May/June 2015 - AFSCME Council 5

Volume 10, No. 3
May-June 2015
Keeping Our
Legacy Alive
This spring, hundreds of AFSCME members and retirees volunteered for
community service projects where they live and work. The activities honor our
union’s legacy of improving our communities on and off the job. They also
symbolize our continuing fight for workers’ rights and social and economic
PAGE 5
justice. The “month of action, celebration, and service” concluded in a big way
on April 25. That’s when 125 members, family, and friends walked through
St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, cleaning up spring litter from boulevards, curbs,
and sidewalks, in honor of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers.
PA G E 3
It was a Day on the Hill like no other. Construction shut down the
Capitol Rotunda, dozens of legislators’ offices, and even most
bathrooms. But those were speed bumps – not barriers – for 750
AFSCME members. Aminah Jabbar, of Hennepin County Medical
Center Local 2474, was among members pushing legislators to
invest in our jobs, our safety, and our state’s future.
Fighting to Keep Our
State Moving Forward
PAGE 7
Local 1307’s Anne Menard, an LPN at Anoka Metro Regional
Treatment Center, is among hundreds of DHS workers and
supporters who held demonstrations around the state on Workers’
Memorial Day. They wore bandages to protest the number of
injuries at work. It’s part of the campaign by Council 5’s DHS locals
for safe staffing at state mental-health facilities.
‘We Don’t Work to
Get Hurt’
s e t t i n g t h e pac e
Respect and a Raise:
We’ve Earned It
AFSCME Council 5 is a union of 43,000 workers
who advocate for excellence in services for the
public, dignity in the workplace, and opportunity
and prosperity for all working families.
R
espect is essential in the labor
movement and in life. It boils down
to how we treat others and how
we expect to be treated. As union
members, we respect ourselves and we
demand respect from our employers.
Executive Board Members
2014-2016
(elected September 2014)
O fficers
The struggle for respect is nothing new for
AFSCME members. It’s part of the legacy
that we inherit from the workers who came
before us.
In 1968, AFSCME sanitation workers were
treated like trash. Supervisors told proud
black men that they couldn’t use the
restroom in their own workplace. They faced
slave wages and deadly working conditions.
But, still, these workers had a dream. They
demanded respect and their human right to
form a union and bargain collectively for a
better life.
Imagine the courage it took for them to
peacefully stand up to tanks and racism with
“I AM A MAN” signs in their hands. We can
find their courage within us as we struggle
for the respect we deserve today.
Quality work deserves more
Today, workers of all races continue to
struggle for a better life and a strong voice
on the job. Decades of struggle have taught
us that we must use our collective strength to
win a fair deal for ourselves and our families.
We are AFSCME, and we do the work that
makes Minnesota function every day. We
teach kids, heal the sick, care for the elderly,
protect communities,
We are stronger deliver justice, patch
potholes, clean the
together. United, water, and so much
we can raise
more. We proudly take
living standards care of Minnesotans
with one of the leanest
and improve
government workforces
working
in the United States.
conditions for
all Americans.
This year, we’re
recognized for
delivering the highest
quality public services in the nation. We think
that merits respect and a raise.
Most of our bargaining units are negotiating
this year for contracts that cover 34,000
workers. Most union negotiators have a
shared definition of respect. It means wages
to thrive on, not just survive on. It means
health insurance that we can afford to use.
It means predictable scheduling that gives us
time to enjoy life. It means a safe workplace
and support for the work we do.
State has a surplus – why cut?
Our reasonable demands are often met with
disrespect from politicians determined to
drive down middle-class wages, benefits,
and working conditions. They tell us that our
compensation is too rich. They tell us that we
no longer need unions. That’s disrespectful
nonsense. Workers who bargain collectively
for fair pay earn $207 more each week than
non-union workers. No wonder cheap-labor
conservatives fear our collective strength.
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Mary Falk, of Statewide MnSCU Local 4001, is
part of the master negotiating team from State of
Minnesota Clerical Unit 6.
