Congressman
Tom Allen Discusses Economy,
Health Insurance with Lewiston HHS Workers
Congressman Tom Allen stopped by the Lewiston office of the
Maine Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, October
7, to talk with MSEA-SEIU members and others about his plans to
get the national economy back on track and to provide quality, affordable
health insurance to the over 47 million Americans who lack it. Among
those who spoke with Congressman Allen were husband-and-wife MSEA-SEIU
members and HHS workers David and Merilyn Haines. Shown from left
are David Haines, Diana Allen, the Haines' daughter, Francesca-Beth
Haines, Merlyn Haines, and Congressman Allen.
November
4, 2008, General Elections --
Early
Voting Begins in Your Community!
At town and city halls throughout Maine, MSEA-SEIU members, their
families and friends are already casting ballots for MSEA-SEIU endorsed
candidates for the Maine Legislature, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate
and U.S. President through early voting. Anyone can vote early in
the General Elections. It's easy. Just call or stop by your town
or city hall, and ask for your ballot. There's no need whatsoever
to even give a reason for voting early. What's more, you can even
vote in the privacy of your own home if you prefer to do so! Click
here for everything you need to know about voting early in Maine,
including how to request your ballot early.
Chapter Bargaining --
Bargaining Committee Reviewing Proposals;
Ballots for Union Negotiating Team Elections Due By Oct. 20
MSEA-SEIU members of the Judicial Chapter Bargaining
Committee include,
from left, seated: Lisa Morgan, Michael Gilbert, Penny Whitney-Asdourian
and Tina Hamilton;
and standing: Maurice Fournier, Ronda Nelson and Terry Gordon.
There are still openings to become part of the Bargaining Committee.
On October 2, members of the MSEA-SEIU Judicial Chapter Bargaining
Committee held their second meeting at MSEA-SEIU headquarters, where
they continued to discuss relevant issues and review proposals.
Ballots for the purpose of electing Union Negotiating Team members
have been mailed to MSEA-SEIU Judicial Chapter Members in all three
bargaining units. Forms to solicit bargaining proposals were mailed
out along with the ballots, and the committee members are encouraging
members to submit ideas and proposals for consideration. Proposals
may also be submitted electronically by filling
out this online survey or by printing
out a bargaining proposal form, filling it out and mailing
it to: Pat Reardon, MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, PO Box 1072, Augusta, ME
04332-1072.
All ballots for the election of Judicial Chapter Union Negotiating
Team members are due at MSEA-SEIU headquarters by Monday, October
20, and will be counted at the close of business on that day.
There are still open positions on the Bargaining Committee and interested
members should contact Bargaining Team Captains Penny Whitney-Asdourian,
Maurice Fournier, or Lisa A. Morgan for more information. The next
meeting has not yet been scheduled.
Click
here for a poster of this Judicial Chapter Bargaining Update for your
Union Bulletin Board.
Maine
Citizens to Candidates:
Want
My Vote? Invest in Kids!
Over 100 advocates for children, along with about 20 candidates
for elected office, gathered on the State House steps on Wednesday,
September 17, to stand up for investment in Maine children, including
early childhood education, safe and healthy child care, child abuse
prevention, health care, substance abuse prevention, and mental health
care. The occasion was Maine Step Up for Kids Day to raise awareness
of the needs of children and families in our nation. At the event, candidates
for elected office were provided with statistics identifying the challenges
facing Maine children and were offered strategies to meet those challenges.
In the photo at top, Attorney General Steven Rowe explains that Maine
currently has more than 45,000 children up to age 5 with working parents,
but fewer than 25,000 licensed child care slots available. Rowe and
others called on increasing access to early care and educational programs
for Maine's working families. Rowe and other speakers urged Maine voters
to ask candidates for elected office about their plans to address the
critical needs of Maine's children.
Click
here for a handy resource guide to help you educate and evaluate candidates
for elected office.
