vote to sustain, the resolution will be posted and mailed.

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY (DA)   Section 5   Resolutions Submitted to the Delegate Assembly. (This section does not apply to resolutions modifying a governing document.)   Before the mailing and posting of proposed resolutions to the DA, any member of the statewide Executive Committee can object by motion to the consideration of the question.  If the objection motion is passed by a two-thirds vote of the Executive Committee, the resolution will be dropped, not mailed, and not posted, and the resolution’s submitter will be notified as soon as possible.   The submitter of a resolution rejected by the Executive Committee may appeal to the Board of Directors at the next Board meeting.  A two-thirds vote of the Board members present and voting would sustain the Executive Committee’s action.  If less than two-thirds of the Board members present and voting vote to sustain, the resolution will be posted and mailed.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, Because the labor agreement between MAPE and the state specifies in Article 7, Section 7A, “The Association may designate bargaining unit employees in regions to function as Association Stewards in all departments located within the boundaries of their region,” stewards serve a region, not a local; therefore

Resolved, That .the bylaws be amended as shown.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Member	Jamie Fitzpatrick	5-22-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Jamie Fitzpatrick	jamie.fitzpatrick@state.mn.us	651-259-7575

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Bylaws Amendment

Resulting Language

ARTICLE VII REGIONS AND LOCALS Section 3.        Locals. All Regions are organized into one or more Locals.  Each Region by default forms one Local.  Locals are geographic subdivisions of Regions.  A Local’s purpose is to provide for direct delivery of member service through regular membership meetings, Local officers and Local stewards.  Locals provide grassroots membership direct access to information and services such as contract negotiations, grievance handling and MAPE-provided training and education.

ARTICLE VII REGIONS AND LOCALS Section 3.        Locals. All Regions are organized into one or more Locals.  Each Region by default forms one Local.  Locals are geographic subdivisions of Regions.  A Local’s purpose is to provide for direct delivery of member service through regular membership meetings, Local officers and stewards.  Locals provide grassroots membership direct access to information and services such as contract negotiations, grievance handling and MAPE-provided training and education.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Policies

Whereas, MAPE has a “New Locals” policy on forming a new local but not on reassigning a group of MAPE-represented employees to a different, existing local; and

Whereas, Employees at a worksite may want to be assigned to a local that has meetings closer to them than their local does; and

Whereas, The Board of Directors has occasionally reassigned a worksite; and

Whereas, A written policy is needed to standardize the process; therefore

Resolved, That the new policy, below, be adopted.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Committee	Membership Committee	4-26-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

Policy-Procedures Summary

Reassign a Worksite

Related Information

Policy-Procedures

Part of a Local may be reassigned to a different, existing Local in the same or a different Region following these procedures:

1.     Submit a petition to the Board of Directors signed by a minimum of 30 percent of the MAPE members who would be reassigned to the other Local.  This will constitute the initiation of a request.

2.     The petition must contain the following:

a.      Geographical boundaries, including all existing and proposed MAPE worksite locations of the gaining and losing Locals. All areas within the boundaries must be contiguously connected;

b.     Names, permanent work locations, work email addresses, and work phone numbers of the petitioners.

3.     Within 90 days of receiving a valid petition, the Board of Directors will approve or deny it.  If it denies the petition, the Board of Directors must give reasons for the denial.  The Board of Directors must take into account the following factors when considering the petition:

·       The functioning of the Local losing members is not crippled.

·       The losing Local would have at least 100 members after the reassignment.

·       Whether different boundaries would better serve affected members.

·       Objections, if any, of either affected Local.

 

4.     After the Board of Directors accepts the petition, officers and chief stewards of the affected Locals and Region(s) must be notified and given the opportunity to address the Board of Directors when the petition is being considered.

5.     The Board of Directors may approve variances from this policy.

6.     If the Board of Directors approves the petition:

a.      All members who would be reassigned must be given an opportunity to vote electronically or by mailed ballot.  An explanation of the proposed reassignment of members must accompany the ballot.  A majority of members voting is required to pass.  (Exception:  If the Board of Directors approves the petition as presented and a majority of members to be reassigned had signed it, a vote is not required.)

b.     If a majority of members who would be reassigned approves the move and the number of members to be reassigned is greater than the number of members already in the gaining Local, members of the gaining Local must also be given an opportunity to vote electronically or by mailed ballot.  An explanation must accompany the ballot.  If the gaining Local votes, a majority vote of its members voting to approve the reassignment is necessary for the reassignment to occur.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, Currently, any member can attend basic steward training, with the local paying 50 percent, without approval by anyone; and

Whereas, Members should not be able to obligate their local’s funds without approval; and

Whereas, Local officers may have valid reasons to not want a member to be a steward and gain access to confidential and sensitive information; therefore

Resolved, That the Steward Policy be amended to require approval of a local’s officers for a member to attend basic steward training.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Member	Royce Tyre	6-21-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Royce Tyre	rtyre@mape.org	(651) 431-5860

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

 

Policy Amendment

Resulting Language

STEWARD CERTIFICATION AND REVOCATION, MAPE COMMUNICATOR AND STEWARD TRAINING NOTICE POLICY   Training Notice •           Soon after registration for basic steward training is closed, the Statewide First Vice President will inform the local officers of the member’s local.  The registrant will be able to attend the training only if a majority of the local officers of the member’s local approve. If a member attends basic steward training without the approval of a majority of the local officers of the member’s local, the local will not be responsible for any of the costs. •           At the point that members register for steward training of any level, the Statewide First Vice President will inform the Chief Steward of the member’s region. At the end of the scheduled training, the Chief Steward will again be informed of the members who completed training.

STEWARD CERTIFICATION AND REVOCATION, MAPE COMMUNICATOR AND STEWARD TRAINING NOTICE POLICY   Training Notice •           Soon after registration for basic steward training is closed, the Statewide First Vice President will inform the local officers of the member’s local.  The registrant will be able to attend the training only if a majority of the local officers of the member’s local approve. If a member attends basic steward training without the approval of a majority of the local officers of the member’s local, the local will not be responsible for any of the costs. •           At the point that members register for steward training of any level, the Statewide First Vice President will inform the Chief Steward of the member’s region. At the end of the scheduled training, the Chief Steward will again be informed of the members who completed training.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, The Statewide Treasurer is the chair of the Finance Committee; and

Whereas, The Statewide Treasurer has the authority to deny a request for lost time or expenses; therefore it is a conflict of interest for the Finance Committee to be involved in an appeal to a denied request; and

Whereas, The Board of Trustees is an impartial body responsible for overseeing MAPE’s financial matters

Resolved, That the following changes be made to the Reimbursement Policy

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Committee	Michelle Doheny	6-8-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Michelle Doheny	Michelle.doheny@state.mn.us	651/431-3049

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Policy Amendment

Resulting Language

Requests   Decisions on the validity of any reimbursement shall be the responsibility of the Statewide Treasurer.  The determining factor regarding the validity of the reimbursement shall be based on the direct benefit to MAPE being greater than the benefit to the individual.  The Treasurer’s decision may be appealed to the Board of Trustees Finance Committee.  Any reimbursement decision still questioned may be appealed to the Board of Directors for final determination.  Anyone with authority to approve MAPE expenses shall not approve their own expense reports.

Requests   Decisions on the validity of any reimbursement shall be the responsibility of the Statewide Treasurer.  The determining factor regarding the validity of the reimbursement shall be based on the direct benefit to MAPE being greater than the benefit to the individual.  The Treasurer’s decision may be appealed to the Board of Trustees.  Anyone with authority to approve MAPE expenses shall not approve their own expense reports.

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Other Items

Whereas, MAPE needs to be transparent to its members; and

Whereas, in order to inspire involvement, our members must know what the board is doing; and

Whereas, currently members can only see the board’s minutes more than a month after the meeting; and

Whereas, with more openness there will be more participation;

Therefore Be it Resolved, That the 2012 Delegate Assembly orders the Board of Directors to post its draft minutes on the members’ only section of the MAPE website no later than one week after each board meeting. By a majority vote of the Board of Directors or Executive Committee, portions of the draft minutes may be modified or removed prior to or after posting. The board, by a majority vote, may make changes to the posted draft minutes up to the time the Board approved minutes are posted.  By January, 2013 the Board of Directors will make a policy to ensure that this directive is followed.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Local	1202	6-13-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Andy Bindman	mape1202@gmail.com	651-366-5405

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

 

Whereas, MAPE wants to be more open and transparent to its members; and

Whereas, 99% of Information in Negotiations Reports are non-confidential; and

Whereas, posting the reports on the members’ only portion of the website does not keep non-members from seeing the information; and

Whereas, by posting the reports on the members’ only website does keep many MAPE members from seeing the information; and

Whereas, AFSCME often posts their Negotiations Reports on their open website; and

Whereas, with more openness there will be more participation;

Therefore Be it Resolved, That the MAPE Negotiations Committee will post its negotiation reports on the public portion of the MAPE website so anyone can view them.  Any information deemed inappropriate for the public portion of the website can by a vote of the negotiations committee, the Board of Directors or the Executive Committee can continue to be placed in the members’ only section of the website or not be posted at all.  The Board of Directors and/or the Executive Committee can always overrule any decision by the Negotiations Committee to place or not to place any information on the MAPE public or members’ only portions of the website.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Local	1202	6-13-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Andy Bindman	mape1202@gmail.com	651-366-5405

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate.

Whereas, Professional employees need ongoing training to maintain their competency and fulfill their continuing education requirements. MAPE scholarships for professional employees should be administered with as few barriers as possible to enable each scholarship recipient’s professional development; and

Whereas, MAPE scholarship recipients typically have completed an undergraduate program, but may not have taken a graduate entrance exam or been accepted to a graduate program when receiving a MAPE scholarship.

Whereas, MAPE scholarship funds are usually paid out as a reimbursement of actual expenses once coursework has been completed. MAPE scholarships are typically awarded during the last weeks of September each year at MAPE’s Delegate Assembly after the Fall semester has already started. Currently, the Membership Committee has set criteria that such awarded scholarships can only be used up to December 31 of the following year. Additional time should be allocated for MAPE scholarship recipients to utilize scholarship funds to ensure they are actually benefiting from the MAPE scholarship they were awarded; therefore, be it 

Resolved, MAPE scholarship funds must be used by December 31 of the fifth year following their award to the scholarship recipient; and

Resolved, That MAPE scholarship recipients may use scholarships for college entrance exams, such as the Graduate Records Exam (GRE), to further assist their objective of continuing their education and reaching their professional development goals.

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Local	1702	6-27-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Nicholas Snavely	NicholasSnavely@gmail.com	763-232-4921

(Underscoring denotes wording inserted (inserted wording), and strike-through denotes wording deleted (deleted wording).

 

Amendment

Resulting Language

CONDITIONS FOR AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS   • Before receiving payment, scholarship recipients must first provide verification of receipts of actual costs (may include tuition, course materials, travel, and lodging and college entrance exam expenses) and acceptance to a training facility.  Scholarship money is usually paid out as a reimbursement of actual expense.  Only in a rare case (e.g., extreme financial need), may a scholarship be paid in advance.  (If you have an extreme need, email the Membership Committee at Scholarships@mape.org.)   • To receive payment for group training funded, or partially funded, by a Ralph Cornelia Scholarship, the recipient must email a copy of the sign-in sheet to the Membership Committee at Scholarships@mape.org.)   • Awarded scholarship awards funds must be used by December 31 of the fifth following year following their award to the scholarship recipient. Only in extreme cases will the Membership Committee consider an extension.  (If you have an extreme need, email the Membership Committee at Scholarships@mape.org ).

CONDITIONS FOR AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS   • Before receiving payment, scholarship recipients must first provide verification of receipts of actual costs (may include tuition, course materials, travel, lodging, and college entrance exam expenses) and acceptance to a training facility.  Scholarship money is usually paid out as a reimbursement of actual expense.  Only in a rare case (e.g., extreme financial need), may a scholarship be paid in advance.  (If you have an extreme need, email the Membership Committee at Scholarships@mape.org.)   • To receive payment for group training funded, or partially funded, by a Ralph Cornelia Scholarship, the recipient must email a copy of the sign-in sheet to the Membership Committee at Scholarships@mape.org.)   • Awarded scholarship funds must be used by December 31 of the fifth year following their award to the scholarship recipient. Only in extreme cases will the Membership Committee consider an extension.  (If you have an extreme need, email the Membership Committee at Scholarships@mape.org ).

The Constitution and Rules Committee believes this resolution is Ready for Debate. The committee needs to point out that scholarships are awarded and recipients are notified in July. This resolution modifies language at http://www.mape.org/sites/default/files/Scholarship_Program%202012.pdf.

Negotiations

Passed by	Name/Number	Date
Local	1702	6-27-2012
Local	1903	7-10-2012
Contact Name	Contact E-mail Address	Contact Phone
Nicholas Snavely	NicholasSnavely@gmail.com	763-232-4921

Motion was made, seconded, and approved by the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees (MAPE) Local 1702 on Wednesday, June 27, 2012 to reaffirm support of three 2012 MAPE Delegate Assembly resolutionstitled:

“Long Term Disability Coverage Through Voluntary Reduction of Sick Leave Hours,”
“Sick Leave Pool Establishment for Minnesota State Employees,” and
“State Employee Tuition and Fee Waivers.”

These three resolutions were supported and passed by MAPE Local 1702 on June 24, 2009, recommended by the MAPE Constitution and Rules Committee on July 24, 2009 to be referred to the Negotiations Committee,as well as supported and passed by MAPE’s 2009 Delegate Assembly on September 25, 2009 to refer these three resolutions to the Negotiations Committee to be negotiated as part of MAPE contracts with the State of Minnesota. The State Employee Tuition and Fee Waivers resolution was also recommended by the Constitution and Rules Committee to be forwarded to the Government Relations Committee on June 24, 2009. On September 10, 2010, the Government Relations Committee reviewed the State Employee Tuition and Fee Waiver resolution and recommended the resolution be referred to the Negotiations Committee.  Motion was made, seconded, and approved by MAPE Local 1702 on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 to reaffirm support of three MAPE 2011 Delegate Assembly resolutionstitled: “Long Term Disability Coverage Through Voluntary Reduction of Sick Leave Hours,” “Sick Leave Pool Establishment for Minnesota State Employees,” and “State Employee Tuition and Fee Waivers.” In 2011, the Constitution and Rules Committee’s opinion was that these resolutions were ready for debate and anticipated these resolutions would be handled with the 2011 Delegate Assembly negotiations resolutions survey. On September 23, 2011 at MAPE’s 2011 Delegate Assembly, Delegates were instructed to use the form provided to them to rate the resolutions on a scale of 1 (not important) to 10 (strike) and to turn their rating form into the Credentials Committee where the Credentials Committee collated results and provided the results to the Negotiations Committee Co-Chairs.