Rep. Sarah Anderson is disrespect personified.
As chair of the House State Government
Finance Committee, she says state agencies
are “ripe for right-sizing.” She wants to
cut $2 billion to give tax breaks to wealthy
corporations. Her budget fails to pay for our
pay raises, and it would put a permanent cap
on the number of state employees. That’s
especially disrespectful because the state has
a $2 billion surplus. There’s no need to cut
public services or lay off a single worker.
Short staffing is disrespectful to AFSCME
members in nearly every workplace. It leads
to no time off, excessive overtime, and
increased workloads. We’re tired of doing
two jobs for one paycheck. That’s unhealthy
for us because it creates anxiety and burnout.
We can achieve more together
AFSCME was built by women and men who
joined together in the darkest times. It’s time
to pull together again. Today, with overall
union membership declining, working people
are experiencing stagnant wages, eroding
benefits, and increasing workloads, even
as the rich get richer. We know that we are
stronger together and that, united, we can
raise living standards and improve working
conditions for all Americans.
In the past year, more than 135,000 workers
across the nation have joined AFSCME. We
have a plan and a vision to build on that
success. Our plan is called AFSCME Strong. It’s
about winning the respect and the raises we
deserve. Union members are having one-onone conversations with co-workers in homes
and workplaces across America. In Minnesota,
we’re training an army of activists to sign-up,
engage, and activate their co-workers.
We are stronger together. Our path to fair
contracts is a journey from disrespect to
respect.
President
Judy Wahlberg, Local 66
Vice PresidentMike Lindholt, Local 221
SecretaryMary Falk, Local 4001
TreasurerNickson Nyankabaria, Local 3532
E x ec u tive B oard
Sabrina Becker, Local 3688, State Sector
Carmen Brown, Local 977, District 6 (West Metro)
Melanie Castellano-Swanson, Local 2474,
District 5 (East Metro)
Kevin Clark, Local 4001, State Sector
Jean Diederich, Local 34, District 6 (West Metro)
Destiny Dusosky, Local 753, District 4 (Central)
Jody Ebert, Local 3937, District 6 (West Metro)
Gerry Firkus, Local 3887, District 1 (Northeast)
Sara Franck, Local 2474, District 6 (West Metro)
Dennis Frazier, Local 66, County Sector
Duane R. Gatzke, Local 2829, State Sector
Patrick Guernsey, Local 552, District 5 (East Metro)
Jen Guertin, Local 2508, District 5 (East Metro)
Eric Hesse, Local 404, District 3 (South)
John Hillyard, Local 600, State Sector
Martin Hoerth, Local 844, K-12 Sector
JoAnn Holton, Local 607, State Sector
Cherrene Horazuk, Local 3800, U of M Sector
Roger Janzig, Local 668, Private/Special Sector
Anna Koktan, Local 1988, State Sector
Travis Lenander, Local 722, Private/Special Sector
Christine Main, Local 517, County Sector
Angela Marlow, Local 8, District 5 (East Metro)
Eric Mattson, Local 2829, District 6 (West Metro)
Sarah Maxwell, Local 9, District 6 (West Metro)
Kevin Olson, Local 701, District 2 (West)
Travis Ottum, Local 600, District 5 (East Metro)
Patrick Pearce, Local 638, District 3 (South)
Melinda Pearson, Local 4001, District 5 (East Metro)
Steve Reeves, Local 1935, County Sector
John Ross, Local 1842, City Sector
Willie Snyder, Local 707, County Sector
Sarah Sosa, Local 2822, County Sector
Delphine Steiner, Local 735, State Sector
Deb Strohm, Local 66, District 1 (Northeast)
Sue Urness, Local 66, District 1 (Northeast)
Bryce Wickstrom, Local 221, State Sector
Judy Wahlberg, President
Eliot Seide, Executive Director
Information and story ideas should be
submitted to: Michael Kuchta, Editor
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Member International Labor
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Eliot Seide
Executive director
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Pa r a d i n g o u r va l u e s
Members push legislators:
Don’t take us
backwards
A
Correctional officer Rick Neyssen, president of St. Cloud
Corrections Local 599, urges a Senate committee to
support an AFSCME plan to add 84 front-line positions
to make state prisons safer. Neyssen and members from
other corrections locals gave the committee details of
how the state keeps adding prisoners, but is not adding
staff to oversee them. DOC is undertaking a staffing
analysis of its own, commissioner Tom Roy says – prison
by prison and shift by shift – and expects to have results
in September.