Important
Information about Deferred Compensation and VALIC Investments
Executive
and Judicial Branch Bargaining -
MSEA-SEIU
Members Begin Assembling
Union Negotiating Teams
Members of the Executive Branch Contract Action Team
and the Judicial Branch Bargaining Committee on Saturday, September
13, began the process of assembling their respective Union Negotiating
Teams that will negotiate new contracts on behalf of 10,000 workers
in State Government.
The Union Negotiating Teams in both branches of government
will bargain for new contracts to replace the current contracts expiring
June 30, 2009.
As MSEA-SEIU members prepare for bargaining, they are
also working to elect candidates at the state and national levels
on November 4, 2008, who the value quality public services our members
provide and believe that public workers deserve to be treated with
respect. The same state and national candidates we elect on November
4 will make decisions on state and federal budgets that fund the contracts
we negotiate in 2009 and beyond. After the November elections, MSEA-SEIU
members will hold those elected leaders accountable as we negotiate
contracts that reflect the hard work of our members.
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
Fifty-four MSEA-SEIU members serving on the Executive Branch Contract
Action Team gathered at the Augusta Civic Center on September 13 to
elect the following at-large members to the Executive Branch Union
Negotiating Team: Cordell Hackett, Operations, Maintenance
& Support Services; Dan Menard, Supervisory Services; Donna
Doore, Administrative Services; and Tom Maher, Professional-Technical
Services.
Also at this gathering, members of the Executive Branch
Contract Action Team nominated several MSEA-SEIU members from each
Executive Branch bargaining unit for a ballot election to round out
the Union Negotiating Team. Nominees for the Executive Branch Union
Negotiating Team are, in alphabetical order:
-
Administrative Services: Judy Green Tarr,
Kathy Latulippe, Scott Neumeyer and Cindy Proulx;
-
Professional-Technical Services: Sharon Carroll,
Hector Cyr, Susan Dyer-Taylor, Andrea Lapointe,
Ron Perry, Jerry Quirion and Carney Williams;
-
Operations, Maintenance & Support Services: Greg
Berry, Dana Miller, Ken Porter and Sam Sotirelis;
-
Supervisory Services: Alelia Hilt Lash,
Debbie Stowe and John Sylvester.
Unit-wide elections will be conducted by mail ballot
later this month. MSEA-SEIU members in each respective unit will vote
for up to three nominated members per bargaining unit to represent
them on the Union Negotiating Team. Ballots will be mailed out the
week of September 22-26 to all MSEA-SEIU members in the Executive
Branch once candidate statements have been compiled.
There's still time to for MSEA-SEIU members in the Executive
Branch to identify their bargaining priorities, either by attending
a worksite meeting on bargaining or by filling out a Bargaining
Priorities Survey.
JUDICIAL BRANCH
In the Judicial Branch, eight MSEA-SEIU members serving
on the Judicial Branch Bargaining Committee gathered at MSEA-SEIU
headquarters on September 13 to review bargaining proposals submitted
by members.
Judicial Branch Bargaining Committee members also elected
the following MSEA-SEIU member from each bargaining unit to serve
on the Judicial Branch Union Negotiating Team: Lisa Morgan,
Administrative Services; Penny Whitney-Asdourian, Supervisory
Services; and Maurice Fournier, Professional Services. The
Judicial Branch Bargaining Committee is in the process of nominating
MSEA-SEIU members from each Judicial Branch bargaining unit for a
mail ballot election later this month to round out the Union Negotiating
Team.
The next meeting of the Judicial Branch Bargaining Committee
is 6 PM on Thursday, October 2, at MSEA-SEIU headquarters.
Click
here for a legal-sized flier about Executive and Judicial Branch bargaining
for your Union Bulletin Board.
MSEA-SEIU
Local 1989 Members:
LET'S GET TO WORK AND DELIVER STRONG CONTRACTS IN 2009!
Next year is a key bargaining year, with contracts expiring
in the Executive and Judicial Branches, the Community Colleges, and
other key bargaining units The wage and benefit packages in those
contracts will affect all our members, along with members in other
unions. Our members are sliding farther behind, and some lack any
health care or retirement benefits. While some politicians are standing
with us, others are promising voters that they'll impose layoffs and
concessions on public workers.