The resulting language of these three resolutions read as follows:

Whereas, Currently Long Term Disability (LTD) Insurance is offered to and voluntarily paid by Minnesota state employees through premium payments taken on a bi-weekly basis from their full-time 80 hour paycheck or on a pro rata basis from part-time employees; and

Whereas, The EMPLOYER (State of Minnesota) could establish and maintain a Long Term Disability Insurance program which on a voluntary basis, is paid for by participants (EMPLOYEES) through sick leave reduction like that which is currently offered to employees of Three Rivers Park District in Minnesota; and

Whereas, Said benefit is contingent upon EMPLOYER's ability to secure successful bids from a competent bidder providing benefit levels as specified by the EMPLOYER at reasonable premium rates and upon attaining a satisfactory participation level as specified by the successful bidder; and

Whereas, Three Rivers Park District (Suburban Hennepin Regional Park District or formally known as Hennepin Parks) located in the west suburbs of Hennepin and surrounding counties under labor agreement with the Minnesota Teamsters Public & Law Enforcement Employees Union, Local 230 (Maintenance Agreement), offered this Long Term Disability Insurance (under Article 35) paid by employees through sick leave reduction from January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2005 and likely in later labor agreements up to the present. At that time, it was set up that 3/4^th of one hour of sick leave per month was voluntarily reduced by request of the employee from their sick leave earnings, thus acting like a monthly premium payment, to obtain Long Term Disability Insurance. For example, an employee would earn four hours of sick leave on every bi-weekly paycheck, so the total would be reduced by 3/4th of one hour once per month, resulting in the employee receiving a remaining balance of 3 and 1/4th hours of sick leave in the first bi-weekly paycheck, a full 4 hours of sick leave on any remaining bi-weekly paychecks that month and full coverage paid for their Long Term Disability Insurance by their employer. Thus, eliminating the out of pocket costs to cover Long Term Disability Insurance through a private insurance agency or payment withdrawals from bi-weekly paychecks from an employer; and

Whereas, Since sick leave can build up very easily over an employee’s career, this would be a great opportunity to voluntarily reduce out of pocket cost for State of Minnesota employees from having to pay for Long Term Disability Insurance through gross salary reductions or purchasing outside Long Term Disability Insurance. Instead, this slight reduction of 3/4^th of one hour of sick leave per month helps utilize these sick leave hours that would still likely build up over time, but just a little slower and provide the State of Minnesota employees under MAPE contract Long Term Disability Insurance if they voluntarily enrolled in this opportunity; and

Whereas, This would reduce the EMPLOYER’s sick leave balance, which recorded on its books as a “liability” through slightly lowering sick leave balances for state employees they cover; and

Whereas, Long Term Disability Insurance is typically cheaper than short term disability insurance, but it may be worth looking into seeing if something similar could be worked out to provide short term disability insurance utilizing the same idea of voluntary employee sick leave reduction payments on a bi-weekly basis. Likewise, the possibility of Accidental Death and Dismemberment Coverage being covered through voluntary employee sick leave reductions might make sense; and

Whereas, Chris DeLisi, Director of Human Resources at Three Rivers Park District (3000 Xenium Lane North, Plymouth, MN 55441) could provide additional details on how this program works to the benefit of its employees and it as an employer. Chris Delisi’s work phone number is 763-559-6732. Likewise, Chris DeLisi stated on June 30, 2009 that “The Park District budgets to pay for the benefit on an annual basis for employees who carry this in the organization. The employee pays for this benefit so it is non-taxable by a reduction in sick leave by 3/4^th an hour per month. Contract language is below: 

ARTICLE 35 - LONG TERM DISABILITY INSURANCE 

35.1 The EMPLOYER shall establish and maintain a long term disability insurance program which on a voluntary basis, is paid for by participants through sick leave reduction.  Said benefit is contingent upon the EMPLOYER'S ability to secure successful bids from a competent bidder providing benefit levels as specified by the EMPLOYER at reasonable premium rates and upon attaining a satisfactory participation level as specified by the successful bidder.”

Therefore, be it Resolved, That the EMPLOYER (State of Minnesota) shall establish and maintain a Long Term Disability (LTD) Insurance program which on a voluntary basis, is paid for by participants (Minnesota State EMPLOYEES) through sick leave reduction; and

Resolved, That Long Term Disability Insurance coverage through reduction in sick leave hours shall occur for each department or agency of the State of Minnesota which has authority to adopt rules governing the accumulation and use of sick leave for employees and which maintains accurate and reliable records showing the amount of sick leave which has been accumulated and is unused by employees may, in accordance with guidelines which shall be established by the Minnesota Management & Budget, adopt rules for the establishment of a plan allowing participating employees to reduce sick leave hours and allowing any sick leave hours thus reduced to be used to obtain Long Term Disability Insurance coverage through the EMPLOYER maintained program; and

Resolved, That employees shall be eligible for participation in their EMPLOYER established Long Term Disability Insurance coverage immediately for new hires and following state employees voluntary participation during open enrollment for those employees having employment with the state or agency of the state; provided that such employee has voluntary selected to reduce sick leave, which minimum shall be established by rule; and

Resolved, That participation in the sick leave hour reductions shall, at all times, be voluntary on the part of the employees; and

Resolved, That any sick leave hour reductions shall be removed from the personally accumulated sick leave balance of the employee contributing such leave; and

Resolved, That a participating employee who uses their Long Term Disability Insurance coverage shall not be required to continue reductions in sick leave during that time, except as otherwise provided in this section; and

Resolved, That an employee who cancels his or her voluntary sick leave reductions shall not be eligible to withdraw the earlier hours of sick leave contributed by that employee for the Long Term Disability Insurance coverage; and

Resolved,That alleged abuse of the use of Long Term Disability Insurance coverage through voluntary sick leave hour reductions shall be investigated, and, on a finding of wrongdoing, the employee shall be subject to such other disciplinary action as is determined by the agency head; and

Resolved, That an employee who transfers from one position in state government to another position in state government may maintain EMPLOYER established Long Term Disability Insurance coverage through continued voluntary reduction of sick leave hours; and

Resolved, That the EMPLOYER shall establish and maintain a Long Term Disability Insurance program which on a voluntary basis, is paid for by participants through sick leave reduction. Said benefit is contingent upon the EMPLOYER'S ability to secure successful bids from a competent bidder providing benefit levels as specified by the EMPLOYER at reasonable premium rates and upon attaining a satisfactory participation level as specified by the successful bidder; and

Resolved,That Long Term Disability Insurance coverage shall be established by the EMPLOYER through a voluntary reduction in Minnesota state employee’s sick leave hours as indicated and pursued as a long term negotiated priority by MAPE to influence support for this resolution from the EMPLOYER.

Whereas, Establishing a Sick Leave Pool similar to the one set up for Florida state employees would be beneficial for Minnesota state employees; and

Whereas, A Sick Leave Pool would help alleviate the issue Minnesota state employees have today when they use up all their sick and vacation (annual) leave, as well as compensatory time and can only rely likely on those few individuals near them that are also state employees that may be willing to donate up to forty (40) vacation leave hours each. After those hours are used up by the sick employee, the state employee is, in many ways, out of any ability to keep their health insurance without having to pay both employee’s and employer’s share of health insurance premiums to obtain COBRA health insurance coverage for up to 18 months when they are no longer working and hope for the best after that or leave employment with the State all together. Even with that, the increased expense of health care, loss of income, and likely loss of health benefits for family members or other dependents when a state employee becomes chronically ill and cannot work for a period of time can be devastating. This has resulted in e-mail requests to state employees to donate vacation time to these individuals, but due to the cap on hours employees can donate per year, there is a limitation to how much and for how this can help the sick employee until they have exhausted all their earned or donated leave hours; and

Whereas, Minnesota does not currently have a Sick Leave Pool for state employees to voluntarily enroll eight (8) hours initially of sick leave and potentially more thereafter if the sick leave pool is drained low enough for another donation into the Sick Leave Pool from voluntary participants. This Sick Leave Pool is open just to those that voluntarily enroll and donate sick leave hours into the Sick Leave Pool with rules setup like Florida's Sick Leave Pool to prevent abuse and provide oversight to ensure the Sick Leave Pool is fiscally sound for its participants that may need to someday utilize it as a backup plan; and

Whereas, lack of medical coverage due to a chronic illness and the inability to work to make premium payments for health insurance has led to medical coverage being lost for entire families, as well as causing home foreclosures and bankruptcies; and

Whereas, Currently Minnesota State Employees have access to Vacation Leave Transfer Requests, but no additional option like Florida’s to voluntarily enroll in a Sick Leave Pool; and

Whereas, The following links provide additional details on Florida’s voluntary Sick Leave Pool program for reference:

Florida Statute 110.121 Sick Leave Pool
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0100-0199/0110/Sections/0110.121.html

University of Florida Sick Leave Pool Policy

http://www.hr.ufl.edu/leave/sickleavepool/Sick_Leave_Pool_Policy.pdf

Sick Leave Pool Enrollment Form
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/admin/forms/Personnel_Forms/DEP_54-201.doc

Sick Leave Pool and Sick Leave Transfer Plan
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/admin/depdirs/pdf/433.pdf

Department of Juvenile Justice Sick Leave Pool Request Form

http://199.250.17.10/forms/personnel/Request_to_Use_SLP_rev1-25-11.pdf 

Request to Use Sick Leave Pool or Sick Leave Transfer Hours

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/admin/forms/Personnel_Forms/DEP_54-225.doc

Sick Leave Pool Operation Procedures
http://199.250.17.10/policies_procedures/Admin/Personnel/SLP_Procedures_FDJJ1002_12_revised10-5-09.pdf
http://199.250.17.10/policies_procedures/Admin/Personnel/SLP_Policy_FDJJ-1002_12_signed9-30-09.pdf

Sick Leave Pool Medical Certification

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/admin/forms/Personnel_Forms/DEP_54-202.doc

Optional Donation of Sick Leave to Sick Leave Pool or Other Employee at Termination with State Government
http://dep.state.fl.us/admin/forms/Personnel_Forms/DEP_54-601.doc; and

Whereas, As outlined at http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/vacationthe State of Minnesota’s vacation donation program started in the 1990s when the Minnesota Legislature created two "Vacation Donation" programs. These programs were designed to help critically ill state employees who are burdened with excessively high medical bills, and critically ill employees who have used up all sick and vacation time due to their illness. The Legislature authorized the Minnesota Management & Budget to administer these programs; and

Whereas, The first “Vacation Donation” program was created in 1990 under M.S. 43A.181and can be found at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=43A.181&format=pdfor https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=43A.181with additional administrative policies at http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/doc/proc/18a.pdf. Its purpose is to provide for payment of unreimbursed medical costs in excess of $10,000. Rather than providing a direct appropriation for this purpose, the program allows all state employees to donate up to twelve (12) hours of accrued vacation leave each fiscal year, which is converted to monetary value and placed in an account established for the benefit of critically ill employees who have applied to receive assistance through the program. The accounts established under this program are administered and controlled by Minnesota Management & Budget; and

Whereas, The second “Vacation Donation” program was created in 1996 under M.S. 43A.1815and can be found at https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=43a.1815&format=pdfor https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=43a.1815with additional administrative policies at http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/doc/proc/18b.pdf.This program was created to assist state employees who have used all of their available sick and vacation leave due to a critical illness (life-threatening). The program allows all state employees to donateup to forty (40) hours of accrued vacation leave each fiscal year, to be converted to sick leave that may be used by one or more critically ill state employees who have applied to receive assistance through the program. Minnesota Management & Budgetis authorized to establish administrative procedures for this program, including development of eligibility criteria; and

Whereas, For information about how state employees may donate a portion of their vacation time to help fellow state employees, call Nancy K. Erickson at 651-259-3625 and review the vacation donation program contribution form at http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/doc/vacation/pe665.pdf. Vacation donation program application form can be found at http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/doc/vacation/pe664.pdf, as well as additional return from leave information at http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/doc/vacation/return-leave.pdf; therefore, be it

Resolved, Sick Leave Pool establishment for each department or agency of the State of Minnesota which has authority to adopt rules governing the accumulation and use of sick leave for employees and which maintains accurate and reliable records showing the amount of sick leave which has been accumulated and is unused by employees may, in accordance with guidelines which shall be established by the Minnesota Management & Budget, adopt rules for the establishment of a plan allowing participating employees to pool sick leave and allowing any sick leave thus pooled to be used by any participating employee who has used all of the sick leave that has been personally accrued by him or her; and

Resolved, Although not limited to the following, such rules shall provide; and

Resolved, (1) That employees shall be eligible for participation in the sick leave pool after one year of employment with the state or agency of the state; provided that such employee has accrued a minimum amount of unused sick leave, which minimum shall be established by rule; and

Resolved, (2) That participation in the sick leave pool shall, at all times, be voluntary on the part of the employees; and

Resolved, (3) That any sick leave pooled shall be removed from the personally accumulated sick leave balance of the employee contributing such leave; and

Resolved, (4) That any sick leave in the pool which leave is used by a participating employee shall be used only for the employee's personal illness, accident, or injury; and

Resolved, (5) That a participating employee shall not be eligible to use sick leave accumulated in the pool until all of his or her personally accrued sick and vacation (annual) leave compensatory time has been used; and

Resolved, (6) A maximum number of hours of sick leave in the pool which any one employee may use; and

Resolved, (7) That a participating employee who uses sick leave from the pool shall not be required to recontribute such sick leave to the pool, except as otherwise provided in this section; and

Resolved, (8) That an employee who cancels his or her membership in the sick leave pool shall not be eligible to withdraw the hours of sick leave contributed by that employee to the pool; and

Resolved, (9) That an employee who transfers from one position in state government to another position in state government may transfer from one pool to another if the eligibility criteria of the pools are comparable or the administrators of the pools have agreed on a formula for transfer of hours; and

Resolved, (10) That alleged abuse of the use of the sick leave pool shall be investigated, and, on a finding of wrongdoing, the employee shall repay all of the sick leave hours drawn from the sick leave pool and shall be subject to such other disciplinary action as is determined by the agency head; and

Resolved, (11) That sick leave hours may be drawn from the sick leave pool by a part-time employee on a pro rata basis; and

Resolved, That Sick Leave Pool(s) be established for Minnesota state employees as indicated and pursued as a long term legislative and negotiated priority by MAPE to influence support for this resolution from legislative representatives and the State of Minnesota as the employer.

