October 2012 Quarterly Meeting Minutes

AFGE Local 2718 Quarterly Meeting of the Membership

Minutes October 30, 2012 12:30 p.m. , Room 5703, 101 W. Congress Pkwy., Chicago, IL

MEETING CALLED BY: President Andre Jones

TYPE OF MEETING: Quarterly Membership Meeting

NOTE TAKER: Brenda Treml

ATTENDEES: President Andre Jones, Executive Vice President Michael Ortiz, Secretary Brenda Treml, Treasurer Bruce Allen

Michelle Gilewicz, Nancy Krumpolz, Eileen Brinn, Maura Fennelly

Via Video-Conferencing in Milwaukee: Suzanne Canady, Joe Barcyzk, John Jaminet, Sarah Mack, Sandra Perkins, Mary Holton

Opening

Call to Order at 12:41 p.m.

Reading of the Previous Minutes

There are no previous minutes, as this is the initial quarterly meeting of a new executive board.

Reports

Secretary’s Report from Brenda Treml

• Update on the Local Supplemental Agreement (LSA) for CIS –
  • Labor Employee Relations (LER) is reviewing the language. The negotiating team has met with management to begin preparations for the training that will follow.
  • Director Pietropaoli has asked that the LSA not be distributed until LER has given its approval to the language.
  • The Asylum Office’s LSA was kicked back from LER to be re-drafted.
• A blog has been created to distribute information to the bargaining unit employees: http://afgelocal2718.blogspot.com/ and meeting minutes are at http://afgelocal2718meetingminutes.blogspot.com/

ICE Report from Executive Vice President Michael Ortiz

• There are 4 major topics right now:

• Deportation Officer selections
• Escort wheels
• Secure Communities Unit – duplicate positions doing the same work
• Overtime issues for deportation officers.

Financial Report from Treasurer Bruce Allen

• The local has $53,782.31 in its money market account, and $11,883.54 in checking.
• There are outstanding debts and remittances:
  • The CIS legislative council has reimbursed the local with $500 for President Andre Jones’ travel;
  • An individual member wrote a check for $85 to pay dues directly to the local.
  • The election committee has been reimbursed for $321.02 in election-related expenses for postage, printing, and mailing ballots. This is over $100 less than budgeted.
  • The local spent $15.78 for pastries and coffee for the final LSA meeting with CIS management.
  • The local spent $1,610.89 to send President Andre Jones to the AFGE National Convention.
• To leave the union and stop paying dues, members should get in touch with Treasurer Bruce Allen. Please note:
  • Dues are taken directly from members’ paychecks and paid to the national office, which deducts per capita tax and dues for the CIS Council 119, ICE Council 118, and the CBP council (we have a couple of people from CBP who decided to stay with our local) then reimburses the local. For the last 3 years, we have not had enough money coming in to cover the taxes and council dues.
  • The month of March is open season for leaving union membership, though a member can leave anytime upon agreement of the Executive Board.
• The union needs to buy equipment. The basement union office was flooded several years ago, destroying all equipment. The union has yet to be reimbursed by GSA for the damage. Management provided a computer, but it is hooked up to the government’s network.
• We have budgeted for the purchase of a laptop, but will be able to get two for the amount budgeted. Financial records will be kept on one of them.
• Money was given to the local for recruiting new members. National President Cox authorized $5,000 for recruitment.

Agenda Items

Transparency

• The blog has been created and was sent out to members with the meeting notice.

Input from Bargaining Unit Employees

• Would like input from everyone on what we can do better.
• Members can put comments on the blog, or email the executive board.

Pending ULPs, Grievances, and EEOs

• The local will be accounting for all pending issues in both ICE and CIS.

Proposed Changes to By-Laws

• This issue has been tabled until the next quarterly meeting which will be in January 2013.

Question from Member:

Would the Executive Board consider surveying employees regarding their experiences with union reps, or allowing them to rate their experience with their reps?

President Andre Jones advised the member to forward that idea to him for further consideration, and noted that it sounded like a good idea.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:33 p.m.