WHAT CAN YOU DO
TO HELP? VOLUNTEER AND PARTICIPATE!
Help keep members informed and
engaged in the bargaining process.
Executive Branch Bargaining
If you want to join the Contract Action Team and can attend the Contract
Action Team Meeting on Saturday September 13 at the Augusta
Civic Center from 9am to 3pm, please e-mail or call Missy Powell
at 1-800-452-8794 or missy.powell@mseaseiu.org
Please indicate in your message if you will attend and you must
respond to Missy even if you have attended previous meetings in 2008!
Also, if you live more than 100 miles from Augusta and you will need
overnight lodging for Friday you must request that and indicate who
your roommate will be. All responses should be received no later
than September 8, 2008.
We will be electing one team member from each of the four units on
September 13th and taking nominations for the remaining slots, which
will then be elected by a mail-in ballot.
It is also extremely important that we receive your bargaining
proposals! You can submit a proposal in one of two ways!
Submit a proposal electronically for Executive Branch Bargaining
by clicking the link below:
Online
Executive Branch Bargaining Proposal Form
Click on the link below and printout the Executive Branch Bargaining
Proposal Form and submit by mail or drop it off at MSEA-SEIU Headquarters.
The mailing address appears on the form.
Printable
Executive Branch Bargaining Proposal Form
(Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Retiree
Membership Update
Retirement System Board of Trustees Approves COLA
The Retirement System Board of Trustees voted last week to approve
a cost of living adjustment of 4%, based on a CPI-U of 5%. While the
Governor and the Legislature could increase the COLA beyond the statutory
4% cap, that step is highly unlikely in the current economic climate.
The Employee Free Choice Act: Restoring the Right to Organize
For months, corporate political action committees have been running
television ads attacking the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill aimed
at restoring the right to organize. The Act would do three principal
things:
1. The Free Choice Act gives employees, not employers, control of
the union election process. When a majority of workers sign union
authorization cards, the employer must recognize the union of their
choice. If 30 percent of the employees want an election, however, the
decision is made by secret ballot, run by the National Labor Relations
Board. Employers use the current NLRB election process to intimidate
and coerce employees, using captive audience meetings to promise benefits
or threaten retaliation if workers support the union. The elections
are like political elections where only the incumbent can visit the
district, and the incumbent controls every voter’s income. Majority
sign up has worked well in Canada, where it has been the law for many
years.
2. The Free Choice Act imposes meaningful penalties to deter labor
law violations. Current law provides no real penalties on employers
who interfere or coerce employees, discriminate against union supporters,
or refuse to negotiate in good faith. As a result, employers routinely
threaten employees who want a union, and fire active supporters. The
Employee Free Choice Act would impose meaningful penalties that would
deter labor law violations.
3. The Employee Free Choice Act provides binding arbitration of
first contracts. If union supporters can get through a broken election
process, and survive the employer’s campaign of illegal coercion and
discrimination, the employer simply refuses to bargain for a first contract.
Under current law, the only recourse is to strike. The Free Choice Act
would require binding arbitration of the first contract, using the system
that is in place for public sector workers in many states.
Sign
the petition supporting the Employee Free Choice Act.
For more information, see:
Why
We Need the Employee Free Choice Act (1 page)
Radio
ad in support of Employee Free Choice Act (this will take a few moments
to load before playing)
MSEA-SEIU
Member Honored for Helping Federal Marshals Capture Fugitive
Click
here to read the story in the August 13 edition of the Bangor
Daily News about how MSEA-SEIU Member Mark Silk, a senior motor vehicle
investigator for the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles Enforcement Division,
was honored for helping federal marshals capture a fugitive. Thank you,
Mark, for your outstanding public service!
WLBZ's
television news coverage here.
Cindy Proulx
Elected to MSEA-SEIU Board Representing Area I
At an Area I Caucus on August 9, MSEA-SEIU members unanimously elected
Cindy Proulx to the MSEA-SEIU Board of Directors representing Area I.
Cindy will serve the remaining four months of the term previously held
by Anne Rogerson, who resigned.
