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Executive Board Minutes August 7 – 8, 2003 Quality Inn, Albany, New York
President Benson called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m., Thursday, August 7, 2003. Members joined in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. Bob Harms, former Executive Board member was introduced as the acting Sergeant at Arms. SEIU Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger swore in the newly elected Executive Board members. Ms. Burger congratulated the Board members and spoke on the political situation this country was in and how to take back it back. Ms. Burger commended our member mobilizing effort and spoke on the campaign to educate the members for the upcoming 2004 presidential election. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA A motion to adopt the agenda was seconded. Greg Case moved to amend the agenda to address support of the Central New York AFL-CIO Workers’ monuments under the Secretary-Treasurer’s report. There was a second to the motion and it carried. The agenda was adopted as amended. 1. Call Meeting to Order 2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag 3. Swear in New Executive Board 4. Adoption of the Agenda 5. Adoption of the Minutes 6. Vote to Hear Ethics Appeal 7. President’s Report a) Priorities Update/”Cut State Waste” Campaign and Transit Check update b) Contract Update c) Approval of Special Elections Committee d) PEF Colors e) NDRI Contract Review 8. Secretary-Treasurer’s Report a) Budget Amendments b) Funding for Executive Board Travel c) 2002 Convention Resolution #14 – “Reporting of Division Expenses” d) Support for Central Labor Council Monument
a) Ethics Appeal – 9:00 a.m. Friday b) Convention Committee Report c) PAC Report 1. Legislative Agenda 2. PAEAC Election
a) Pre-Tax Transportation Programs – Goldstein b) Correcting PEF’s Membership Database – Goldstein c) Testimony at Public Hearings regarding Agencies or Institutions – Morgenstern d) Waiving Article 33 Contract Rights – Morgenstern ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES A motion was made and seconded to adopt the minutes from the June 19-20, 2003 Executive Board meeting. Charlie Kelefant moved to amend the minutes on page 6 to identify attachment “B” as Attachment “C” and to add Lou Ferrone as a no vote on the voting record. Mike Keenan moved to amend the minutes regarding the American Labor Studies Center resolution to include the following language to the minutes: Resolved, that PEF support the American Labor Studies Center by promoting awareness of it among its members to contribute appropriate curriculum materials and contribute financially to support the operation and maintenance of the Center. Mr. Keenan also wanted to include language that “President Benson said the motion would include that PEF donate five hundred additional dollars” as well the adoption of the resolution. There was no opposition to this request from Mr. Keenan. Jennifer Faucher moved to amend the minutes, under the second paragraph under the Constitution and ByLaws, “to have a committee look at duties regarding division set up, not regions. There was a second to her amendment. Mr. Kelefant, maker of the original motion, stated that was not his intent to look into divisions, but regions. The motion to amend the minutes was defeated. The minutes were adopted as amended by Charlie Kelefant and Mike Keenan.. Vote to hear Ethics Appeal Priscilla Sweet, Chair of the Ethics Committee gave an overview of what had transpired and how the committee reached their decision regarding Ethics Case 2002-08, Garry vs. Jones. The board voted not to hear the appeal and to sustain the committee’s decision. At this time President Benson announced that Region 6 Coordinator Michael DelPiano had suffered a broken leg last week and was in an ankle to thigh cast. He said a card was being passed around for the Board to sign. Mary Twitchell also brought to the Board’s attention that Carlos Basualdo, a DOT member from her region was severely injured over the weekend. President Benson stated a donation could be made to him from PEF’s charitable donations budget. PRESIDENT’S REPORT President Benson introduced the Executive Council and the three Trustees and thanked the Executive Council for their leadership and commitment to the union. President Benson remarked on PEF’s accomplishments, one that this union had come forth as a union of doers rather than spectators, that two-thirds of divisions were mobilized, regions can put together grass roots political campaigns that make politicians want to be involved with PEF. He did stated however, that we must rally to be a better, stronger and more militant and more mobilized union He stated this administration would be devoted to achieving the broad general goals and hoped that PEF would be a very active participant in the campaign to “Show Bush the Door in 2004”. Vision in the next three years is to have grass roots election activity around every targeted election, as numbers count in all that we do. Also to have a harder hitting public relations activities. President Benson also spoke on the remaining issues that PEF has been addressing. Job Security Reported to the Board that we have a two structure around job security – membership committee chaired by Vice President Pat Baker that meets and advises the President where actively needs to be provided. There is also a Membership Staff Work Group – the Budget Work Group meet monthly and sometimes weekly depending when there is a job security fight. OMH is being watched very closely. Stronger Contracts President Benson reported there had already been twenty-five meetings with the state and written proposals moved across the table. There was also agreement as to what was not going to be discussed at the table. There were continued informal discussions regarding what must be accomplished in negotiations for both sides. Retirement Reform President Benson stated this basically was a stock market issue as our pension fund is deeply invested in the stock market. He also announced that PEF has hired Matt Shebar as Director of Retiree Programs. Mr. Shebar formerly worked in a high level position for Comptroller McCall. Funding for this position was from Membership Benefits Program. President Benson reported on the Cut State Waste Campaign currently underway and stated this