t Day on the Hill, in committee
hearings throughout the Legislative
session, and in torrents of phone calls
and emails, hundreds of AFSCME
members are fighting Republican attempts
to take the state backwards. Citing a robust
economy and the first budget surplus in a
decade, members are pushing a vision for our
state that invests in public services, invests
in the next generation, and provides more
opportunity for more people.
Republicans, on the other hand, passed
tax giveaways for billionaires and big
corporations – policies that could return the
state to constant budget deficits. To pay for the
giveaways, they’re targeting our jobs as they
cut services for workers, for children, and for
people with disabilities.
More for billionaires, less for us
On the state level, Republicans pushed wage
freezes for state workers, a permanent cap
on the number of state employees, cuts to
retirement security, and
cuts to state agencies,
including a $1 billion cut
to DHS.
Members of Senate District 8 in the Fergus Falls area
meet with Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen during Day on the Hill.
Where’s the R-E-S-P-E-C-T?
You might think a $2 billion budget surplus
would make bargaining easier. But that’s not the
case as negotiations ratchet up for new contracts
covering 17,500 AFSCME workers at the State of
Minnesota. Contracts expire June 30.
Contracts eventually have to get through the
Legislature. But instead of investing in the work
we do, Republicans who control the House
are doing the opposite: They’re cutting state
agency budgets – especially DHS and MnDOT.
They’re mandating cuts in the state workforce
and putting a
cap on state
hiring. They’re
still going after
public employee
pensions. And
they’ve removed
the salary
supplement that
would pay for
our pay raises.
Bargaining team member
Crystal Kreklow, of DHS
MinnesotaCare Local 2181,
makes it clear that state
workers are fed up with
disrespect at work.
That attitude
of disrespect is
showing up at
the bargaining
table. So
state locals
are digging in. They’re spreading Respect and
Disrespect signs in workplaces. They’ve declared
Wednesdays “green” days. And they’ve started
a Facebook community to stay in touch. To keep
up, you can go to www.facebook.com/mnrising
“We need 17,500 of you on the outside to send
the same message,” says chief negotiator Jo Pels.
Local 66’s Deb Strohm testifies against the House
Republican tax bill, saying attempts to cut Local
Government Aid to Minneapolis, St. Paul, and
Duluth are “devastating and unfair.”
On the local level,
Republicans proposed
cutting $85 million
in Local Government
Aid, but only for the
AFSCME strongholds of
Minneapolis, St. Paul, and
Duluth. Those reductions
would force enormous
cuts in city services
and jobs, or enormous
increases in local property
taxes.
Republicans also passed
legislation that would
eliminate MinnesotaCare
health insurance for
90,000 workers, cut wages for restaurant
workers, and block local governments from
enacting ordinances that give workers better
protections than state law does.
Don Anderson, Duluth DOT Local 695, is among
hundreds who turned out at a Capitol rally to
push for a comprehensive, sustainable, long-term
transportation plan – this year.
Putting MnDOT in a hole
It’s the same with the House Republican
plan for transportation, which relies on fake
money that won’t fix real potholes, Council 5
president Judy Wahlberg told delegates at Day
on the Hill.
Part of the Republican transportation plan
requires MnDOT to find $1.2 billion in
“efficiencies.” That directly threatens the jobs
of AFSCME members who patch, plow, and
maintain state highways.
The Republican transportation plan goes out of
its way to avoid long-term, dedicated funding
or a sustainable, comprehensive solution.