Cindy works for the Office of Child and Family Services within the
Maine Department of Health and Human Services. An MSEA-SEIU Delegate
since 1998, Cindy is a member of the Penobscot Chapter of MSEA-SEIU.
She belongs to the Administrative Services Bargaining Unit within the
Executive Branch.
"Don't let fear or common sense hold you back," Cindy said following
her election. "I sincerely appreciate the Area I Caucus' support and
request everyone's patience during my new adventure."
MSEA-SEIU
Members Step Up to Help Stranded Migrant Workers
When two stranded migrant workers had nowhere to go on the afternoon
of August 7, MSEA-SEIU members stepped up and made sure they had food
and lodging for the night.
The two workers ended up at the Maine Department of Labor in Augusta
after their check from a farming contractor bounced, leaving them with
no money for food and shelter.
MSEA-SEIU Members and Directors Scott Neumeyer and Darryl Touchette,
both of whom work for the Department of Labor, heard about their plight.
After learning that the local shelters were full and that the migrant
workers had no place to go, Neumeyer coordinated with his MSEA-SEIU
chapter, the Capitol Western Chapter, and Touchette coordinated with
his chapter, the MSEA-SEIU Eichel-Crinion Chapter, to come up with the
money needed to get the workers a room and meal for the night.
"Workers helping workers is what members of our union are all about,"
Neumeyer said. "I was really proud to see our chapter as well as Eichel-Crinion
Chapter being able to help these people."
Maine
Labor History Mural Exhibit Opens in Augusta
Loggers
from one panel of Tremont artist Judy Taylor's mural exhibit that opened
August 22 in the public waiting area of the Maine Department of Labor
offices at the Maine Commerce Center off Civic Center Drive, Augusta.
In the spring of 2007, the Maine Department of Labor consolidated five
Augusta area administrative offices and the Lewiston unemployment claims
center to the Central Maine Commerce Center in Augusta. The move brought
together over 300 workers under one roof and resulted in lease savings
of over $300,000 per year.
Keeping with the intent of the "Percent for Art" law, the
Maine Department of Labor set aside funds to furnish the workspace with
artwork, including a mural depicting the history of labor in Maine.
The department used $60,000 in federal funds, which could only be spent
on buildings and infrastructure, to commission the work. The Maine Arts
Commission assisted in the drafting of a competive request for proposals,
which attracted several proposals by Maine artists. Acclaimed Tremont
artist Judy Taylor was selected to create and install the work.
Taylor worked with labor historian and University of Maine Professor
Charles Scontras to depict workers in Maine's traditional industries
and trades. The mural includes 10 separate panels, including early artisan
workshops, workers in natural resource economies, and Maine's manufacturing
heritage. The piece also depicts the challenges of workers in the economy
at different points in our history, including dangerous working conditions,
long working hours and child labor. Click
here for more information and for newspaper stories about the exhibit.
The exhibit is on display in the public waiting area of the Maine Department
of Labor Offices at the Maine Commerce Center, Augusta. Click
here for directions.
Executive
Branch
MSEA-SEIU
Accepts Governor's Invitation to Start Discussions about Saving Energy
within State Government Workplaces, or in Commuting Costs Affecting our
Members
Click
here to read a letter from MSEA-SEIU President Bruce
Hodsdon, to Governor John Baldacci, accepting the Governor's invitation
to start discussions about saving energy within State Government workplaces,
or in commuting costs affecting our members.
MSEA-SEIU
Members Demand:
Health
Care for America NOW!
MSEA-SEIU member Melanie Collins, standing at counter, delivers
a list of questions to Anthem Health Plans of Maine's Augusta office
on August 7 about why Anthem's profits in Maine increased 89.2 percent
between 2004 and 2007 while its membership increased only 2.4 percent.