Whereas, A Minnesota State Employee Tuition and Fee Waiver program for all Minnesota state employees could be set up very similar to Florida’s beneficial state employee tuition and fee waiver program, otherwise known as the State of Florida Employee Educational Assistance Program. For more details on how Florida's state employee tuition and fee waiver program is setup and could be offered to all Minnesota state employees, please visit http://www.justiceadmin.org/documents/Tuition%20Waiver/Tuition%20Waiver%20Q&A.pdfor http://www.charlottechd.com/employee/documents/Tuition_Waiver_QA.doc, as well as http://www.djj.state.fl.us/docs/department-forms/ed_assist_prog.pdf?sfvrsn=2; and

Whereas, Enrolling up to six (6) credits a semester/term on a space-available basiswould be sufficient, as the State of Florida Employee Educational Assistance Programis currently setup, since most Minnesota state employees that would be eligible for this program would be working full time and likely not be able to take on more than six (6) credits a semester/term with family life, work, and other personal commitments; and

Whereas, For example, as a previous Florida full time state employee, I was able to utilize the State of Florida Employee Educational Assistance Programover the period of one year while taking a total of nine (9) graduate credits during two semesters. The way the tuition and fee waiver program reads in Florida singles out state employees like those working at educational institutions, such as Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU), by making them not eligible for this type of tuition and fee waiver program, but since MNSCU has already negotiated a tuition waiver in their supplemental agreementto the current MAPE contract, they would continue to be covered under that existing policy, which reads:

“M. Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU)

VII. Tuition Waiver.

Full-time unlimited, full-time seasonal, part-time unlimited and part-time seasonal employees, classified and unclassified, shall upon completion of three (3) years of continuous employment (without a break in service) in the MNSCU system be entitled to enroll on a space-available basis in credit courses without paying tuition. The employee will pay all applicable fees. Such enrollment shall not exceed twenty (20) semester credits per year. For purposes of tuition waiver, the year is considered to run from the start of the fall session through the end of the summer session. Employees of a State University may have tuition waived at any State University. Employees of a Community College or Technical College or co-located College may have tuition waived at any Community College or Technical College or Co-located College. Employees of the MNSCU System Office may have tuition waived at any State University, Community College, Technical College, or Co-located College by making a choice once each contract period to use the tuition waiver for one of the various systems. The employee’s spouse or dependent children may share this right up to sixteen (16) credits. The tuition waiver benefit shall not apply to any courses that are part of an applied doctorate program."

However, this Minnesota State Employee Tuition and Fee Waiver resolution includes all state employees, thus providing MNSCU employees another option to attend other schools they might not be able to under their current negotiated supplemental tuition waiver agreement. This MAPE resolution is specifically written to ensure MNSCU employees do not lose their current negotiated supplemental tuition waiver agreement by putting an emphasis that it should be pursued as both a long term legislative and negotiated priority by MAPE to influence support for this resolution from legislative representatives and the State of Minnesota as the employer; and

Whereas, A summary of the State of Florida Employee Educational Assistance Program (Florida’s tuition and fee waiver program) is available at http://www.myfloridacfo.com/aadir/cm0/cm020306_attachment.htmwith additional resources listed below:

·       See the 2010 Florida Statute 1009.265 State employee fee waivers http://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2010/1009.265with the entire chapter listed at http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2010/Chapter1009/All

·       Online verification of state employee full time status: http://www.myfloridacfo.com/aadir/bosp/DFSBPmemos/docs/2002-33.pdf

·       State Employee Tuition Waiver Program - Intent to Apply form:
http://www.djj.state.fl.us/docs/department-forms/tuition_waiver_formB12890ADDB5F.pdf?sfvrsn=4  http://www.djj.state.fl.us/docs/department-forms/tuition_waiver_form-doc.doc?sfvrsn=4

·       State Employee Tuition Waiver Program, Program Participation Template Form:
http://dms.myflorida.com/dms2/content/download/46041/196468/version/2/file/Tuition+Waiver+Form_04-08.doc

·       How FL integrated the Tuition Waiver program with current training required/offered by employer: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/admin/depdirs/pdf/430.pdf

·       Tuition Waiver Application for FL State Employees through the school of choice (example provided here is the University of Central Florida, which I took nine (9) tuition and fee waived graduate credits through):
http://www.registrar.ucf.edu/forms/employee_waiver/stw.pdf

·       Additional University of Central Florida resources on the state employee tuition waiver program:  http://www.registrar.ucf.edu/forms/employee_waiver/http://www.hr.ucf.edu/web/forms/benefits/tuitionwaiver.pdf; and

Whereas, Minnesota state employees utilizing the state employee tuition and fee waiver program to stay current in their fields of expertise is a benefit for the State of Minnesota as the employer to be able to continue providing vital services efficiently to Minnesota citizens utilizing an innovative and well educated workforce;therefore, be it
 

Resolved, (1) As a benefit to the employer and employees of the state, subject to approval by an employee's agency head or the equivalent, each state university, community and technical college shall waive tuition and fees for state employees to enroll for up to six credit hours of courses per semester/term on a space-available basis; and

Resolved, (2) The Chief Financial Officer, in cooperation with the state universities, community and technical colleges, shall identify and implement ways to ease the administrative burden to state universities, community and technical colleges, including, but not limited to, providing easier access to verify state employment; and

Resolved, (3) From funds appropriated by the Legislature for administrative costs to implement this section, state universities, community and technical colleges shall be reimbursed on a pro rata basis according to the cost assessment data developed by the Department of Education, and

Resolved, (4) The Auditor General shall include a review of the cost assessment data in conjunction with his or her audit responsibilities for state universities, community and technical colleges, and the Department of Education; and

Resolved, (5) For purposes of this section, employees of the state include employees of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government; and
Resolved, (6) That State Employee Tuition and Fee Waivers be established for Minnesota state employees as indicated and pursued as a long term legislative and negotiated priority by MAPE to influence support for this resolution from legislative representatives and the State of Minnesota as the employer.

2011 MAPE Delegate Assembly
September 23 – 24, 2011
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel
7800 Normandale Boulevard
Bloomington, MN 55439

FINAL

Key:   M = Motion                  S = Second                  P = Passed                   F = Failed

Day 1:  Friday – September 23^rd                                                                        

7:30 am           Registration(Steve Ahlberg – Chair, Trustees & MAPE Staff)

8:00 am            Overview of Delegate Assembly

                              Information for the First-Time Delegate (Presenters Glenn Donnay and Greg Boole)                                 

8:30 am         Parliamentary Refresher

                              A Short Overview of Robert’s Rules of Order (Presenter, Larry Souther) 

9:20 am        General Assembly Convenes

Introductions, Housekeeping & Assembly Opens (President Jorgenson)

• Executive Committee Members:  President Chet Jorgenson, First Vice President Jill Hiatt, Second Vice President Jay Smith, Secretary Mary Baker, Treasurer Jamie Fitzpatrick
• Parliamentarian:  Thomas R. Fjerstad, PRP
• Legal Counsel:  Gregg Corwin
• Delegate Assembly Planning Committee Members:  Jay Smith (Chair), Sandy Dunn, Cindy Kragenbring, Paul Wehrmeister, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Sarah Hustad, and MAPE Staff Paul Schweizer and Patty Fadden
• Credentials Committee:  Steve Ahlberg (Chair), Mike Bublitz, Diane Peterson, and JoAnn Rautio

Staff Introductions: Jim Monroe, Executive Director

• Business Agents:  Sheila Pokorny, Tom Dougherty, Joe McMahon, Rich Ransom, Kelly Ahern, and Kathy Fodness

• Business Manager Paul Schweizer, Member Representation and Services Director Joni Ketter,  Public Affairs and Communication Director Richard Kolodziejski, Communications Coordinator Murray Cody, Political Affairs Coordinator Kendal Killian, Organizer Kelly Morrell, Member Services Lead Patty Fadden, Financial Specialist Julie Lee, Association Specialist Candice Nelson, and External Communication Contractor Leslie Sandberg [Not Present:  Membership Specialist Kimberly Johannsen]

Volunteer Introductions:First Vice President Jill Hiatt

• Sergeants-at-Arms:  Michelle Lewis (also serving as Teller)

• Tellers: Mary Welliver and Irene Jones

Credentials Report:  Steve Ahlberg, Credentials Committee Chair

As of 9:15 a.m., 115 delegates seated out of a possible 125.

• MP (Consensus) to adopt the Credentials Report as presented.

Adoption of the Proposed Rules and the Agenda

• MP (Consensus) to adopt the Agenda for the 2011 Delegate Assembly (DA) as presented.
• MP (Unanimous Consensus) to adopt the Proposed Standing Rules for the 2011 Delegate Assembly as presented.

Mentoring Future Leaders (President Jorgenson): all experienced leadership is encouraged to talk/register with Kelly Morrell (MAPE Organizer) to participate as a mentor in the mentoring program.

9:40 am           Message from Senator Al Franken(Video Presentation)

9:45 am           2012 Budget Presentation / Questions and Answers(Treasurer Jamie Fitzpatrick)

(Finance Committee Members:  Scott Rood, Gerry Wenner, Kathy Davids, Michelle Doheny, Ted Sitz, and Gary Johnson)

• Announcement:  Request of everyone to complete and turn in Form W-4 before the end of the DA.
• The 2006 dues increase was projected to last through 2010; it will take us through 2012.
• MSP (Smith) to approve the Proposed 2012 Budget as presented.

 

10:20 am            RESOLUTIONS

MP (as presented):  Resolution 1.   Seating in Uncontested Special Election -

That the Election Rules, Article X Special Elections, be amended as follows:

1.      Purpose. A special election is held to fill a an existing or upcoming vacancy, or when prescribed by the Bylaws governing documents.   3.      Uncontested Election. If only one person is nominated for a position, the person is seated in accordance with the MAPE Election Timetable immediately after: Candidate eligibility is determined, Proof of bondability (if required) is provided, The position is vacant, and Nominations are closed.

10:25am         Speakers

    Mike Buesing:  Statewide President, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)

                              Elliot Seide:  AFSCME Executive Director

10:45 am          Resolutions (continued)

MP (as presented):  Resolution 2.   Ineligible Candidate Wins

That the Election Rules, Article VII Election Mechanics be amended as follows:

7.      Ineligible Apparent Winner. If an apparent winner is ineligible, as defined in Bylaws Article VIII, at the time vote counting is completed, the Elections Committee or local election committee, as appropriate, will declare the election for that position void, nominations for that position will be reopened, and a special election will be held.  This procedure will be followed even if the apparent winner has been seated but is found to have been ineligible when the votes were counted. In a multiple identical position race [i.e., Trustees], if an apparent winner is ineligible at the time vote counting is completed, the election of that candidate will be declared void.  Other apparent winners are elected and will be seated in accordance with the governing documents.

• MSF (D. Capiak) to amend the Motion by striking the last sentence.

 

MP (as amended):  Resolution 3.   Election Timetable

(Amended language indicated by italicized underline and strikethrough)

• MSP (F. Mankovich) to amend the Motion by striking the wording “are announced” in the MAPE Election Timetable, Appendix A, under Protests.

Election Rules Amendment
Article I Definitions 9.       Election(s) Committee Reportmeans the report announcing election results.
Article VI Election Procedure 6.       Seating.Newly elected persons shall be seated immediately after the Election(s)s Committee Report is released announces the results, unless another date is provided in the governing documents, including the Election Timetable (Appendix A).
Article VII Election Mechanics 7.       Election Results Announcement. The Elections Committee will have the percentage and actual number of final votes, including number of spoiled ballots, for each candidate posted on the members only section of the MAPE Web site. 7.       Election(s) Committee Report. This report will include: a)       the percentage and actual number of final votes; b)       the winner(s) of each race; c)       the number of spoiled ballots; and d)       for preferential balloting, each iteration’s results. This report will be posted on the members only section of the MAPE website. This report is released: a)       When voting not at a meeting, by being sent to the members of the Board of Directors and MAPE Central (for posting and further notifications). b)       When voting at a meeting, by being sent to the regional director, the incumbent local officers, and MAPE Central (for posting and further notifications).
Article VIII Elections by Mail or Electronic Methods 4.       Uncontested Election. If only one person is nominated for a position, the person is seated in accordance with the MAPE Election Timetable Rules.
Article IX Elections at a Meeting 3.       Consecutive Voting. This method can be used only when more than one position is open. Offices Positions are to be voted on consecutively in the order listed below:         Local President,                 Vice President,                 Treasurer,                 Secretary,                 Other Local Officers,                 Delegates and Alternates,                 other. Nominations close at the meeting at which the election is held.  An unsuccessful candidate for one office position may be nominated for another open office position.  Multi-site meetings preclude consecutive voting. 5.       Uncontested Election.If only one person is nominated for a position, the person is seated in accordance with the MAPE Election Timetable Rules.

 

Election Rules Timetable Amendment

		MAPE ELECTION TIMETABLE  Appendix A
Last Possible Date		Statewide Officer & Trustee Election Timelines	No Later Than
		Membership deadline to be eligible as candidate	120 days prior to close of nominations
		Announce Opening of Nominations	60 days prior to Delegate Assembly
		Membership deadline to be eligible to vote	2 weeks prior to ballot mailing
		Nominations Close	Delegate Assembly
		Affirm and/or Protest Candidate Eligibility	5 days after Delegate Assembly
		Provide Proof of Bondability (where required)	5 days after Delegate Assembly
		Candidate Eligibility Report	7 days after Delegate Assembly
		Free Mailing Submission Deadline	7 days prior to free mailing
		Free Mailing	7 days prior to ballot mailing
		Ballots Mailed	21 days after Candidate Eligibility Report
		Ballots Returned	21 days after ballot mailing
		Ballots Tabulated	5 days after ballots returned
		Financial Report	10 days after ballots tabulated
		Election(s) Committee Report	5 days after ballots tabulated
		Results posted on the website	As soon as practical after Election(s) Committee Report
		Protests	5 days after the election results are announced results are posted on the website
		Seating	Officers: First Board of Directors meeting after January 1 and final tabulation.  Trustees: Immediately after the Election(s) Committee Report.
Last Possible Date		Regional & Local Election Timelines	No Later Than
		Membership deadline to be eligible as candidate	120 days prior to close of nominations
		Choose mail or meeting election and consecutive or concurrent voting	60 days prior to close of nominations Before nominations are opened
		Announce Opening of Nominations	30 days prior to close of nominations
Last Possible Date		Regional & Local Mail Election Timelines	No Later Than
		Membership deadline to be eligible to vote	2 weeks prior to ballot mailing
		Nominations Close, Personal Statement Due
		Affirm and/or Protest Candidate Eligibility	7 days after nominations close
		Provide Proof of Bondability (where required)	12 days after nominations close
		Candidate Eligibility Report	14 days after nominations close
		Ballots Mailed	21 days after Candidate Eligibility Report
		Ballots Returned	21 days after ballot mailing
		Ballots Tabulated	5 days after ballots returned
		Election(s) Committee Report	5 days after ballots tabulated
		Results posted on the website	As soon as practical after Election(s) Committee Report
		Seating of Officers	Immediately following Election(s) Committee Report
		Protests	5 days after the election results are announced results are posted on the website
Last Possible Date		Local Meeting Election Timelines Concurrent Voting	No Later Than
		Membership deadline to be eligible to vote	Meeting at which election is held
		Nominations Close, Personal Statement Due	30 days prior to meeting at which election is held
		Affirm and/or Protest Candidate Eligibility	Meeting at which election is held  7 days after nominations close
		Provide Proof of Bondability (where required)	7 days after nominations close
		Candidate Eligibility Report	14 days after nominations close
		Ballots Tabulated	5 days after meeting at which election is held
		Election(s) Committee Report	5 days after Mmeeting at which election is held
		Results posted on the website	As soon as practical after Election(s) Committee Report
		Seating of Officers	Meeting at which election is held Immediately following Election(s) Committee Report
		Protests	5 days after the election results are announced results are posted on the website
Last Possible Date		Local Meeting Election Timelines Consecutive Voting	No Later Than
		Membership deadline to be eligible to vote	Meeting at which election is held
		Nominations Close, Personal Statement Due	Meeting at which election is held
		Affirm and/or Protest Candidate Eligibility	Meeting at which election is held
		Candidate Eligibility Report	Meeting at which election is held
		Ballots Tabulated	5 days after meeting at which election is held
		Election(s) Committee Report	5 days after meeting at which election is held
		Results posted on the website	As soon as practical after Election(s) Committee Report
		Seating of Officers	Immediately following Election(s) Committee Report
		Protests	5 days after the results are posted on the website
		Provide Proof of Bondability (where required)	7 days after Election(s) Committee Report

M (out of order):  Resolution 4.   Post All Vote Counts [Motion ruled out of order based on passage of Resolution 3.]

