Go to www.afscme.org to find information and forms to apply for Jerry Clark Memorial Scholarship, as well as other AFSCME scholarships. Call the Nashwauk AFSCME Council 65 Office at 1-888-474-3242 for information on the Al Church Scholarships. Download application form here.
The MLPNA Annual Convention will be held on April 20 - 22, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Alexandria, 5637 Hwy 29 South, Alexandria MN 56308.
A message from the Director:
Progressive Dues Proposal Passes! Delegates at the annual Council 65 convention passed the proposed constitutional amendment that will set into motion a transition to a new progressive dues system. For those of you who have not taken the time to attend one of the 11 dues forums held across the State, or if you did not attend the convention to learn firsthand about the proposal let me summarize:
Progressive Dues are in simple terms, dues that are based on your salary. To meet the definition of progressive as defined in the International Constitution, a dues system had to based on one of these three systems: (1) a percentage of the employee’s salary per pay period; (2) a multiple of the employee’s hourly rate of pay – 2 times or 2.5 times or 2.75 times hourly rate of pay; (3) a progression of salaries or pay ranges - $10 & under pays X; $15.00 - $10.01 pays – Y; $20.00 - $15.01 pays – Z.
The Council 65 Dues committee members examined many options and along with the assistance of Mike Mann from the International developed a proposal that would allow the Council to maintain the level of services without creating any long term debt, nor generate any significant surpluses. The Dues committee recommended that to implement the system and minimize the increases that are inevitable with a truly progressive system, annual caps or maximums were included with the proposal. The proposal that passed is this:
EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2010, EACH MEMBER SHALL BE ASSESSED A MINIMUM OF 1.615% OF BASE SALARY PER PAY PERIOD OR A MAXIMUM OF $47.00 PER MONTH, WHICHEVER IS LESS. Locals will still have the ability to modify this formula to allow for strike fund payments or any additional assessments that the Local has approved. The Council will be contacting those locals that have special assessments in place at this time and working with them to develop a plan to maintain or adjust those by July first.
While the initiative for the change to a progressive dues system began at the International Convention in 2006, a significant change was imminent for Co 65 with the current system. The long range forecast completed by the International revealed that without a change the Council was facing serious financial shortfalls in the near future. Those losses would have resulted in possible reductions in staffing which directly effects servicing and that was simply unacceptable for the current Executive Board members. For those of you who supported the proposed amendment, I thank you, For those who did not support the change, I ask that you take the time to reconsider all of the information provided to you, Reflect on how important your Union contract is to you and your co-workers, and I hope that you will come to realize that while there is an increase for many, there is also some relief for those on the lower end of the scale or part time employees and what you do and what you contribute are what help make Council 65 a strong and vibrant community where when we speak as a group,, our voices roar, when we speak as one, we are only a whisper. SOLIDARITY today is more important to our organization than ever before and SOLIDARITY will help us through this transition.
Posted on: 10/16/2009