Instead, Republican leaders proposed going
into debt, relying on one-time shifts from the
state surplus, and raiding other state programs
to finance short-term projects.
But the House plan focuses only on selected
roads and bridges. There is no financial
support for more reliable and accessible
transit, bicycle, or pedestrian networks
anywhere in the state.
Paul Bissen and Lloyd Carter, both of Rochester
DOT Local 868, and Todd Jones, of MnSCU Local
4001, meet with Rep. Nels Pierson during Day on
the Hill.
Dhrti Walker,
Metro DHS
Local 2181,
whoops it
up during a
Day on the
Hill rally at
the Crowne
Plaza hotel.
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In T h e i r F o ot s t e p s
Textbooks ignore,
distort union history
High school history books ignore how the rise of AFSCME and other public-sector unions have transformed the American labor movement.
O
ver the past 50 years, AFSCME and
other public-sector unions have
transformed the American labor
movement. We’ve lifted millions of
families into the middle class, especially women
and workers of color. We’ve been a force behind
some of the most significant social and economic
movements of recent generations. We live many
of our nation’s founding principles.
But if you read the American history books that
most high school students open every day, you
never would learn any of that. In fact, you would
not learn much about labor unions at all.
What you did learn would lead you to believe
that unions haven’t done much since the early
1900s; that we’ve relied on violence when we
did accomplish something; and that unions
play a minimal role (at best) in creating
America’s middle class, increasing safety on the
job, increasing leisure time, pushing for more
equality for more workers, or achieving more
security and dignity in retirement.
These are among the findings in a report from
the Washington, D.C.-based Albert Shanker
Institute. The report concludes that history books
from the four largest high-school publishers
misrepresent, downplay, and ignore most of
labor unions’ contributions to society.
For example, the report says: “American labor
was central to winning child labor protections,
unemployment insurance, workers’ injury
compensation, Social Security benefits, the
minimum hourly wage, the eight-hour day and
other limits on working hours, the Occupational
Safety and Health Act, the Family and Medical
Leave Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. Yet the
textbooks are largely silent on labor’s role in
these achievements.”
textbooks often describe strikes and labor
disputes as harmful to the nation’s economic
welfare – not as the actions of Americans who
were standing up against a massively biased and
unfair system in order to obtain justice.”
Instead, the report says, the textbooks often
give the credit to other organizations, to elected
officials who sign the advances into law – and
sometimes even to corporate bosses themselves.
In addition, the textbooks typically blame unions
“for strikes, unrest, and violence – no matter how
indefensible the behavior of businesses, militias,
Pinkerton agents, and strikebreakers in literally
attacking striking workers.” Further, the report
says, “employers’ retaliatory responses to union
organizing are presented as the natural pursuit
of economic interests, not as clear violations
of First Amendment rights, lawbreaking by
employers, or acts of oppression.”
What about both sides?
Unions often are treated as an historical artifact
– something that happened long ago and
disappeared long ago. “The idea that they might
be necessary for workers to have a voice in the
workplace goes unstated,” the report says.
In a similar vein, the textbooks discuss all kinds
of discrimination in American society, but do
not discuss the discrimination American workers
face if they try to organize a union or improve
working conditions in other ways. The textbooks
discuss human rights – but do not extend
their discussion to violations of workers’ rights
routinely committed by American businesses.
Further, the report says, by ignoring the growth
of AFSCME, teachers unions, and other publicsector and white-collar unions, the textbooks
“ignore how unionism has changed over time.”
While the textbooks downplay the role of unions
in driving progress and achievement, they “tend
to over-represent the role of conflict,” the report
says. “Indeed, the books’ focus makes violence
nearly synonymous with labor unions…. The
Adding to the story
The report also argues that textbooks:
•Focus on the roles middle-class women played
in fighting for gender equality, but ignore the
successes of working-class women.
•Fail to portray labor’s role as a political force
that counters the influence of corporations
and wealth in American politics.