That the Election Rules be amended as follows to require the posting of the results of all vote counts, not just the final count.

Article VII Election Mechanics: 7. Election Results Announcement. The Elections Committee will have the percentage and actual number of final votes, including the number of spoiled ballots, for each candidate posted on the members only section of the MAPE Web site.  When preferential balloting is used, the results of each count will be posted.

MP (as presented):  Resolution 5.   Use Election Timetable to Publicize Dates

That the Election Rules be amended as shown below to clarify the Board of Directors’ responsibility in setting election dates.

Article II Dates: 4. Setting Dates. The Board of Directors shall fix all dates concerning elections in accordance with the Official MAPE Election Timetable.  The Board will use the MAPE Election Timetable (Appendix A) and only add the actual dates.  The local election committee shall set dates concerning local special elections.

MP (as presented):  Resolution 6.   Define Incumbent

That the Election Rules be amended as shown below to define “incumbent.”

Article I Definitions: 6. Incumbent means a member currently holding an elective or appointive position, regardless of the term’s anticipated ending date.

11:00 am         Break; Assembly resumes at 11:20 am

11:20 am         Resolutions (continued)

MF:  Resolution 7.   Location of Delegate Assembly

That the Bylaws be amended as shown below.

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY:  Section 1. Meetings.  The annual Delegate Assembly will begin on a Friday.  After four consecutive years of having the annual Delegate Assembly in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, one will be held outside of the metropolitan area.  Times and places of meetings of the Delegate Assembly shall be established determined by the Executive Committee. The President may call meetings other than those required by the Constitution with the concurrence of a majority of the Board of Directors or on petition of 25% of the delegates eligible for attendance to the last-held Delegate Assembly and representing no less than 80% of the Locals.  The President shall be the presiding officer of the Delegate Assembly.

• Division Called (Vote:  56/60)

Credentials Report:  Steve Ahlberg, Credentials Committee Chair

As of 11:45 a.m., 117 delegates seated out of a possible 125.

• MP (Consensus) to adopt the Credentials Report as presented.

MF:  Resolution 8.   MAPE Central Delegate Assembly Alternate Funding

That the Bylaws be amended as shown below.[Consensus: would be effective after the 2011 DA]

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY:   Section 4. Funding.  For the annual Delegate Assembly, MAPE Central shall pay all costs for all delegates. and for the first alternate from For locals that had a balance of less than $15,000$7,500, as reported in Income/Expense Statements for July 31 of the previous year, MAPE Central will pay all costs for the first alternate.

 

             Locals will pay expenses of all alternates who attend special Delegate Assemblies.

• Division Called (Vote:  49/62)

12:00 pm               Lunch Break / Assembly Resumes at 1:00 pm

1:00 pm                 Jim Monroe, MAPE Executive Director

Challenges Facing Public Employees: “State of the Union” Update & Action Plan

2:13 pm           Resolutions (continued)

MP (as presented):  Resolution 9.    Local Executive Committee

That the Bylaws be amended as defined below to define the local executive committee as the local officers.

ARTICLE VII REGIONS AND LOCALS:  Section 4.  Local Officers.  All Locals shall have a President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.  Locals may also elect any other officers deemed necessary.  The Local officers comprise the local executive committee.  The terms of these offices shall be two years. Officers of newly formed Locals shall be elected as part of the formation process and shall serve until the normal expiration date of other Local officers in their Region.

MP (as presented):  Resolution 10.  Change “Fair Share” to “Fee Payer”

That the Bylaws be amended as shown below to refer to non-members as “fee payers;” That MAPE documents in the future use “fee payer” instead of “fair share;” and

That supplies of existing documents referring to “fair share” be replaced through attrition.

ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP

Section 3. Fair Shares Fee Payers. Fair Share is defined Fees for non-members are permitted by Minnesota Statute 179A.06, Sub. 3 "Fair share fee.  An exclusive representative (MAPE) may require employees who are not members of the exclusive representative to contribute a fair share fee for services rendered by the exclusive representative.” Employees represented by MAPE who are assessed a fair share fee shall be referred to as Fair Shares fee payers. Fair Shares Fee payers are entitled to all the rights of representation but do not enjoy the privileges of membership. Fair shares Fee payers may not vote, make motions, sign petitions, debate, or seek or hold any elected elective or appointed office appointive position.

Section 5.         Dues and Fees.

C.  Fair Shares Fee Payers.  Eligible professional employees who decline to sign dues check-off authorization cards shall be assessed a fair share fee for services rendered by MAPE in an amount to be established by the Board of Directors or Delegate Assembly and as prescribed by Minnesota Statute 179A.06.

• Division Called (Vote:  59/53)

Credentials Report:  Steve Ahlberg, Credentials Committee Chair

As of 2:33 p.m., 117 delegates seated out of a possible 125.

• MP (Consensus) to adopt the Credentials Report as presented.

 

MP (as presented):  Resolution 11.  Local Election Committee Members

That the Bylaws be amended as shown below.

ARTICLE VIII ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES 

Section 1.  Eligibility.

C.     Exceptions.

1)      After a local election, members who served on the local election committee and are not trustees may be appointed as Delegate Assembly delegates or alternates.

2)      Statewide Elections Committee members may be appointed as Delegate Assembly delegates or alternates and as local election committee members.

3)      If not candidates, officers and statewide committee members may serve on a local election committee.

 

M (out of order):  Resolution 12.  Clarify Incumbent Ineligibility [Motion ruled out of order based on passage of Resolution 11.]

That the will of the 2006 Delegate Assembly be documented by amending the Bylaws as shown below.

       ARTICLE VIII ELECTIONS AND VACANCIES

Section 1.   Eligibility. 

B.     Candidates and Incumbents. Candidates for and incumbents in any elective or appointive position, including committee appointments, in MAPE must:

1)      be members, as defined in Bylaws Article III, for at least four months prior to the closing of nominations;

2)      be members, as defined in Bylaws Article III, for at least four months prior to the closing of nominations;

3)      not hold more than one office, including statewide, Regional and Local office, at the same time, except Interim President as provided for in the MAPE Interim Local Governance Policy. Committee positions, including chairs, are not offices;

4)      be working in a classification covered by a MAPE agreement at the closing of nominations or between the closing of nominations and occupying the position, except when the out-of-classification is less than 30 days;

5)      not be officers or salaried employees of any other exclusive bargaining representative or an affiliate thereof;

6)      except as noted in Exceptions, below, not be members of the statewide Elections Committee or a local election committee (Officers, trustees, and statewide committee members cannot serve on the (statewide) Elections Committee or a local election committee.);

7)      not be under sanction as provided in the Bylaws, Article XII, Section 10, provisions (4), (5) and (6);

8)      not be under sanction as provided in MAPE’s parliamentary authority; and

9)      not have voluntarily crossed a MAPE picket line in six years, or three contract cycles – this can be appealed to the Board of Directors.

 

MP (as presented):  Resolution 13.  Remove Trustee Language Conflict

That Bylaws Article XIV be amended as shown, below, to remove conflicting language.

ARTICLE XIV Board of Trustees:  Section 1. Eligibility.  A Trustee may not be nominated for, appointed to, or elected to any office self-nominate or accept nomination or appointment to any other position at any level in MAPE other than Local Steward and/or Credentials Committee member or chair.

 

MP (as presented):  Resolution 14.  Add Two “Alternate” Members to Statewide Meet & Confer Committees

That Bylaws, Article IV, Section 11, be amended to add two “alternate” positions to the committee to encourage other MAPE members to become active and to serve, and to strive to make the membership of each local Meet & Confer committee representative of the local membership.  The existing regular members will mentor and encourage the alternates to participate in meetings so that when current members retire, alternates may become regular members, already having some experience with the process.

ARTICLE VI STATEWIDE STANDING COMMITTEES

Section 11.  Meet and Confer Committees. There shall be a Meet and Confer Committee for a

given Appointing Authority.  The committee shall have a maximum of seven regular members  

and two alternate members plus representatives from MAPE Central Office (President, Business

Agent, and Statewide Officer).)

Alternate members will be considered regular members, with voting rights, when substituting for

a regular member at a meeting. 

More members may attend upon concurrence of the Statewide President and the Chair.   The membership of the Meet and Confer Committees are subject to the approval of the Board of Directors.

The Meet and Confer Committee shall have a Chair and Vice Chair.  The President shall appoint the Chair after consultation with the Executive Committee.  The Chair shall appoint the Vice Chair with concurrence of the President.

MP (as presented): Resolution 15.  Credentials Committee

That the Bylaws be amended as shown, below, to eliminate the requirement for additional Credentials Committee members.

ARTICLE X DELEGATE ASSEMBLY

Section 3. Credentials Committee.  The Credentials Committee shall consist of five members.  Trustees shall serve on the Credentials Committee.  The Committee shall elect a chairperson. If fewer than five Trustees are on the Committee, tThe President shall may appoint at least two additional members to fill the vacancies.  The Committee shall entertain any challenges to the credentials of any delegate or alternate and shall present its finding to the Assembly, which will render final decisions.

MP (as presented):  Resolution 16.  Broaden Judicial Procedure’s Applicability

That Bylaws Article XII. Judicial Procedure be amended as indicated below.

Section 1.         Filing Charges.  Except as hereinafter provided in this Article, any member of MAPE may file charges against any individual in a MAPE elected or appointed position MAPE member or individual who was a MAPE member at the time of the violation(s) for one or more violations as provided in Section 2 of this Article.
Section 2.  Basis for Charges. The following and no other shall constitute the basis for the filing of charges: 1)      Violation of any provision of MAPE’s Governing Documents or Policies or of any officially adopted and approved Governing Documents or Policies of a Local to which the member being accused is subject; 2)      Misappropriation, embezzlement, or illegal use of union funds; 3)      Acting in collusion with management to the detriment of the welfare of MAPE or its membership; 4)      Any activity which assists or is intended to assist a competing organization within the jurisdiction of MAPE; 5)      Conviction of a crime, the nature of which is such to bring MAPE as an organization into disrepute; 6)      Instituting or urging others to institute action outside MAPE against MAPE, a subordinate body, or any officer position holder of MAPE or of a subordinate body without first exhausting all internal remedies within MAPE, providing that the foregoing shall not apply where the action was instituted in order to prevent the loss of rights under an applicable statute of limitations and the member has diligently pursued available internal remedies;
7)      Refusal or deliberate failure to carry out legally authorized decisions of the Delegate Assembly, the  MAPE President, the MAPE Board, the Executive Committee, or the Judicial Committee of which the accused is a part; 8)      Using the name MAPE or of any subordinate body in an unauthorized manner or for an unauthorized purpose; 9)      Using MAPE membership information in an unauthorized manner or for an unauthorized purpose; 10)  Deliberately interfering with any official of MAPE or of a Local or Region in the discharge of the official’s lawful duty; 11)  The solicitation or acceptance of a bribe or the acceptance of a gift of more thannominal value from  any employer, group of members, employee of MAPE or from any person or firm which has or is seeking to establish a business relationship with MAPE or any subordinate body.
Section 10. Penalties.  A hearing body may, if it finds the accused party guilty, assess any one or more of the following penalties: 1)      A formal reprimand, accompanied by a formal warning against any repetition of the act or acts of which the accused is found guilty; 2)      Full or partial restitution, where the consequences of the offense can be measured in material terms; 3)      Removal from office positions in the union at the level at which the charges originate; 4)      Suspension from the right to hold any elected or appointed position at the level at which the charges originate for a period not to exceed four years; 5)      Suspension from the right to seek or hold any elected or appointed position at any level of MAPE for a period not to exceed four years; 6)      Suspension from membership for a period not to exceed four years.                MAPE or any Local or Region may not, during the period of such penalty, employ any individual who has been removed or suspended from office a position as provided above, in any capacity.

MP (as presented):  Resolution 17.  Election Policy

That this new Election Policy be approved and implemented.

New MAPE Policy

ELECTION POLICY Policy-Procedures Summary Supplement the governing documents.              Related Information MAPE governing documents Policy-Procedures This policy supplements the governing documents.  If there is a conflict, the governing documents prevail. In this policy, “election committee” refers to both the statewide Elections Committee and local election committees. The election committee, or MAPE staff with election committee approval, will design the ballots in accordance with the governing documents and this policy. The chair of the statewide Elections Committee, or a chair-designated member of that committee, will review ballots designed by local election committees and staff. The chair of the Constitution and Rules Committee, or a chair-designated member of that committee, will review ballots designed by the statewide Elections Committee.  This is an advisory role supporting the Elections Committee chair. Sample ballots and supplemental instructions will be posted on the MAPE Web site, and local officers will be notified of the posting, before the ballots are mailed to members. Paper Ballot Design Checklist Decide what’s most important.  Page layout and text sizes should support information hierarchy. The ballot title should be more prominent than any one contest. A contest header should be more prominent than its candidates’ names. Ballot instructions should be brief, simple, and clear. Place specific instructions and related actions together. Put one instruction per line. Tell voters how they can correct a mistake.  For example: In a non-preferential voting race: “If you incorrectly mark a box, draw a heavy line through the incorrectly-marked candidate’s name and voting box, and—if you wish—mark the voting box of your preferred candidate.” In a preferential voting race: “If you incorrectly mark a box, cross out the number in the incorrectly marked voting box, and—if you wish—put your desired number next to the box.” Don’t split contests. List all candidates for the same race on the same page and in the same column. Make sure ballot design is consistent. Use consistent format and style for every contest and voting action. Use consistent font type, letter-size, and shading for all contests. Place voting boxes on the left side of the candidates’ names. Make ballots easy to understand visually. Left-align text. Display all text in mixed case, rather than all capital letters. Use a simple, easy-to-read sans-serif font with clean strokes, such as Arial, Univers, or Verdana. Bold and/or shade certain text, such as office names. Do not indicate incumbency status or agency. Do not include term length. Separate races by voting method. Put preferential-voting races and non-preferential voting races on separate pages. Include an example of correctly marked voting boxes on each page. Include method-specific instructions on voting and on correcting a ballot on each page. Use cut lines carefully, if at all. If practical, cut ballots before they are mailed. Do not put a cut line before the first race or after the last race on a sheet. Align the cut lines on all sheets. To ease manual sorting, consider using different color paper for each page of the ballot. If personal statements are not on the same sheet of paper as instructions, include a cover page with personal statements so no candidate’s statement appears to be on the cover of a personal-statement brochure.   Electronic Ballot Design Checklist Follow the Paper Ballot Design Checklist, when applicable and appropriate. Consider putting one race per screen.

