September 12, 2007 Meeting Minute

Minute

The meeting was called to order at 5:10pm by President Strako.

Role Call of Officers

Present

  • President Tim Strako
  • 1st V. P. Debra Smith
  • Prof. V.P. Valerie O’Meara
  • F. P. C. Steve McFadden
  • W.C. Karen Lasota

Absent

  • Treasurer Christine Brown
  • Chief Steward Roy Frye
  • VARO Chief Steward Medori Sumida

  1. Review of minutes of August 2007

    There were no corrections or discussion; Sharon Hall made a motion to accept the minutes as written; Motion 2nd by Gil Veyna. Accepted unanimously.

  2. Officer/Committee Reports

    Treasurer

    President Strako reported the following balances in our accounts.

    Bank of America
    Checking31,433.90
    C.D.40,000.00
    Verity
    Checking21,756.000

    Tim stated that the Verity account should be able to close this month.

    President

    The attorney from the law firm we now have on retainer will be here on 9/13 & 9/14 to give classes to stewards. Stewards are to request A.A. for the training. There was some discussion from the floor regarding lawyer services. President Strako gave a report on the Chicago trip with input of the other E-Board attendees. The President reported the decision of an Unfair Labor Practice in favor of the bargaining unit.

    Brief break in proceedings for BBQ Supper provided by Local

    Prof. V.P.

    Valerie reported on the very valuable Arbitration training that she attended this month in San Francisco.

    1st V.P.

    Nothing to report.

    Women’s F.P.

    Karen reported on the Chicago training and the Action Plan that she has come up with for the local. She and Steve McFadden would like to establish a joint committee and will have more discussion later if there is an interest.

    EEO Fair Practice

    Steve reported on his training and entertained questions from the floor about the difference between the EEO Officer for the facility and Steve. There was discussion of the recent E.E.O. hearing that was held downtown which was attended by Debra Smith as she was the acting President that day. Options available other than filing with E.E.O. In answer to a question it was reported that any person may represent you at that meeting but not from A.F.G.E.; they are just “a person of knowledge”. Reviewed 45 day window on reporting E.E.O. complaints. Grievance process can be used as well in most cases. President Strako suggested asking some of these questions of the attorney during training.

    O.W.C.P.

    Debra Smith reported that there are currently 8 (eight) violations against the Agency and that the Agency is under an “Improvement Plan” by O.S.H.A. The Agency could have been fined a great deal of money by O.S.H.A. but the decision was not to impose a fine. There are serious long Term effects for the employees who were exposed to the chemo therapy drug; especially to those in their child-bearing years. This could be called willful misconduct, per Debra.

  3. Old Business

    N.V.A.C. – 7 delegates were approved for the convention in November based on the number of members in the prior 6 months. This means that Roy Frye will be going as the first alternate and since Christine Brown had to withdraw as a delegate, Terry McFarlin will be going as her alternate.

    There was a question from the floor regarding the replacement of shoes contaminated in the flood that occurred in APD and the kitchen some time ago. Debra Smith will follow-up on this as she was not aware until now that no shoes had been replaced.

    There was a question from the floor about a member being denied the opportunity to sign up for O.T. on a posted list. He was referred to Roy Frye to get a steward assigned.

    By-Laws & Constitution committee – A motion was made by Sharon Hall that the committee be disbanded as there had been no action in over 2 months. Stanley Stewart stated that he would be willing to chair the committee and give it a chance to do as it was originally intended. Sharon withdrew the motion.

  4. New Business

    21 new members since last meeting:

    • Adrian Sison
    • Betty Brooking
    • Christopher Salatka
    • Dennis Freeman
    • Don Unrein
    • Ernest Stillman
    • Garciela Lange
    • Geri Bell
    • Grace Rhem
    • Hong Nguyen
    • Judith May
    • Mark Snow
    • Nicole Tomlin
    • Oriana Futrell
    • Paul Peterson
    • Raymond Brodeur
    • Sisay Telehun
    • Song Uh
    • Tammy Floe
    • William Szabo
    • Yim Hui

    There was a motion by Debra Smith to accept the new members; there was 2nd by Stanley Stewart followed by a unanimous vote to accept the new members.

    There was a motion from Terry McFarlin for the Local to provide a cell phone for the Steward-At-Large Beverly Anderson. Per Tim Strako, this had been presented to the E-board and had been rejected based on the fact that Beverly had a pager and that the need did not justify the added expense.

    There was a report from the floor that the gym equipment was in a state of disrepair and had been for some time. The Safety Officer Debra Smith will look into this and report back to the membership.

    Lonnie has resigned as the Secretary due to personal commitments. There is a vacancy that pays $75.00 per month as a stipend. Michael Beebe will post the vacancy on the web site.

    There will be a Steward Meeting and Case Review every month from 4pm to 5pm in Room 1/421 just prior to the General Membership Meeting. The expectation of the President and the E-Board is that all Stewards will attend greater than 50% of these meetings.

  5. For the Good of the Body

    Door Prize: Megal Davis

Debra Smith made a motion to adjourn. There was a 2nd from Karen Lasota.
Meeting adjourned at 6:30pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Sharon Hall