•Fail to point out that unions are one of the
prime examples of democracy in action.
•Downplay the role of courts and other probusiness forces in breaking and curbing
workers’ power.
•Fail to point out how poorly the United States
defends workers’ rights compared with other
Western democracies.
What high school history doesn’t teach about unions, civil rights
In American history textbooks, labor unions are
rarely included in the civil rights movement of
the 1950s and 1960s. But in reality:
•A. Philip Randolph, founder and president
of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters,
was a longtime adviser to Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. and other civil rights leaders. The
1963 “March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom” was Randolph’s idea.
Photo by Richard L. Copley
•The United Auto Workers, the International
Ladies Garment Workers Union, and other
unions provided much of the financing,
grassroots organizing, and logistics support
that made the March on Washington and
other civil rights tactics possible.
Memphis sanitation workers struck in 1968 for
basic recognition of their humanity and rights.
4
•When King and other civil rights protesters
were jailed in Birmingham, Ala., in 1963, it
was the AFL-CIO that paid the $160,000 to
bail them out.
•Bayard Rustin was a master strategist for
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the March on Washington and other key
civil rights actions. While working for
the national AFL-CIO, Rustin promoted
organizing among African-Americans and
worked visibly to integrate all-white unions.
•Craft unions often banned African-American
workers from membership during the 19th
and early 20th centuries. But other unions
– especially the IWW and the unions of the
CIO in the 1930s and 1940s – were among
the first American organizations of any kind
to intentionally integrate.
•History texts do point out that when
King was assassinated in 1968, he was
in Memphis to support a strike by black
sanitation workers. But the texts ignore
AFSCME’s role in the strike, and the reasons
why the sanitation workers were striking.
“Worse,” the study says, “not one mentions
King’s strong belief that labor rights and
civil rights were inextricably linked.”
O F F THE C L O C K
‘Keeping the dream alive’
Volunteer projects honor our union’s legacy, values
T
his spring, hundreds of Council 5
members and retirees volunteered
for community service projects where
we live and work. The activities were timed
to honor AFSCME’s legacy with Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., the 1968 Memphis sanitation
strike, and our ongoing fight for workers’
rights and social and economic justice.
The “month of action, celebration, and
service” concluded April 25 when 125
members, family, and friends walked through
St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood, cleaning up
spring litter. As retired AFSCME secretarytreasurer Bill Lucy said in his keynote video,
“We are part of the life of the communities
that we serve.”
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1. Jacquelyn Root, MnSCU Local 4001, helps clean
up litter in St. Paul’s Rondo neighborhood.
2. Child-care provider Amanda Sansness made this
“diaper cake” to auction off as part of Local 3400’s
diaper drive for the YWCA of St. Paul.
3. Tim Blase (center) joins co-workers from Local
8 and St. Paul Locals 1842 and 2508 in a charity
hockey showdown between St. Paul and Ramsey
County employees. The game raised $19,000 for
the Domestic Abuse Intervention Program.
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4. Local 66’s Laura Brandt, Liz Siebenaler, and
other members from St. Louis County Children
and Family Services serve lunch to more than 135
people at the Union Gospel Mission in Duluth.
5. Jean Garvin, Statewide Amalgamated Local
2829, joins other state and Ramsey County
workers in picking up litter in the Lafayette Park
office complex in St. Paul.
6. Feed My Starving Children was a popular site
for volunteers. Here, Tykesha Crouch, of Hennepin
County Local 2822, and her 5-year-old daughter,
Jalesha, fill a food packet.
7. Members from DHS Locals 390, 607, and 1307
also team up at Feed My Starving Children.
8. Cherrene Horazuk carries out food that
University of Minnesota Locals 3800 and 3937
donated to Neighborhood House in St. Paul.
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9. Lynne Freezy and Ryan Olson, both of
Washington County Local 517, distribute rain
barrels for the Recycling Association of Minnesota.