 

Discussion:  Resolution 18.  Long Term Disability Insurance Coverage through Voluntary Reduction of Sick Leave Hours [Delegates instructed to use the form provided to rate the resolutions on a scale of 1(not important) to 10 (strike), and to turn their rating form into the Credentials Committee; Credentials Committee will then collate results and provide the results to the Co-chairs of the Negotiations Committee.]

That the EMPLOYER (State of Minnesota) shall establish and maintain a Long Term Disability (LTD) Insurance program which on a voluntary basis, is paid for by participants (Minnesota State EMPLOYEES) through sick leave reduction; and

1)      That Long Term Disability Insurance coverage through reduction in sick leave hours shall occur for each department or agency of the State of Minnesota which has authority to adopt rules governing the accumulation and use of sick leave for employees and which maintains accurate and reliable records showing the amount of sick leave which has been accumulated and is unused by employees may, in accordance with guidelines which shall be established by the Minnesota Management & Budget, adopt rules for the establishment of a plan allowing participating employees to reduce sick leave hours and allowing any sick leave hours thus reduced to be used to obtain Long Term Disability Insurance coverage through the EMPLOYER maintained program; and

2)      That employees shall be eligible for participation in their EMPLOYER established Long Term Disability Insurance coverage immediately for new hires and following state employees voluntary participation during open enrollment for those employees having employment with the state or agency of the state; provided that such employee has voluntary selected to reduce sick leave, which minimum shall be established by rule; and

3)      That participation in the sick leave hour reductions shall, at all times, be voluntary on the part of the employees; and

4)      That any sick leave hour reductions shall be removed from the personally accumulated sick leave balance of the employee contributing such leave; and

5)      That a participating employee who uses their Long Term Disability Insurance coverage shall not be required to continue reductions in sick leave during that time, except as otherwise provided in this section; and

6)      That an employee who cancels his or her voluntary sick leave reductions shall not be eligible to withdraw the earlier hours of sick leave contributed by that employee for the Long Term Disability Insurance coverage; and

7)      That alleged abuse of the use of Long Term Disability Insurance coverage through voluntary sick leave hour reductions shall be investigated, and, on a finding of wrongdoing, the employee shall be subject to such other disciplinary action as is determined by the agency head; and

8)      That an employee who transfers from one position in state government to another position in state government may maintain EMPLOYER established Long Term Disability Insurance coverage through continued voluntary reduction of sick leave hours; and

9)      That the EMPLOYER shall establish and maintain a Long Term Disability Insurance program which on a voluntary basis, is paid for by participants through sick leave reduction. Said benefit is contingent upon the EMPLOYER'S ability to secure successful bids from a competent bidder providing benefit levels as specified by the EMPLOYER at reasonable premium rates and upon attaining a satisfactory participation level as specified by the successful bidder; and

10)  That Long Term Disability Insurance coverage shall be established by the EMPLOYER through a voluntary reduction in Minnesota state employee’s sick leave hours as indicated and pursued as a long term negotiated priority by MAPE to influence support for this resolution from the EMPLOYER.

Discussion:  Resolution 19.  Sick Leave Pool Establishment for Minnesota State Employees

[Delegates instructed to use the form provided to rate the resolutions on a scale of 1(not important) to 10 (strike), and to turn their rating form into the Credentials Committee; Credentials Committee will then collate results and provide the results to the Co-chairs of the Negotiations Committee.]

That Sick Leave Pool establishment for each department or agency of the State of Minnesota which has authority to adopt rules governing the accumulation and use of sick leave for employees and which maintains accurate and reliable records showing the amount of sick leave which has been accumulated and is unused by employees may, in accordance with guidelines which shall be established by the Minnesota Management & Budget, adopt rules for the establishment of a plan allowing participating employees to  pool sick leave and allowing any sick leave thus pooled to be used by any participating employee who has used all of the sick leave that has been personally accrued by him or her; and

That Although not limited to the following, such rules shall provide:

(1) That employees shall be eligible for participation in the sick leave pool after one year of employment with the state or agency of the state; provided that such employee has accrued a minimum amount of unused sick leave, which minimum shall be established by rule; and

(2) That participation in the sick leave pool shall, at all times, be voluntary on the part of the employees; and

(3) That any sick leave pooled shall be removed from the personally accumulated sick leave balance of the employee contributing such leave; and

(4) That any sick leave in the pool which leave is used by a participating employee shall be used only for the employee's personal illness, accident, or injury; and

(5) That a participating employee shall not be eligible to use sick leave accumulated in the pool until all of his or her personally accrued sick and vacation (annual) leave compensatory time has been used; and

(6) A maximum number of hours of sick leave in the pool which any one employee may use; and

(7) That a participating employee who uses sick leave from the pool shall not be required to recontribute such sick leave to the pool, except as otherwise provided in this section; and

(8) That an employee who cancels his or her membership in the sick leave pool shall not be eligible to withdraw the hours of sick leave contributed by that employee to the pool; and

(9) That an employee who transfers from one position in state government to another position in state government may transfer from one pool to another if the eligibility criteria of the pools are comparable or the administrators of the pools have agreed on a formula for transfer of hours; and

 (10) That alleged abuse of the use of the sick leave pool shall be investigated, and, on a finding of wrongdoing, the employee shall repay all of the sick leave hours drawn from the sick leave pool and shall be subject to such other disciplinary action as is determined by the agency head; and

 (11) That sick leave hours may be drawn from the sick leave pool by a part-time employee on a pro rata basis; and

That Sick Leave Pool(s) be established for Minnesota state employees as indicated and pursued as a long term legislative and negotiated priority by MAPE to influence support for this resolution from legislative representatives and the State of Minnesota as the employer.

Discussion:  Resolution 20.  State Employee Tuition and Fee Waiver Program

[Delegates instructed to use the form provided to rate the resolutions on a scale of 1(not important) to 10 (strike), and to turn their rating form into the Credentials Committee; Credentials Committee will then collate results and provide the results to the Co-Chairsof the Negotiations Committee.]

• That (1) As a benefit to the employer and employees of the state, subject to approval by an employee's agency head or the equivalent, each state university, community and technical college shall waive tuition and fees for state employees to enroll for up to six credit hours of courses per semester/term on a space-available basis; and
• That (2) The Chief Financial Officer, in cooperation with the state universities, community and technical colleges, shall identify and implement ways to ease the administrative burden to state universities, community and technical colleges, including, but not limited to, providing easier access to verify state employment; and
• That (3) From funds appropriated by the Legislature for administrative costs to implement this section, state universities, community and technical colleges shall be reimbursed on a pro rata basis according to the cost assessment data developed by the Department of Education, and
• That (4) The Auditor General shall include a review of the cost assessment data in conjunction with his or her audit responsibilities for state universities, community and technical colleges, and the Department of Education; and
• That (5) For purposes of this section, employees of the state include employees of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government; and
• That (6) That State Employee Tuition and Fee Waivers be established for Minnesota state employees as indicated and pursued as a long term legislative and negotiated priority by MAPE to influence support for this resolution from legislative representatives and the State of Minnesota as the employer.

 

3:00 pm          Break / Assembly Resumes at 3:15 pm

3:15pm             Online Voting Presentation:  Peter Westerhaus, Survey & Ballot Systems

Time Certain              30 Minute Presentation followed by 15 Minute Questions & Answers (Q & A)

Elections Committee Report/Q & A:   Mike McCarthy, Chair

30 Minute Presentation followed by 15 Minute Q & A

(Elections Committee Members:  Shawnet Healy, Joe Linn, Jim Roettger, and Mary Welliver )

4:30 pm            Board of Trustees Report:  Steve Ahlberg, Chair    

(Trustees Committee Members:  Mike Bublitz, Diane Peterson, and JoAnn Rautio )

Membership Committee Report:  Jay Smith, Chair

(Membership Committee Members:  Gretchen Scharmer, Glenn Donnay, Frank Barr, Sue Opsahl, Dean Gunderson, Cathy Finken and Royce Tyre)

Negotiations Committee Report:  Sandy Dunn, Co-Chair

5:00 pm           Recess and/or Scheduled Caucus Meetings

• Membership Caucus
• Office of Enterprise and Technology (OET)/Information Technology (IT) Consolidation Caucus
• Minnesota State Colleges and University (MnSCU)

Delegate Assembly recessed until 9:00 am, September 24, 2011.  

 

2011 MAPE Delegate Assembly                                         September 23 – 24, 2011

Day 2:  Saturday – September 24^th

7:30  am                Registration(Steve Ahlberg – Chair, Trustees & MAPE Staff)

7:30 am                 Women’s Caucus Buffet Breakfast  

                              A Program specific to Empowerment of Women in Union Leadership

                              Guest Speaker:  State Representative Rena Moran

9:15 am                General Assembly Re-Convenes

                              Housekeeping (President Jorgenson)

Associate Membership (G. Scharmer):  stressed the need to keep MAPErs involved, even in retirement.

DA Survey (J. Smith):  everyone is encouraged to take the “on-line” DA survey that will be emailed to all Delegates on Monday (9/26/11).

Denial of Pre-Approved Vacations during State Shutdown (J. Monroe, S. Pokorny):  class-action grievances were filed on behalf of those employees who were deemed critical during the recent state shutdown and were denied use of their previously approved vacation.

• Settlement (pending final approval):  if employees had pre-approved vacations and were denied the use of vacation but allowed to take leave without pay, those employees will be paid their vacation from their vacation bank and their accruals will be adjusted accordingly. For those who worked rather than take leave without pay, they will be paid for half of their time (i.e., if the employee worked 8 hours, the settlement will pay them for 4 hours). Once the Settlement is signed, employees will have 30 days to self-report (allowing Members the choice of filing or not).
• Government Relations Committee (GRC) Report:  Co-Chairs Mitch Wallerstedt and Carol Walsh

(GRC Members:  Glenn Donnay, Ann Hill, Rubin Latz, Ahmad Lewis, Angie Piche, Mark Proctor, Steve Katz, and Lisa Wichterman)

 

2012 TeamMAPE GRC Legislative Core Priorities

• MAPE opposes legislation and constitutional amendments that would harm working people and their families.
• MAPE supports the rights of all workers to organize labor unions, bargain collectively and earn fair wages and benefits.
• MAPE supports equitable compensation and respectful treatment of all state employees.
• MAPE opposes any efforts to eliminate or reduce state employee retirement and pension benefits.
• MAPE supports efforts to provide sustainable resources for state government operations.
• MP to approve the 2012 TeamMAPE GRC Legislative Core Priorities as presented.
• Complete listing of 2012 TeamMAPE GRC Legislative Positions & Priorities: 
• Visit the TEAM MAPE section of the MAPE website at www.mape.orgor www.teammape.org/legpositions  for a complete listing/description of MAPE’s Legislative Positions.

 

Credentials Report:  Steve Ahlberg, Credentials Committee Chair

As of 9:33 a.m., 101 delegates seated out of a possible 125.

• MP (Consensus) to adopt the Credentials Report as presented.

 

MS (A. Bindman) - withdrawn by maker of the motion - that the approved DA Agenda (allowing 3 minutes for candidates to speak) prevail over the Elections Rules (allowance of 2 minutes for candidates to speak).

• The Chair ruled the Motion out of order.
• Challenging the ruling of the Chair (Bindman):  withdrawn
• The Chair ruled both the Motion and the challenge as dilatory/improper (Parliamentarian Fjerstad advised:  proposed motion is improper as it conflicts with the Election Rules (a Governing Document) which requires a 30-day notice prior to the Delegate Assembly. Governing Documents take precedence where conflicts exist.

 

Credentials Report:  Steve Ahlberg, Credentials Committee Chair

As of 10:30 a.m., 106 delegates seated out of a possible 125.

• MP (Consensus) to adopt the Credentials Report as presented.

MAPE Political Action Committee (PAC) Report:  Carrie Wasley, Chair

(MAPE PAC Members:  Don Collier, Jude Rikala, Bob Richards, Cathleen Cotter, Katherine Driskell, Jim Leibert, Mark Proctor, Sheila Scott)

10:55am      Statewide Officer Nominations Mike McCarthy, Chair, Elections Committee

• Opening/Closing of Statewide Officer Nominations (Candidate’s Acceptance Speech limited to 2 minutes)

Candidates for President

• Chet Jorgenson
• Cathleen Cotter
• Charles Hawkins

Candidates for First Vice President

• Jamie Fitzpatrick
• Sandy Dunn
• Jim Pennino

Candidates for Second Vice President

• Royce Tyre
• Andy Bindman
• Glenn Donnay
• Dan Cunningham
• Moua Song

Candidates for Secretary

• Mary Baker
• Mark Vidas

Candidates for Treasurer

• Michelle Doheny
• Ralph Yehle      

 

Candidates for Trustee

• Carol Logan
• Diane Capiak
• Teresa Barnes
• Patricia Nygaard

MSP (A. Bindman) to extend the timeline for the candidates’ submission of the “Candidate’s Affirmation of Intent to Comply” form by five (5) business days (new deadline: September 30, 2011 - 4:30 p.m.).

 

1:00 pm           MP (Consensus) to Adjourn.