This disproportionate increase means that in 2007 alone, Anthem's annual
profits in Maine were $75.7 million. These profits are routinely sent
out of state in the form of a dividend to Anthem's parent company. Anthem
also currently holds $252.1 million in surplus and capital. Mainers
have paid this money in premiums, but it hasn't been used to reduce
the cost of care, lower premiums, pay providers or improve the quality
of care. These are just a few key findings in a new 48-page report,
"Insuring
Health or Ensuring Profit? A Snapshot of the Health Insurance Industry
in the United States," prepared by the Northwest Federation
of Community Organizations. MSEA-SEIU and coalition partners, including
the Maine People's Alliance and many others, released the report at
a State House press conference; speakers included MSEA-SEIU Member Melanie
Collins and MSEA-SEIU President Bruce Hodsdon. Participants then marched
to Anthem's Augusta office to present the company with the report and
a list of questions for the company to answer. Watch
the TV coverage.
MSEA-SEIU
Steward Raises Awareness about Lung Cancer
Read
the story in the August 6 Kennebec Journal about by MSEA-SEIU
Steward and lung-cancer survivor Debra Violette's efforts to raise awareness
about lung cancer. Thank you, Debra, for your efforts raising awareness
about this important issue.
Attention
Candidates for MSEA Board, Other Offices!
If you're an MSEA-SEIU member running for Area Director or other elected
positions to be voted on by Delegates at the 2008 MSEA-SEIU Convention
this fall, you can submit a statement and photo for publication in the
next edition of the Maine Stater. All candidate statements
and photos are due at MSEA-SEIU headquarters by 5 PM on Friday, September
5. If you would like to have your photo taken for this purpose,
please contact Tom Farkas at 1-800-452-8794 at your earliest convenience.
Statements and photos can be e-mailed
to MSEA-SEIU headquarters or they can be mailed to: Maine
Stater, MSEA-SEIU Local 1989, P.O. Box 1072, Augusta, ME 04332-1072.
Click
here for a poster for your Union Bulletin Board.
Got
a Story to Tell about Quality Public Services?
It Could Win You $100
MSEA-SEIU members consistently make a positive difference in the everyday
lives of Maine people. When we tell those stories, it helps remind everyone
in Maine about the importance of quality public services that are sometimes
easy to take for granted. What is your favorite story about how the
quality public services provided by one of our members improved or continues
to improve the lives of Maine residents? If you have such a story, please
write it down today and enter it in the first “MSEA-SEIU Quality Public
Services You Can Count On Contest.” The four top entries will be turned
into newspaper ads promoting the quality public services our members
provide. The four MSEA-SEIU members who submit those winning entries
will receive cash prizes of $100 apiece. To submit your idea, use
this contest entry form.
Click
here for a poster publicizing the first "MSEA-SEIU Quality Public
Services You Can Count On Contest."
Click
here for the entry form.
Stand
Up for Union Workers Brutalized in Colombia
Help stop a gruesome cycle of murders, kidnappings and torture of union
leaders and organizers involved in daily life-and-death struggles at
Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia, South America. MSEA-SEIU requests
that MSEA-SEIU members boycott Coca-Cola products in light of the injustices
that labor activists in Colombia are experiencing.
Click
here for more information.
Click
here for a list of Coca-Cola products that MSEA-SEIU encourages members
to boycott.
Take
Action! Protect Your Social Security!
Maine's entire congressional delegation favors repealing the harmful
federal Govenment Pension Offset (GP0) and the Windfall Elimination
Provision (WEP), but there's still more work to be done to get these
unfair
federal laws repealed. Tell
other members of Congress to stop penalizing public service
by repealing the Government
Pension Offset and Windfall
Elimination Provision, two provisions under Social Security
which unfairly penalize retirees who have earned a secure retirement.
New Link
on This Website for Executive Branch Pay Study Updates
Appearing the "Features and Links" column on the upper left
of this website is a new link titled "Pay
Study UPDATES." Use this link to get the latest
updates from MSEA-SEIU members serving on the on the Executive Branch
Classification & Pay Study Committees in the Professional-Technical,
Supervisory and Operations, Maintenance & Support Services bargaining
units
Questions
about Fair Share?
Click
here for frequently asked questions -- and the answers.
| From
the Desk of President Bruce Hodsdon |
|
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