10. Laura Bachschneider and Jamie Olson are
among members of Local 66 who donated more
than 30 pints of blood at the Northland Office
Center in Virginia. For the year, members gave
224 pints – an effort that earned Local 66’s Judy
Thorson the “coordinator of the year” award from
North Memorial Blood Centers.
11. Jeanette Burfeind joins other members of
Retirees United in assembling boxes of fresh
produce for Fare for All.
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10
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12. Cindy Calderon and Lorrie Adams are
among members of Hennepin County Local 34
sorting, washing, and packing donated flatware
for Bridging, which supplies furniture and
household goods for people transitioning out of
homelessness and poverty. Hennepin County 2822
collected pillows for Bridging.
For more photos of
AFSCME volunteers in
action, go to www.flickr.
com/photos/afscmemn.
Click the Albums tab,
then click “A Month of
Volunteer Action.” Or scan this QR code on
your mobile device.
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WA L K I N G O U R TA L K
Hennepin members
undertake their
own ‘space project’
U
nions work to improve
wages, benefits, and
working conditions. Some
Hennepin County members are
taking that “working conditions”
part literally.
When the county started
redesigning worksites – without
talking to workers – AFSCME
members led a push to make the
final results better.
The county redesigned several
buildings as part of a larger work
reorganization project, says Local
2864’s Urban Landreman, a public
health planner. For example, the
county implemented ROE. That
“results oriented environment” lets
many social service workers work
flexible schedules. They can even
work from home if they want, as
long as the work gets done.
Further, the county created
decentralized hub buildings for
these workers, so workers are closer
to their clients. The county also
closed some sites, which relocated
other workers.
To accommodate all these changes,
the county changed the work spaces
themselves. It created what it calls
“open” or “flexible” floor plans.
Instead of individual offices or
cubicles, the county set up rows and
clusters of work stations. Instead of
going to an assigned desk, workers
pick a spot, plug their laptop into a
docking station, and get to work.
One solution does not fit all
A lot of that makes sense, especially
for workers who are in the field
more than they are in the office,
Landreman says. But a flexible work
space doesn’t necessarily make
sense for every worker – especially
workers who need to be in the
office nearly every day.
Then there is the issue of how
the work spaces look. “It’s a very
impersonal work environment,”
Landreman says. “Really sterile.”
Because workers didn’t have
assigned desks, they weren’t
allowed to personalize their work
spaces. That meant no family
photos. No posters or cartoons. In
fact, the work spaces had no art on
the walls at all. No plants.
Greg Sather, Local 2822, and Urban Landreman, Local 2864, are working to
improve Hennepin County’s newly designed work spaces.
“We needed to break up the
whiteness, add some color,” says
Joanna Przybilla, a public health
nurse in Local 34.
“We needed to humanize the place,”
says Local 2822’s Greg Sather, who
does support work in public health.
Workers bring own ideas
So AFSCME members and their coworkers pushed the county to figure
out what really works for workers
who actually use the space.
“People were very creative, had
great ideas,” Przybilla says. “I think
we’re moving in the right direction.”
Most changes “are little things,”
Congratulations to 77 workers of At Home
Living in Duluth, who won a private-sector
election to join Council 5. The members
actually won their vote in January – but
had to wait three months while ownership
of the mental-health facilities challenged
the election. The National Labor Relations
Board rejected the challenge and made the
union victory official in April.
Local 66 at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, for
example, added 43 members through this
“unit clarification” process. Locals 977
and 2474 at Hennepin County Medical
Center added 20, and Local 9 at the City of
Minneapolis added 19.
Minneapolis Public Schools Local 56 is
Local president Jessica Burton plans strategies
for adding more co-workers to the bargaining
unit of Minneapolis Public Schools Local 56.
seeking to add as many as 200 members
under new state laws that allow more
clerical and information technology
workers to have union representation. The
state’s Bureau of Mediation Services is
making final eligibility rulings, a process
that will take at least until fall.