 

 

 

         Submitted by Mary Baker, Statewide Secretary         

Approved by the Board of Directors:  October 21, 2011

 

MAPE 2011 DELEGATE ASSEMBLY

   

Actions Taken

MAPE 2012 Budget………………………………………………………………          Passed as presented

Resolutions (1 – 20)

Election Rules

1.   Seating in Uncontested Special Election……………………………………          Passed as presented

2.   Ineligible Candidate Wins…………………………………………………..           Passed as presented

3.   Election Timetable…………………………………………………………..           Passed as amended

4.   Post All Vote Counts………………………………………………..……....           Out of Order

5.   Use Election Timetable to Publicize Dates ………………………………..          Passed as presented

6.   Define Incumbent………………………………..………………………….            Passed as presented

Bylaws

7.   Location of Delegate Assembly ……………………………………….…....         Failed

8.   MAPE Central Delegate Assembly Alternate Funding ……..………..….          Failed

9.    Local Executive Committee ………………………………………….….…         Passed as presented

10.  Change “Fair Share” to “Fee Payer” ……………………………….….…         Passed as presented

11.  Local Election Committee Members ……………………………….…….          Passed as presented

12.  Clarify Incumbent Ineligibility ………………………………..….………           Out of Order

13.  Remove Trustee Language Conflict ………………………………………          Passed as presented

14.  Add Two “Alternate” Members to

Statewide Meet & Confer Committees …………………..……………          Passed as presented

15.  Credentials Committee …………………………………..…………………         Passed as presented

16.  Broaden Judicial Procedure’s Applicability ………………………………         Passed as presented

Policies

17.  Election Policy ……………………………………………………..………            Passed as presented

Negotiations……………………………………………………            Resolutions for discussion and rating

18.  Long Term Disability Insurance Coverage through Voluntary Reduction of Sick Leave Hours

19.  Sick Leave Pool Establishment for Minnesota State Employees

20.  State Employee Tuition and Fee Waiver Program

 

Recipients of Awards during the 2011Delegate Assembly

Marge Ramsey Memorial Award(J. Hiatt)

• Plaque presented to MAPE in Memory of Marge Ramsey (served in several leadership capacity and as Chair of the MAPE Women’s Caucus)

Membership Recruiter of the Year(J. Smith): presented to Glenn Donnay (1602)

Local Treasurer of the Year(J. Fitzpatrick): presented to Glenn Melchert (1401)

GRC/TeamMAPE Award(M. Wallerstedt): presented to Mark ProctoR (2101), Ahmad Lewis (0401), and Angie Piche (0401

Member Mobilization Award(R. Kolodziejski): presented to Linda Lamb (1102), Katherine Driskell (1903), Mike Landers (1001), Lois Freiermuth (1303), and Melanie Wurtzberger (1901)

Distinguished Service Award(R. Kolodziejski): presented to Carrie Wasley (0501), Eric Porcher (2001), Sandy Dunn (0901), Nicholas Snavely (1702), Russell Raczkowski (1304),and Cindy Kragenbring (1801)

Outstanding LeadershipAward(R. Kolodziejski): presented to Glenn Donnay (1602), Jim Pennino (0301), and Jason Moran (0301)

Recognition of Departing Statewide Officers(C. Jorgenson): acknowledged the upcoming departures from Statewide Office of Jay Smith (2^nd VP) and Jill Hiatt (1^st VP)

Neil Farnsworth Distinguished Service Award (C. Jorgenson): presented to Bob Richards, Local 0801 (accepted by son – Terry)

Betty Rogers Award(C. Jorgenson):  presented to Paul Wehrmeister (2101) 

MAPE Thomas Kernan Scholarships for Labor Studies

Recipient	Local
Jill Boldenow	0603
Ryan Chegwin	0501
Terri Huston	0201

MAPE General Scholarship Awards 2010-2011

Recipient	Local		Recipient	Local
Elizabeth Atherly-Larsen	0901		Ahmad Lewis	0401
Maria Anderson	2101		Wayne Monsen	0901
Faye Bernstein	2101		Bamikole Ogundele	0501
Jaqueline Carter	2101		Joleen Olson	0802
Rebecca Dian	1203		Stacey Sjostedt	1703
Melissa Duchene	1703		Jennifer Smith	1301
Jon Fure	0301		Nicholas Snavely	1702
John Gimpl	1001		Jessica Sundberg	1303
Daniel Krier	0902		David Tollefson	2001

 

Report of the Executive Director

2011 DELEGATE ASSEMBLY

SEPTEMBER 23-24, 2011

DOUBLE TREE, BLOOMINGTON

Executive Director’s Report to the 2011 Delegate Assembly

Despite the unprecedented assault on union rights that has taken root over the last 12 months, I report to you today that the state of our Union is strong! Our leadership, staff and members must be commended for their continued efforts to sustain the quality of life for our members, and the working men and women of Minnesota.

Last fall, we helped elect the first democratic governor, Mark Dayton, in this state in more than two decades, yet we lost majority control in both the state House and the state Senate. As a result, MAPE and the entire organized labor movement in Minnesota has found itself under a relentless attack by the anti-public employee, “right-to-work” supporters who look for excuses to destroy the middle class.

As soon as the curtain fell on last year’s election, the right-wing crowd in this country began to formulate a plan. They wanted to get rid of their chief rival at the ballot box and those who stood in the way of even more excessive corporate profits. They felt they could only do that by eliminating or dealing a near-death blow to the union movement. They decided to do this under the guise of budget fixes to weather the worst economic storm this country has faced since the Great Depression.

The battle started in Wisconsin, where the right-wing crowd had wrested control of not only the legislature, but the governor’s office as well. Governor-elect Scott Walker and his newly elected Republican friends waged a full-scale attack against our union brothers and sisters in Wisconsin.

As the 2011 legislative session began in Minnesota, we had our own anti-labor, anti-public employee crowd that had been studying the national plan to get rid of unions. In all, we fought back against more than 50 anti-labor, unfriendly public employee bills through the entire legislative session, and the days leading up to and including the historic 20-day state government shutdown.

Despite all of this doom and gloom, there is a silver lining. Our membership rose to the challenge, turning out in record numbers for rallies, and to confront the anti-labor lawmakers at the Capitol, and at community meetings and lit drops in legislative districts. We also had a record number of members who stood up to talk to Minnesotans about the immense value of the services they provide.

While we didn’t get the budget resolution we fought and hoped for, we have been successful in fighting off the vast majority of the anti-organized labor legislation in this state that was aimed at dwindling our ranks and paychecks. While the popularity of lawmakers is historically low, we have ample evidence that this Union is still strong despite the monumental challenges we have faced.

I also come to you today for a call to action. We have to get ready for the battles we face, as the newly elected Legislature in this state prepares constitutional amendments aimed at carving their philosophy in stone. We also have to prepare as we never have before to retake control of the majorities in both the state House and Senate. Our livelihoods depend on it.

The report that follows will provide you with more information on these important activities and provide options for our activities in the future.

2011 MAPE Membership:
Despite the constant threat of a smaller state government following layoffs, the MAPE bargaining unit gained 381 members since the 2010 Delegate Assembly. There continues to be challenges in reaching out to new members, but several locals deserve special recognition for the hard work they have done to achieve and maintain 75 percent full membership.

The following locals achieved 75 percent or above by August 2011 and should be congratulated for their member organizing efforts:

Local	Percentage Full Membership as of August 2011
201	83.63
202	91.94
1303	95.24
1401	78.33
1602	80.57
1703	75.51
1901	84.8
1903	77.1
2101	84.57

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Member Activism:
When it became clear the Legislature was not going to work with Governor Dayton to develop a balanced budget compromise, MAPE members across the state came together to hold legislators accountable by attending the following events:

We Are Watching: End of Session Visibility Event
May 23 – State employees flooded the state Capitol to watch the clock run out on the 2011 legislative session. Approximately 215 MAPE-represented employees attended.

Shutdown Eve Cookout and Candlelight Vigil
June 30 – State employees and members of the public held a candlelight vigiloutside the state Capitol to highlight the services lost to Minnesotans on the eve of the 2011 state government shutdown. Approximately 110 MAPE-represented employees attended the vigil and the cookout beforehand.

End the Shutdown Rally
July 6 – To mark one week since state government shut down, state employees and the public rallied on the state Capitol lawn to end the shutdown. Approximately 100
MAPE-represented employees were in attendance.

Regional We Are One Rallies
In addition to large visibility events, MAPE members led and participated in regional rallies in collaboration with AFSCME Council 5 and the AFL-CIO. MAPE-represented employees rallied in St. Paul on Lafayette Rd N, Bemidji, Duluth, Moorhead and
St. Cloud during the shutdown.

Steward Training:
The entry level steward training has undergone slight changes during this past year. Now, training includes more role playing and member involvement in handling investigations, answering members’ questions, providing steward advice and assisting with performance appeals. MAPE staff and the Statewide First Vice President held one basic steward training in May, resulting in 24 additional stewards being trained. There is a basic steward training scheduled for October 2011 and an advanced steward training scheduled for November 2011. Both training registrations are nearing capacity.

I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to the members who have assisted in steward activities in the workplace throughout the year. We have had years where more stewards completed training, but this year MAPE reached new heights in steward involvement and continue to take more strides toward accomplishing our goal of having active and trained stewards at every MAPE work site.

Staff Activities
I want to take this time to give a special thanks to several of your Executive Team members who will be retiring from their positions on the Executive Board. Jill Hiatt, MAPE’s First Vice President, and Jay Smith, MAPE’s Second Vice President, are stepping down from their exemplary service as executive officers. Jamie Fitzpatrick is stepping down as MAPE’s Treasurer, where he has served in that capacity for the past 10 years including several difficult budget years.

There were even more challenges than usual placed upon the MAPE staff in 2011. Since February, business agents have been asked to pick up additional local assignments. While continuing to meet their day-to-day responsibilities to the membership, they were asked to switch directions entirely in preparation for a government shutdown. Staff made phone calls to get members to turn out for activities, they attended town hall meetings, participated in coalition activities, and attended ring of fire lit drops and visibility activities such as rallies and media events around the state.

Over the past 12 months, the business agents have been involved in more than 2,500 meetings on behalf of MAPE-represented employees. These include: meet & confers, arbitrations, grievances, investigations, trainings, member appeals, advisory meetings on various issues, negotiations of city contracts and various internal organizing activities, many of those coordinated by Organizer Kelly Morrell.

Business agents continue to remain current on all grievances and/or arbitrations with the amount of active cases remaining fairly constant. For three months of the last year surrounding the government shutdown, MAPE and the State of Minnesota held the entire grievance process in abeyance to focus on shutdown activities. Therefore, business agents are still working to resolve active shutdown-related grievances.

I want to take this opportunity to thank your business agents: Tom Dougherty, Sheila Pokorny, Joe McMahon, Rich Ransom, Kelly Ahern and Kathy Fodness for their work this past year. They continue to rise to the challenges placed before them and go the extra mile for the membership of MAPE.

MAPE’s new Director of Member Representation and Services, Joni Ketter just started on September 19^th.  Joni comes to MAPE with many years of experience in organizing, membership representation and state politics from SEIU, AFT and the Minnesota Nurses Association.  Please take time to welcome her to MAPE.

The operations staff, which includes Paul Schweitzer, Julie Lee, Patty Fadden, Kimberly Taylor and Candi Nelson, have been extremely busy over the past year. I want to take this opportunity to let you know what each of these dedicated staff do for you:

o   Candi is MAPE’s receptionist. She is the voice you hear when contacting the office and the person who puts together all of the local meeting announcements.

o   Patty is MAPE’s Membership Services lead. She works with many of you on information, supplies and operations matters.

o   Kimberly handles our membership records.

o   Julie is responsible for the financial record keeping and ensuring that all bills, expenses and reimbursements are paid.

o   Paul is responsible for the ongoing and smooth functioning of the support services, purchasing, financial reporting and other related matters.

In short, these individuals have extremely busy jobs and their work is essential to serving our membership.

Please take a few minutes to thank the operations staff for the work they do for you.

Communications
During one of the most difficult scenarios imaginable, MAPE communications kept members informed about the legislative session and the state government shutdown through desk drops, letters to members and web postings on completely redesigned websites that oftentimes had several new web pieces posted each day. MAPE communications successfully developed, trained and utilized a network of MAPE members as spokespeople to inform Minnesotans all across this state about the important services they provide.

Thanks to the help of a team of our members, MAPE’s earned media plan successfully helped to educate Minnesotans all across the state on the importance of our members’ services. We were flooded with media requests, both by proactively reaching out and the media’s response to news events, from the start of the legislative session through the end of the state government shutdown.

MAPE’s communications worked with the media, and recruited, coached and worked on remarks with members and leadership to speak at rallies and interviews for a wide range of media calls. A record number of members stepped forward to help us reach out to the media as spokespeople. Many of our spokespeople hadn’t been in the limelight before. These members were interviewed for radio, television, newspapers and online publications, and they spoke at rallies and at press conferences. We also collaborated with union brothers and sisters to stage joint opportunities for the media – our spokespeople also spoke at these events.

Our message went nationally and internationally, hitting the BBC (on the eve of the shutdown) and National Public Radio at the July 6 rally. The shutdown ended with the Wall Street Journal working on an article with us that was going to highlight a wide variety of the services provided by our members. In Minnesota, MAPE’s message was heard from border to border through the state’s media.

Members, leadership and staff created the first-ever desk drop newsletter for MAPE members with the latest information to debunk myths and attacks on public employees.

Leadership assisted in establishing a volunteer network across the state to distribute the first print edition of the newsletter in late February. A month later in order to reach all members and provide online reference material, we switched the distribution of the desk drop to an electronic format sent to members’ work e-mail addresses. As the shutdown drew near, we distributed the desk drop more frequently.

The desk drops were a huge success. The proof of this is revealed in the piece below on record-setting website activity, since the electronic desk drops had links to the MAPE and TeamMAPE websites.

MAPE.org and TeamMAPE.org website redesign is colossal hit! A time-tested marketing theory says that a well-beaten path to a product indicates it has been successful. The MAPE.org and TeamMAPE.org websites were redesigned in January to feature the news of importance that impacts the bottom line of the entire bargaining unit.

From the opening day of the legislative session through the end of the shutdown, the two websites kept MAPE employees up-to-date, first, on the dozens of anti-public employee, anti-union legislation the GOP legislative majority tried to enact into law this year. Then, on the shutdown-related issues leading up to and throughout the state government shutdown, MAPE members were kept up-to-date on the vast array of issues with daily updates, sometimes multiple times each day and over the weekends.

In the month leading up to the shutdown in June alone, the websites had a record-setting 76,467 visits (approximately 19,000 per week) or more than 36,000 unique visitors for the month. In the final two weeks of June, we averaged 13,000 unique visits per week – (roughly double what we saw a month earlier) and four peak days ranging from 5,000 to more than 7,000 unique visits per day.

In the last year, MAPE transitioned to a new state-of-the-art mass email and database tool known as Convio. Convio is better than our former product and allows for event signups, advocacy emails and mass emailing. In one day, 984 MAPE members used Convio to respond to an email sent to state employees by House Speaker Kurt Zellers and Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch. Team MAPE emails now reach 7,781 home email addresses, an increase of more than 2,000 emails. We sent more than 200,000
Team MAPE emails this year with an average open rate of 30 percent. In addition, MAPE is now using emails for meeting notices, saving money and the environment.

Along the way, we seamlessly switched to a new, more powerful web server.

Our campaign to collect home email addresses immediately prior to the shutdown was extraordinarily successful. We now have more than 2,000 additional emails than we did at the beginning of the year. MAPE has by far one of the most robust and successful email programs in the labor movement. We should all be proud of our work in this area.

Social media is a new way many MAPE members are using to get MAPE information and to interact with their fellow MAPE members. The MAPE and MAPE staff Twitter feeds, combined, have 1,077 followers. For the second year, Public Affairs and Communications Director Richard Kolodziejski tweeted real-time updates during the end of the legislative session in order to keep members informed. We have also achieved 230 “likes” on our MAPE Facebook page and have consolidated the Team MAPE and MAPE Facebook pages to one central location.

Thanks to MAPE’s communications team: Leslie Sandberg, Murray Cody and Kendal Killian for their endless hard work on communications over this past year.

Coalition Activities
MAPE partnered with a few key coalitions to aid the 2010 election effort. First and foremost, we played a significant role in the 2010 Fund, which contributed to the Alliance for a Better Minnesota. By airing key ads highlighting Tom Emmer’s votes to lower penalties for drunk drivers and his plan to cut wages for restaurant servers, ABM introduced Emmer to Minnesotans early in the campaign as the right-wing ideologue he is.