would be addressed as well at the Convention. He answered questions from members regarding his report and their concerns about the potential loss of positions with the State of New York. Contract Update Vice President, Contract Chair Ken Brynien, for the benefit of the newly elected Executive Board members, introduced the Contract Team and gave an overview of what had transpired in the phases of negotiating the contract. He gave an update as to where negotiations were and answered questions regarding his report. Pretax Transportation Update Director of Labor Relations, Roger Scales gave an update on the issue and said the state had sent out bids and we would be discussing this at future meetings. Meeting recessed for lunch Meeting reconvened President Benson called the meeting back to order. Approval of Special Elections Committee President Benson moved to nominate Edith Cooper, Rob Grace, and Craig Walek as the Special Elections Committee. The motion was moved and seconded. The committee was approved. Mike Keenan moved that the Board, at their next meeting, reexamine and review the Special Election Rules. The motion received a second. President Benson stated it was not necessary to make a motion to this effect, that we would start looking into the special rules immediately. PEF Colors Vice President Brynien on behalf of the Color Committee, moved the following: “PEF and all of its regions, divisions and committees shall place the PEF logo on all articles of clothing that they distribute. The standard color of the logo shall be dark blue. On dark articles of clothing where a dark blue logo would not stand out, the logo shall be white. PEF and any of its regions, divisions, and committees may modify the logo by adding words, numbers, or symbols to individualize it for the region, division, committee or event. The motion was seconded. Ron Goldstein stated it thought this violated the Bill of Rights, Article 22 of the PEF Constitution. It was reported that it did not. After debating the issue, Mike Keenan moved to amend the motion, that “PEF and all of its regions, divisions and committees shall place the PEF name and or initials, [scratch out logo] on all articles of clothing that they distribute. In addition they are encouraged to use the entire PEF logo and AFL-CIO initials. The standard color of the logo shall be dark blue, etc. This amendment was seconded. Neila Cardus moved to amend the amendment to delete the color “blue”. There was a second to the amendment. The amendment to the amendment carried to delete the color blue. The first amendment to use the AFL-CIO initials also carried. The main motion, as amended carried: “PEF and all of its regions, divisions, and committees shall place the PEF name and or initials on all articles of clothing that they distribute. In addition they are encouraged to use the entire PEF logo and AFL-CIO initials. PEF and any of its regions, divisions and committees may modify the logo by adding words, numbers or symbols to individualize it for the region, division, committee or event.” (See Attachment A) At this time, President Benson announced that he would not be appointing any new committee members until after the Convention, and that he would be distributing to the Board and Council leaders a form asking them for committees they would like to serve on. NDRI Contract Kalli Zervos , Downstate Field Staff Director went over the gains that had been negotiated for the NDRI members and a motion was made, seconded and carried to send the proposed contract out to the membership for ratification. SECRETARY-TREASURER’S REPORT Secretary-Treasurer Hallum started her report by announcing the membership numbers had remained steady at 53,479. Ms. Hallum referred to a resolution that was adopted at the 2002 PEF Convention “Supplemental Communication”. She stated that the Trustees report to thefollowing Convention the implementation of those resolutions previously adopted. She referred to the documentation that was handed out regarding Resolution #16, and gave explanations. Budget Amendments Secretary-Treasurer explained the 10% overtures to the budget and answered questions regarding these figures. This was accepted by the Board. (see Attachment B) The budget amendment to create two positions of Political Organizer/Lobbyist at hiring rate of MC-7 were adopted. (see Attachment C) Guidelines for Reimbursement of Executive Board Travel Secretary-Treasurer Hallum referred to the proposed guidelines. Bill Sachs moved to amend the document in the fourth paragraph, “expenses once annually for [a] an informational …..and at the end of the paragraph, “prior approval of the Secretary-Treasurer.” There was a second to Mr. Sach’s motion. Mike Keenan called the question on the amendment, second and carried. The amendments carried. Mike Keenan moved to amend the guidelines to delete the last paragraph and received a second. After discussion on this issue, Mike was willing to just delete the language, “will be on a first requested, first approved basis.” The motion was seconded and carried. Tom Fahey moved to amend the guidelines in paragraph four to 70 miles instead of 100 miles and to include tolls. This motion was seconded and after discussion was adopted. (see Attachment D) 2002 PEF Resolution l4 – Reporting of Division Expenditures Secretary-Treasurer Hallum explained that since this resolution had been adopted at the 2002 Convention it was her requirement to see that it was implemented. She read, “Therefore be it resolved by this resolution that the convention instruct the Secretary-Treasurer to draft rules for Divisions and locals to require the reporting of local expenses and language to forbid any practices which would disguise or otherwise mislead readers to the nature of a particular expenditure.” Ms. Hallum stated that her rules were that divisions shall report expenses in plain language and that the expenditure reports be posted on official union bulletin boards for a minimum period of two weeks following the preparation of such expenditure reports. Don Morgenstern moved that the Executive Board interpret the statement Official Bulletin Board, for purposes of Resolution 14, to be only bulletin boards in the PEF offices in Albany. Secretary-Treasurer Hallum ruled the motion out of order. Mr. Morgenstern them moved to have the Board interpret that the official bulletin board was the