AFSCME Council 65

AFSCME Council 65 covers the entire state of Minnesota, with the exception of the State employees, Metro Minneapolis/St Paul area, and metro Duluth and St. Louis County Employees. That means we go from International Falls to Worthington to Rochester. We have staff all over the state who service their immediate area. Council 65 works to improve the pay and working conditions of its members and is committed to winning respect and appreciation through strong contracts for the public employees of Greater Minnesota.

DUES – THEY ARE “A-CHANGING”

For those of you out there who attended the 45th annual Council 65 convention in Grand Rapids, you have already heard of the International Union mandate that each affiliated council will have to develop a “progressive” dues system by January of 2011. For specific reference to this mandate, check out the 2006 AFSCME International constitution, Appendix E, Section 2 (A) Article IX, Section 5 (page 151 – 152). To comply with this constitutional amendment, your brothers and sisters adopted by resolution the development of a “dues committee” and that committee has been duly appointed by President George Plautz and has begun the task of reviewing our current dues structure, looking at alternatives, trying to collect current financial information on the members, and preparing for informational meetings down the road with the membership.

The first task that the committee completed was the development of a mission statement that is intended to capture and express to the members what the committee hopes to accomplish. Here is the mission statement:

The objective of the dues committee is to ensure continued strong services, growth, stability and independence for Council 65 and its members by designing and maintaining a progressive dues structure that incorporates the principles of the “ability to pay” within a fair system of dues allocation.

At this time, the committee is asking for the patience of the membership as there is no real news or developments to share. The Council has undertaken the nearly insurmountable task of collecting current financial data on 13, 500 plus members, from 345 different Employers. In order to make accurate calculations on the impact of any change in the dues system, we must have current, accurate wage information on the members, along with hours of work. The Council represents over 2100 school employees, many who work only 9 months per year, and pay dues only when working, the Council also represents many health care workers who work part time and even casual hours. All of that data has to be collected to enable the committee to do its work. We have initiated that process, we have a response from 158 Employers to date, and have another 187 to contact.

The committee is a mixture of Executive Board members, at large members from a spectrum of hourly wages, the Director and Assistant Director, and a member of the staff union. A full roster is available on the Council 65 web site: www.afscmecouncil65.org The committee is waiting on word from the International letting us know when they will be able to assist us with staff that will run all of the calculations and dissect all of the variables within our membership and our dues system. PATIENCE…GOOD THINGS TAKE TIME.

On behalf of the Committee:
Steve Giorgi/Assistant Director

DUES COMMITTEE MISSION STATEMENT:

The objective of the dues committee is to ensure continued strong services, growth, stability and independence for Council 65 and its members by designing and maintaining a progressive dues structure that incorporates the principles of the “ability to pay” within a fair system of dues allocation.

Committee Members:

George Plautz, City of St. Cloud
Tom Everett, City of Red Wing
Mary Jo Buermann, Paynesville Medical Center
Peggy Kinzler, Carver County
Jean Wildman, Walker School
Dennis Genereaux, Carlton County
Michael Boese, Carlton County, Alternate
Karen Haugen, Beltrami County
Linda Roiko, Wadena County DAC
Mark Reger, Hibbing Public Utilities
Amber Peratalo, Itasca County Courthouse
Steve Preble, Council 65 Executive Director
Steve Giorgi, Council 65 Assistant Director
Edonna Spokely, Council 65 Office Coordinator
James Moore, MIFSCA Representative

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