Second, MAPE joined the Labor 2010 coalition, playing a larger role in conjunction with our labor partners than we ever have. This coalition allowed us to have key members included in door knocking and mailing universes. Finally, MAPE once again partnered with other groups in the MVP partnership to aid key legislative races.

Our influence as a union is often stronger when we work in coalitions with partners in the broader progressive and labor communities. Together, the allies in these coalitions are greater than the sum of our parts as we work on various issues, from elections to hunger to health care. Here is an overview of just a few of the coalitions MAPE is currently involved in:

• Alliance for a Better Minnesota – ABM is focused on coordinating media and messaging activities within the progressive movement. Based on polling and expert messaging information, ABM spearheaded the anti-Emmer TV ads in 2010 that were instrumental in the election of Governor Mark Dayton. Throughout the 2011 legislative session and shutdown, ABM convened weekly strategy meetings, coordinating activities among progressive partners.
• 2012 Fund – MAPE was a founding member of the 2010 Fund. The 2010 Fund solicited large contributions from organizations and individuals in the run-up to the 2010 campaign, totaling more than $2 million. Together, our combined resources were put into the ABM ad campaign. The aptly named 2012 Fund is being organized in preparation for the 2012 election effort to win back labor friendly majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate.
• America Votes – Like ABM and the 2012 Fund, America Votes coordinates activities among numerous progressive partners. While the 2012 Fund focuses on raising money and ABM deals specifically with messaging and communications, America Votes is dedicated to state-of-the-art grassroots field campaigns. In 2010, America Votes funded and coordinated voter turnout efforts in student precincts and in the Hmong, Somali and African American communities. Earlier this year, America Votes coordinated budget battle activities in key legislative districts, including lit drops and in-district meetings.
• Take Action Minnesota – According to its website, TakeAction Minnesota is a statewide organization of individual and organizational members working in coalition to advance social, racial and economic justice.
• Minnesota 2020– Minnesota 2020 is a progressive, news media, non-partisan think tank focused on advancing progressive public policy. The reporting and research put out by Minnesota 2020 informs, frames and drives public policy debate on the issues that matter for Minnesota's future success: education, health care, transportation and economic development.
• Labor 2012 – This is the coalition of labor unions, including MAPE and Change to Win, that worked on common issues and concerns in the 2012 election cycle. In 2010, for the first time, MAPE members were included in mailings and canvasses executed by Labor 2010 to help make sure union members support union-endorsed candidates.
• Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition – This group focuses on education and coordinated action surrounding the issue of “Fair Trade” agreements.
• Upper Midwest Labor/Management Coalition on Health Care – This is a labor management coalition focused on ways to continue the provision of affordable, accessible and quality health care for members of Taft Hartley plans and SEGIP.
• Hunger Solutions – This is an organization dedicated to ending hunger in Minnesota.
• Minnesota Universal Health Care Coalition– This organization is focused on securing passage and implementation of a single payer universal health care program for all Minnesotans.

MAPE’s Political Program

2010 Elections:
Last fall, Team MAPE knocked on 5,000 doors, distributed 8,000 leaflets and made more than 12,000 phone calls. Throughout the entire campaign, more than 300 MAPE members actively got involved by attending their caucuses, making phone calls, talking to their coworkers, distributing flyers and knocking on doors.

Team MAPE ran a sophisticated and thorough internal member phoning program to encourage members to support our endorsed candidates in 2010. In addition to the calls mentioned above, we made at least one phone call to all members in targeted legislative districts and did 500 GOTV calls to members with less proven voting histories. For the first time, MAPE used auto dialing technologies to increase our efficiency and allowed members in Greater Minnesota to call simultaneously from home during the phone banks. For the first time, Team MAPE encouraged members to talk to their coworkers about the election and to track the results of those conversations through a dedicated online database.

MAPE sent a series of three mailings to key members at the very end of the campaigns. The first postcard reminded members to vote for Team MAPE candidates. The second mentioned legislative candidates and included a short biography of their endorsed legislative candidates. And the third highlighted Mark Dayton and included a list of endorsed candidates and polling locations. The final mailing also went to members with less proven voting histories. MAPE also sent a special issue of Professional Issues to all MAPE members. This mailing included a candidate comparison.

From June to November, MAPE members directly aided candidates in targeted districts by knocking on doors, walking in parades and making phone calls. Together, we helped candidates in more than 50 targeted districts.

Our internal member education campaign talked to more than 3,700 targeted members about voting for our endorsed candidates. These conversations took place at their doors, in workplaces and on the phone. Candidate ID surveys indicate 70 percent supported Dayton, 14 percent were undecided, 10 percent supported Emmer and 5 percent supported Horner. This was consistent with data from the September MAPE member poll.

Undecided members received a follow-up call immediately before the election, persuading them to support Dayton. More than 50 percent of these members broke to Dayton on their second call. Horner supporters also received a specific mail piece discouraging members from supporting him. These mailings coincided with Horner’s fall in the polls from near 20 percent down to 12 percent.

As a result of the efforts we put in, we achieved our stated goal by “electing our boss.” A special thanks to all of our member volunteers and activists who helped elect Minnesota’s first DFL governor in 24 years, Mark Dayton. Our election officials and volunteers also helped make it possible for more than 2,106,035 Minnesotans to vote on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Recount:
Following the election, Minnesota Statute required a recount since less than one-half of 1 percent of votes cast separated the two candidates in the race. MAPE made a significant impact on the Dayton recount effort. Our union made the very first financial contribution to the recount, coming at a very key point in the process. MAPE staff members and member volunteers played key roles in the recount effort. Richard Kolodziejski and Kendal Killian each led Dayton recount efforts in separate Minnesota counties. These contributions helped to ensure victory for our endorsed candidate, Mark Dayton. Special thanks go out to all who volunteered. Dayton’s recount was handled in a very professional manner. Hundreds of volunteers made it entirely possible.

Historic GOP Shift:
With Mark Dayton winning the governor’s race, the biggest shock was still being digested across the state.Overall, Team MAPE endorsed candidates won 62 percent of their races. However, we lost labor supportive majorities in both chambers of the Legislature. In other words, we won 15 percent fewer races than in 2006 and 2008. Republicans hold the advantage in the Senate,37 to 30,and in the House,72 to 62. In all, 34 DFL incumbents lost their reelection bids and the Senate saw a GOP majority for the first time in more than 30 years. Compounding the loss of the majority in both houses, Minnesota was facing a $5 billion budget shortfall.

The good news is that labor supported elected officials now sit in every statewide elected office in Minnesota, including both U.S. Senate seats, the Governor’s Office and all constitutional offices.

2011 Legislative Session
The new Republican legislative majorities in St. Paul took over in January. New committee chairs like Senator Mike Parry immediately set their sights on undermining MAPE and other state collective bargaining units.

Governor Dayton started his term in office doing battle with lawmakers who were intent on cutting state services to Minnesota’s most vulnerable citizens and local government aid by proposing an increase on the richest Minnesotans to help bridge the gap inthe budget deficit. The standoff began and simply disguised the more than 7 percent unemployment rate so many elected officials campaigned to correct.

With Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s attacks on public employees as a backdrop, the Minnesota Republican majority drafted bills including a constitutional amendment on “right to work” (for less), reduce the employee match into our pension plan, create health savings accounts as a replacement for our current health plan and eliminate the Corrections Early Retirement Plan (CERP).

The 2011 Legislature passed budget bills with false numbers and unprescribed cuts. They held conference committee meetings exclusive of the minority party. They rarely engaged the Governor’s Office in any bill negotiations, which resulted in nearly all of the budget bills passed at the very end of the legislative session being vetoed.Many critical attacks by the Republican majority were evident in those bills passed at the end of session, including:

• Moving to a high deductible plan within the State Employee Group Insurance Program (SEGIP).
• Elimination of MCF-Faribault chemical dependency treatment program and positions.
• Outsourcing of county audits done by the State Auditor’s Office.
• 15 percent required Executive Branch workforce reduction – approximately 5,000 jobs.
• Repealing of Minnesota Statute 16C protecting state workers’ jobs from being outsourced.
• Outsourcing of the state’s IT infrastructure.
• Mandated wage freezes.
• A 65 percent cut to the Department of Human Rights.
• Elimination of the Trade Office.
• Closure of the Willmar Community Transitional Services Facility.

We successfully pushed back these initiatives, but it took shutting down the government to do so. The majority’s tactics left no choice other than a government shutdown. One thing we know for sure is that when the shutdown concluded, the final bills still contained major cuts to jobs. Most agencies have been cut from 5 percent to 15 percent. This will translate into job loss.

Despite the difficulties of the legislative session, there were some other pieces of legislation passed that may benefit members and some that will cause a great deal of angst moving forward into future legislative sessions. The legislation includes:

• Proposed legislation to close the remaining two state tree nurseries ended up just limiting plantings at one of the state’s nurseries to plant on public lands or permanently protected lands. The DNR is required to submit a plan to the Legislature that includes a long-term plan for the state’s tree nurseries that will likely result in one being closed.
   
• The commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) is required to enter into a contract to provide dependent eligibility verification audit services for the state employee insurance program. In return, executive agency general fund operating budgets will be cut by $1.726 million during the upcoming biennium, resulting from savings from verification of dependent eligibility for state employee group insurance coverage.
   
• New legislation authorizes MMB to develop and implement a program to create incentives for efficient use by state employees of SEGIP.
   
• The commissioner of Revenue must implement a program of tax compliance through use of advanced tax analytics and business intelligence tools. Initial legislation required these services to be outsourced. The language signed into law allows the Department of Revenue to enter into contracts and hire employees to achieve this requirement.
   
• Currently, the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement (LCPR) consists of five House members and five senators. New legislation effective in January of 2013 increases the LCPR membership to seven members from each governing body. Five members from each chamber may be from the majority party in that chamber.
   
• Legislation establishing a Sunset Commission was established to review state agencies based on statutory criteria, conduct public hearings on the review, set criteria for the commission to consider in determining whether a public need exists for the continuation of a particular state agency, and report back on any recommendations on the abolition, continuation or reorganization of agencies. The bill states that if an employee is displaced because an agency is abolished, the agency must make a reasonable effort to relocate the displaced employee.
   
• Language in the State Government Finance omnibus bill requires the commissioner of MMB to establish a program to provide onetime bonus compensation to state employees for efforts made to reduce the costs of operating state government or for ways of creating efficiencies in state government. The maximum award to an employee or group of employees is 10 percent of the documented savings during the first year of implementation not to exceed $10,000 per employee or $25,000 per group of employees.
   
• Language requires MMB to report to the Legislature by January 15, 2012, on a plan to redesign and implement a new performance appraisal system for state employees. The new system would hold employees accountable for their individual performance, progress on meeting individual goals and the overall performance of their state agency. Your current step increases would still be dependent on that appraisal, including your agency’s performance.

• Legislation will require state employees (not including MnSCU) whose work involves functions or support for employees who handle information technology systems and services including data centers, mainframes, servers, desktops and laptops, networks, email and other office systems, business application software, and help desk and maintenance, to become part of the Office of Enterprise Technology (OET). OET will enter into managed contracts with state agencies for the services through their retained employees. The state chief information officer will then assign OET employees to perform work for state agencies. MAPE was able to work with the administration to ensure that any contracting must maintain the statutory protections provided in Minnesota Statute 16C. Employees will unlikely change their work or work locations under this new language.
   
• The MN Department of Human Rights received appropriations that were only
  5 percent reductions in the agency’s general fund budget rather than the proposed 65 percent cuts that the Legislature passed.
   
• Legislation passed that suggests a study from the Department of Corrections including deportation of illegal immigrant prisoners, early release, accepting inmates from other states or closing all or part of a facility, reducing inmate medical costs and reforming the department’s role in the juvenile justice system.
   
• Cuts to the correctional facilities of $1.8 million and a 2.5 percent cut to field services.
   
• Cuts of 13.5 percent to the MnSCU budget and more than 15 percent to the University of Minnesota’s base budget.
   
• The proposed closing of the Community Behavioral Health Hospital-Willmar may not take place before March 31, 2012.
   
• Cuts of 8 percent to the Department of Human Services’ base budget.

 As a result of the government shutdown and employee layoffs, one additional piece of legislation that passed states, “A state employee who was laid off or placed on unpaid leave during July 2011 and accepts recall during July 2011 shall receive service credit and credited salary in a retirement plan as if the employee had actually been employed during the period of layoff or unpaid leave during July 2011.”

2011 Budget Crisis
In the wake of a budget crisis defined by either tax increases on the wealthiest Minnesotans or cuts on jobs and services, a July 1 deadline for all state budget bills approached with a compromise not even in the cards. MAPE began working directly with AFSCME on shutdown planning. We continued to support the governor’s budget proposal while fighting an attack on our members and their rights. We communicated mostly through earned media, using social media and traditional media as resources.

On May 24, with a budget solution looking less likely, MAPE and AFSCME implemented the “We Want to Work” campaign. With $300,000, we coordinated television and radio buys with the AFL-CIO. Ads were scripted internally and prepared using actual state employees. They were shot and edited by the media firm Gum Spirits, which is known for its bold progressive ads. The ads were approved for airing in early June. The ads ran statewide following the AFL-CIO ad buy. The ads were run in conjunction with many field events such as “We Want to Work” Day, in-district legislative meetings and legislator contacts.

On June 10, more than 36,000 state employees received notices of the intent to be
laid off. MAPE members voted electronically to overwhelmingly approve a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to the state government shutdown. MAPE members approved the MOU by a 95 percent margin, with 50 percent of MAPE’s voting membership casting a ballot. The MOU prevented the cashing out of vacation and severance while protecting members’ rights to their employment and conditions upon returning to work. The voting was MAPE’s first electronic ballot used statewide and was done successfully.

As July 1 approached, the GOP majorities and governor did not reach agreement on the budget and the government shut down. A 20-day shutdown that impacted more than 7,700 MAPE members commenced as legislators returned home to their districts.

MAPE and our progressive partners were very active in targeting legislative districts throughout June and July, when legislators were at home in their districts. MAPE members participated in nearly 20 legislative meetings set up by our progressive allies, many with more than 100 constituents in attendance. MAPE members volunteered at more than 15 lit drops in targeted legislative districts and generated hundreds of
patch-through calls to legislators using our “We Want to Work” message. These activities clearly were noticed by Republican legislators.

While the government shutdown was a serious burden for thousands of MAPE members, it did provide us with an opportunity to engage hundreds of members in political activities. Through rallies, legislator meetings, ring of fire lit drops and phone banks, hundreds of MAPE members got more involved than ever before in Team MAPE activities throughout June and July.

This year, more than 300 MAPE members attended legislator meetings; we have sent more than 18,000 emails to legislators and received more than 500 member commitments to call legislators. The two Team MAPE phone banks during the shutdown were also very successful with more than 15 volunteers each week.

MAPE was recognized throughout the progressive community and the labor movement for our union’s significant involvement in these activities leading up to and during the shutdown. At event after event, our members made up a considerable percentage of the attendees. In at least 10 instances, our members were quoted in news stories as a direct result of their participation at town hall meetings.