bulletin board at local regional offices. Al Visconti, on a point of order, asked that this be ruled out of order as this was making a mockery of the Executive Board, and he appealed the ruling of the chair that the previous motion was in order. After much discussion on this issue, Mr. Morgenstern withdrew his motion. Ron Goldstein moved to defer this issue until the next Board meeting. Mr. Visconti, again stated this should be ruled out of order and challenged the ruling of the chair. Secretary-Treasurer agreed with Mr. Visconti and ruled Mr. Goldstein’s motion out of order. Mr. Goldstein challenged the ruling of the chair and received a second. The chair was sustained. The procedure suggested by the Secretary-Treasurer would now be effective. However, Ms. Hallum stated she was going to bring this issue back to the 2003 Convention. A motion to recess was defeated. Support for Central Labor Council Greg Case moved that the PEF Executive Board support in the amount of $1,500, the funding of the construction of a Central New York ALF-CIO worker monument and received a second. This money was to be funded from the reserve fund. After debating the issue the motion carried. Convention Committee Report Vice President Joe Fox gave an update on preparations for the 2003 PEF Convention. He reported that there were no official PEF functions scheduled for Monday evening and also mentioned some concerns for holding the Convention in Montreal. A motion carried to recess until Friday a.m. President Benson called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m., Friday, August 8th, 2003. Members joined in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. PAC REPORT Legislative Agenda Vice President Ken Brynien explained the document in its narrative form, that had been given to the Board members. He proceeded to answer questions and agreed to have information to the delegates on federal legislation. Paula Hennessey moved to amend the legislative document to include opposition to the closure of OCFS facilities. The motion was seconded and carried and Mr. Brynien agreed to include the information Bill Sachs moved to amend the document to add a bill that would allow a reopening of the window for current state employees to retroactively join retirement systems that were denied access to in the past. This motion was seconded and carried Nithia Chatterjie moved to amend the document to include opposition to integrated research reductions. It was also agreed to add reference in the appropriate places regarding the use of federal funds. Wayne Bayer moved to add the words, Peace Corps and Vista to the crediting military service portion of the legislative agenda. The motion was seconded and carried The proposed Legislative Agenda was adopted as amended. Don Morgenstern moved that beginning in 2004, PAC prepare a Congressional Agenda to be sent to all New York State Congressional and Senate delegation and that the approval process for this be the same as the State Legislative Agenda. There was a second to this motion. (With the exception of this year, where PAC would modify the document it sends to Congress now and that would be going directly to the Convention). This motion was divided. The first part of the motion to produce a document similar to the Legislative Agenda for federal legislation was adopted. Regarding the second portion to produce a document for this years’ Convention regarding federal legislation was defeated. PAAEC Election Vice President Brynien explained the function of the PAAEC committee and also the nominating process to be elected to the committee. A motion carried to allow each nominee two minutes to speak. Ron Goldstein nominated Wayne Bayer and received a second. Leonard Mangano nominated Bernice Jones and received a second. Carolyn Willson nominated Dennis Anderson and received a second. Jennifer Faucher nominated Pat Wilson and received a second. Juanita Babcock nominated Leonard Mangano and received a second. Susan Stepp nominated Rocco Brindisi and received a second. Priscilla Sweet nominated Susan Kent and received a second. (Due to the fact that Pat Wilson was not in attendance, her name was deleted) Susan Kent declined the nomination as she was newly elected to the Board. All other nominees addressed the Board. The following were elected to serve on the PAAEC Committee: Dennis Anderson, Wayne Bayer and Bernice Jones. Member Items Testimony at Public Hearings Regarding Agencies or Institutions Don Morgenstern moved the following: “When a PEF officer or staff member is going to present testimony at a public hearing concerning an agency or institution, all Executive Board representatives and division council leaders of the effected agencies be notified in advance of PEF’s intention to provide testimony. Furthermore, after the hearing, the Executive Board members and council leaders effected would be provided with the final draft of the PEF testimony. (see Attachment E) There was a second to the motion and it carried. Correcting PEF’s Membership Database Ron Goldstein stated that he had asked the Secretary Treasurer to give a brief report as to the efforts to fix it. Ms. Hallum reported that the entity relationship diagram had been completed, after the diagram is okayed, the data structure would be created on the server, etc. They expect the process to be completed in January. Waiving Article 33 Contract Rights Don Morgenstern voiced his concerns regarding members giving up their rights to this article in the contract and was concerned it might be negotiated away. At the request of Mike Keenan there was discussion on the membership benefit term life and the issue of providing free term life for one year to new employees. Bob Carrothers, Director of Contract Administration gave an update on unit determination and EOL. He stated GOER has started talks regarding resolving some of the outstanding cases in the unit determination. He stated a timetable has been set as to how the cases we were going to proceed. Regarding EOL, Bob reported it looks like we were finally catching up and by next Executive Board should be current with the approvals. A motion was made and seconded to adjourn. The Board adjourned at 11:05 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Jane Hallum Secretary-Treasurer Attach ADOPTED WITH ONE CHANGE IN AGENDA REFERENCE |
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