2011 Contract Negotiations
Having just gone through the worst debacle in the state’s legislative history, a 20-day shutdown that impacted more than 7,700 MAPE members, our goal was and remains to negotiate a contract that MAPE’s members can ratify and the Legislature will pass.

During the last legislative session, we had to fight back more than 50 bills aimed directly at taking away your rights and benefits, and contracting out your jobs. MAPE employees do have a contract that remains in place. Negotiations were initiated on May 12 when MAPE and the Governor’s Team exchanged proposals for the 2011-2013 contract. On May 13, the Union Coalition met with the Governor’s Team to hear a presentation from them. Since then, we have initiated negotiations and are working through the process, the provisions of PELRA, Sections 179A.20, subd.6, come into play. This section states:

Subd. 6.Contract in effect.

During the period after contract expiration and prior to the date when the right to strike matures, and for additional time if the parties agree, the terms of an existing contract shall continue in effect and shall be enforceable upon both parties.

This means that the current contract remains in force during negotiations. All provisions of the current contract are in effect. We have returned to the table with the multi-union insurance coalition and set additional dates for October.

What we learned from the last legislative session and its brutal outcome is that even the current contract would not be approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature. PELRA does require that they pass legislation to implement the contract.The process we have entered into may seem protracted; however, we cannot agree to a contract that would negotiate away your rights, impose a high deductable health plan or impose a withholding of 5 percent of your wages for something called “performance pay.”

The Driving Force Behind the Anti-Labor Movement – ALEC
As recent news articles detail the stagnant job market, high unemployment and excessive executive compensation and multi-million dollar federal tax refunds for fortune 500 companies, many in the middle class are still wondering why they keep getting squeezed.

The current economic situation here in Minnesota is directly tied to the leadership change in the Legislature. The middle class, as well as the unions that defend it and are members of it, are not supported by the Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. Unfortunately, what we are experiencing in Minnesota is happening all around the country. The attack on unions and the middle class started soon after the 2010
mid-term elections.

National Coordinated Effort
At a Republican Governor’s Association meeting in San Diego right after the election, several elected officials identified unions as the enemy, and claimed that union compensation and benefits were the reason for deficits in so many states.

Scott Walker of Wisconsin and New Jersey’s Chris Christie joined Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty in stepping up the attacks. All of them echoed that public employees were “over benefitted and overpaid” or were the “haves while the taxpaying public are the have-nots.” It did not matter to the GOP whether their statements were accurate; they were energized and had their target in sight.

Union busting was in full force and yet no one really knew of the level of what was in store for public employees.

In Ohio and Wisconsin, Republican governors had favorable legislatures that allowed them to destroy collective bargaining rights. In Wisconsin, there was such an uproar that democratic senators left the state to try and stop Walker’s attack. Although ultimately Walker won, his victory was slightly delayed. During that delay, the country was able to see the influence of conservative businessmen and a little known non-profit that helped shape Walker’s union busting agenda.

While state democrats took refuge across the state lines in Illinois, Governor Walker took a call and unwittingly thought he was chatting with David Koch of Koch Industries. Koch is a billionaire whose conservative, pro-business PAC gave Walker’s campaign for governor $46,000 in 2010. It turns out Walker actually was talking to a blogger who impersonated Koch, recorded the very frank conversation and exposed the cozy relationship between the governor and the billionaire.

David and his brother Charles supported Walker and his anti-union agenda. But there was more. The Koch Brothers also financially supported another group that was growing in influence, The American Legislative Exchange Council.

The American Legislative Exchange Council
More than 30 years ago, a small group of state legislators and conservative policy advocates met in Chicago to implement a common vision: they wanted to create “a nonpartisan, membership association for state lawmakers who shared a belief in limited government, free markets, federalism and individual liberty.” As a result of that meeting in September 1973, the American Legislative Exchange Council, known as ALEC, was formed.

According to background information on ALEC, the organization brings together “state lawmakers and business people with the goal of substantively creating policy … in addition to state lawmakers, ALEC membership consists of about 300 corporate, foundation and other private sector members.” As you might assume, a majority of the state lawmakers involved with ALEC are Republican.

Funding of ALEC
ALEC is supported by corporate America. Here is a partial listing of companies and trade associations that support ALEC: American Nuclear Energy Council, American Petroleum Institute, Coors Brewing Company, Texaco, Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturing of America, Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, VISA, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Johnson and Johnson, Kraft Foods, Inc., Wal-Mart, Intuit, State Farm Insurance, United Parcel Service(UPS), the National Rifle Association, Koch Industries, Amway and others.

According to public information provided by the organization People for the American Way, in 2007 ALEC had a budget of approximately $7.8 million in revenue and
$3.1 million in assets. Corporate membership fees ranged between $5,000 and $50,000 with additional fees to participate in certain task forces.

For decades, ALEC has quietly produced business friendly legislation for lawmakers all around the country. ALEC has no real counterpart on the left. Its closest equivalent, the Progressive States Network, was founded in 2005, has about a quarter of ALEC’s funding and produces only a small amount of model legislation.

This year, ALEC published a “Budget Tool Kit” that offered model legislation for cutting government services and targeting public employees. The mission of the task force that drafted the budget tool kit was “to explore policy solutions that reduce excessive government spending, lower the overall tax burden, enhance the transparency of government operations and promote free-market fiscal policies.”

According to an article titled, ALEC Exposed, in The Nation, “ALEC priorities for the 2011 session included bills to privatize education, break unions, deregulate major industries, pass voter identification laws and more. In states across the country, they succeeded with stacks of new laws signed by GOP governors like Ohio’s John Kasich and Scott Walker, both ALEC alums.”

ALEC’s growing influence goes hand in hand with the union bashing currently going on throughout the nation. Corporate America sees an opportunity to severely weaken or eliminate unions under the guise of creating government efficiency and ALEC is poised to work with their members who are state lawmakers to make this happen. In 2011, Minnesota public employee unions were targeted by the new GOP majorities in the House and Senate, many who are ALEC members.

State Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, former Minnesota Secretary of State, is ALEC’s state chair. She acknowledged that there are about 30 Minnesota legislators who are members of ALEC. Kiffmeyer also organized ALEC training for Republican lawmakers during the last session.

As a result of ALEC’s influence, in the 2011 legislative session, there were 50 bills introduced to eliminate collective bargaining in Minnesota. Many of the bills were cookie cutter templates from ALEC’s took kit and were introduced during the legislative session. One piece of legislation, if passed, would have actually cost the state more money.

Here is some of the more egregious legislation sponsored by Minnesota GOP legislators who are members of ALEC:

• Pension reform, sponsored by state Senator Alice Hoffman, would have forced public employees to pay 3 percent more for their pensions while reducing the state’s match by 3 percent.
  • Pension reform was cited as a major tool to improve government efficiency in the 2011 Budget Tool Kit.
  • The bill would have cost the state $68.5 million annually and would have negated some of the $6 billion in savings made by the 2010 pension reform bill.
  • Even though this bill would cost Minnesota money, it is still alive and could reappear next session.
• Outsourcing state services, cutting the state workforce by 15 percent, mandated salary freeze, Health Savings Account high deductible plan – were allshepherded through Senator Mike Parry’s State Government Finance Committee Omnibus Bill and sent to Governor Dayton.
  • All of the provisions in this bill are supported by ALEC.
  • Dayton vetoed the omnibus bill and ensured that none of these provisions were included in the government shutdown agreement.
  • All of these provisions are alive as long as the GOP maintains its leadership majority in the Legislature.

Throughout the session, MAPE staff and members worked very hard to kill these bills. By attending and testifying at committee hearings, holding rallies, issuing press statements and releases, distributing desk drops, writing and calling legislators and working with the Dayton Administration, MAPE played a major role in the defeat of the many bills aimed at eliminating public employee collective bargaining rights.

MAPE Fights Back
According to Michael Keegan, a columnist for the Huffington Post, the real story behind the protests and union bashing in Wisconsin, “… has little to do, as Gov. Walker would have you believe, with a state-level push for fiscal responsibility. It has everything to do with the changing dynamics of money and influence in national politics. Pro-corporate politicians never liked the power wielded by unionized workers.”

Keegan added, “Gov. Walker’s attempt to obliterate Wisconsin public employee unions … could be the first of many attempts across the country to permanently wipe out what are the strongest political opponents of the newly empowered corporate force in American politics.”

In Minnesota, as we already know, Governor Dayton’s support of unions and public employees kept us from Wisconsin’s fate. Public employees also had the support of the majority of Minnesotans as poll after poll revealed. Unfortunately, the Legislature remained unmoved by poll data, so as the government faced a shutdown, MAPE and its allies took action.

MAPE and AFSCME unveiled the “We want to work for Minnesota” campaign, which was designed to use earned media, paid media and grassroots organizing to call for a budget solution of taxing the wealthiest in our state so that public employees could continue to work for Minnesotans. MAPE members also participated in “ring of fire” events where they would door knock or attend a town hall meeting to call out legislators who did not support a reasonable budget solution.

In the end, state government did shutdown, but once a budget solution was reached, many union busting legislative proposals did not make it into law. Although the battle was won in the short term, the war against public employees and unions will still continue.

Looking to the Future
MAPE Polling:

MAPE participated in polling this past February and again in August. The consistent message we received from our polling shows that the majority of the public supports state employees and believes unions are good for Minnesota. While there continues to be the rhetoric of how luxurious the health care and retirement packages are for state employees, the public does not support shifting the costs of health care to employees as the Legislature proposed in a high deductible health plan during the 2011 session. The public also does not support removing state employees’ defined benefit pension plan. They believe that the average MAPE salary is a fair salary for state employees. Our August poll also showed that the government shutdown will be factored into how the public votes in the next election.

What to Expect:
Now that the 2011 legislative session is behind us, we know that there are cuts coming to state agencies through attrition and layoffs. Although protecting jobs was important to the new Republican majority, protecting public employee jobs was not. It remains unknown what layoffs will look like as the 2011 budget bills are rolled out.

Before we entertain the thought that 2012 might be as difficult as 2011 was, all of the makings of a worse legislative session are being put into place. Instead of rolling up their sleeves and working on jobs and campaign promises along with fair and balanced solution to the state’s $5 billion budget deficit, the Republican majority in the Legislature started the 2011 session by introducing a bundle of anti-labor bills including constitutional amendments. Now, they promise a phase two of their plan. According to GOP legislators, phase two includes a round of constitutional amendments that would place significant constraints on the state budgeting process and jeopardize workers’ rights to be part of a union.

Bashing Unions:
The public bashing of labor unions continues to be on the rise. Corporate America and elected officials have made it their goal to cut wages and benefits to the working class while corporate executives continue to get wealthy. On August 1 when American Crystal Sugar Company’s workers were locked out from their jobs, we learned that their employer was focusing on contractingout employee health care. There were proposed loopholes in the company’s proposal that would allow them to replace union workers with non-union contractors. Despite wage increases proposed by the company, the implementation of the company’s high-deductible plan would result in a reduced amount of take-home pay for employees.

American Crystal Sugar’s Board of Directors received more than $428,000 in compensation in 2010 for the 17-member board, according to the company’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Crystal’s SEC filing also revealed additional compensation and perks handed out to its top four executives in addition to their $4.3 million compensation packages. Last year, American Crystal made $1.2 billion in profits, despite the massive compensation packages it pays its top four managers. Their managers earned more than $4.3 million in compensation in 2010 after receiving more than $645,000 in raises during the same year.

45,000 Verizon workers launched their strike this August after talks broke down, which surrounded worker concessions. Specifically, Verizon is trying to tie pay increases to performance review and require union workers to contribute to health-plan premiums. This is the exact scenario that took place with each of you during the 2011 legislative session. Verizon is making demands that unions say would roll back gains of the last 50 years, causing the strike of 45,000 Verizon workers. Verizon is calling for $1 billion in concessions from its union workforce.

In addition, Verizon wants to freeze pensions at the end of the year, eliminate the sickness and death benefit program, and cut sickness disability benefits. The company announced its best quarter since 2008, netting$1.6 billion profit for the second quarter of 2011.

The Verizon strike ended after two weeks. Both sides agreed to continue negotiations, while Verizon agreed to extend its workers’ current contracts.

On August 18, two months after Connecticut workers rejected an agreement meant to save $1.6 billion over two years, workers accepted the same deal, bowing to the threat of layoffs in a year full of budget cuts and pending layoffs to state employees. After the initial vote, unions representing 45,000 state workers changed the voting rules to make approval more likely. 3,000 layoff notices had already been sent out with thousands more pending. All 14 unions have completed a new vote and approved the deal.

The agreement includes a two-year wage freeze and concessions on health care and pension benefits. In exchange, the unions secured a four-year no-layoff clause and a promise that the state would not demand unpaid furloughs. The changes are expected to save about $1.6 billion over two years and $21.5 billion over 20 years. Pension and compensation packages for workers hired after July 1 will be reduced even further, and will not include the “longevity pay” that had rewarded workers for staying on the job.

2012 Session:
Our 2012 legislative session is scheduled to be very short. Our collective bargaining agreement may end up before the Legislative Coordinating Commission on Employee Relations (LCCER) chaired by Sen. Mike Parry and Vice Chair Steve Drazkowski, two of the most anti-labor legislators in the entire Legislature. We face a rejected contract from LCCER for the first time in MAPE’s history. Expect the full Legislature to continue planning to carry out its own agenda absent Governor Mark Dayton. Republican legislators have committed to another four constitutional amendments along with the marriage amendment including right to work, a taxpayer bill of rights, a super majority vote requirement for tax increases and a voter identification amendment. Once the majority’s agenda has been completed, expect a very early adjournment.

2012 Campaigns:
It should be very obvious to MAPE members how the political process directly impacts our lives as state employees. The events in Wisconsin earlier this year, the threats we pushed back at the Capitol and, of course, the government shutdown earlier this summer make it abundantly clear that involvement in political activities are absolutely vital to the growth and success of our union.

It is clear that our future depends on the coordination of work being done by all coalitions and allies to work together on each common cause. We will continue to meet with the Governor’s Office, communicate to the membership and call on each of you for action. We will see unprecedented amounts of money being spent in Minnesota from national groups that will require a coordination of resources to successfully defend ourselves from proposed constitutional amendments coming from a bully Legislature that refuses to negotiate with the chief executive of the state.

That is why the 2012 elections will be particularly important. The Team MAPE PAC has laid out three core strategic objectives for the 2012 cycle: 1) To win back MAPE supportive majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate, 2) To defeat legislation and constitutional amendments that would be harmful to MAPE members and our families, and, 3) To encourage MAPE member involvement in political activities.

Team MAPE is preparing a plan right now on how it will achieve these goals in 2012. The constitutional amendments, particularly a right-to-work amendment, would pose a direct threat to our union. Please stay tuned as we lay out our 2012 plan and ask for member involvement in achieving these stated goals.

Improvements require change. Change starts now! Change begins with each of us! And change requires us to do a little more than we’ve always done!

Respectfully Submitted,

James A. Monroe
Executive Director