“Pass the hat” collections among delegates
to state employee meetings raised more
than $13,500 to help four Council 5
families:
The AFSCME winners:
• Lorrhonda Byrd, of
Hennepin County Medical
Center Local 977
Local 977’s Lorrhonda Byrd
is a Nellie Stone Johnson
scholarship winner.
of Hennepin County Adult
Corrections Local 1719
• Marinda Rodriquez,
daughter of Loralee
Prescott, of Ramsey County
Human Services Local 151
• Sean Thomez, son of
Curtis Thomez, of Local
638 at Minnesota State
University-Mankato
Standing up for
low-wage workers
University of Minnesota
locals and community
groups led a boisterous
march and rally April 15.
• Mark Baker, of Rush City Corrections
Local 1539, who is still recovering from an
auto accident last November.
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Two AFSCME members
and three students in
AFSCME families received
college scholarships from
the Nellie Stone Johnson
Foundation this year. They
are among 29 winners of
the annual scholarships,
which are available to
union members of color
(or family members)
who attend college in the
MnSCU system.
• Reijuana Harley,
daughter of Ronald Harley,
• Jerry Firkus, of Moose Lake Corrections
Local 1092, whose home was destroyed by
fire in January.
• Macy Kujava, of DHS MinnesotaCare
Local 2181. Kujava and her 4-year-old
daughter, Sophia, were severely injured
when a pickup hit their car head-on
north of Brainerd this winter. (Monetary
“It’s more livable,” Sather says, “and
more conducive for good work.”
• Huynh Mai Nt Koenig, of
Hennepin County Human
Services Local 34
We take care of our own
• Eric Weise, of Faribault Corrections
Local 3607, who was injured in an accident
in Colorado in March.
For example, workers now can
select rotating displays of art. The
county loosened its ban on plants.
Noise issues are being addressed.
There are fewer lockers – which
“made the place look like high
school,” in Sather’s words – and
more group work areas. Co-workers
now have tables and common
spaces where they actually can meet
and collaborate. There are white
boards on which to share ideas.
5 win scholarships
from Nellie Stone
Johnson foundation
More workers choose AFSCME
Meanwhile, other locals are expanding
their ranks by adding workers who should
be in the bargaining unit, but are not.
Landreman says, “but they’ve made
the environment – which was
totally awful – somewhat pleasant.”
Since his auto accident, Mark Baker has
advanced from a using a wheelchair to a
walker to a cane.
donations can still be made to the “Kujava
Family Benefit” account at any Affinity Plus
Credit Union in Minnesota.)
• S t e p p i n g U p • m a y - J u n e 2 0 1 5 • www.afscmemn.org
The march – part of a
national day of action
in support of low-wage
workers – called for a $15
wage floor, earned sick
leave, fair scheduling,
union rights, and an end to
wage theft by employers.
Stefanie York, University of
Minnesota Local 3800, joined
the “Fight for 15” march on
campus and in Dinkytown.
Pa r a d i n g o u r va l u e s
‘We don’t
work to
get hurt’
A
FSCME members in staterun mental-health facilities
– fed up with management
giving them lip service instead of
the staffing and safety they need –
are escalating their campaign for
safer jobs.
They claimed one early victory at
Anoka Metro Regional Treatment
Center, which has 20 vacant
positions. That inadequate staffing
contributes to the fact that workers
are attacked an average of twice
a week. It also means that, during
a single weekend in April, 35
employees were forced to work
an average of 27 hours of forced
overtime each. That was the
highest level of mandated overtime
ever, according to Local 1307.
The local’s leaders went straight
to the top of DHS. Four days later,
commissioner Lucinda Jesson
capped admissions, so understaffed
workers don’t have to handle an
even bigger workload.
The safe staffing campaign also
took to the streets on Workers’
Memorial Day. Hundreds of
members demonstrated in Anoka,
St. Peter, Willmar, Brainerd,
Duluth, and Moose Lake.
Safety at work was on the minds – and
faces – of many Council 5 members
during Day on the Hill, including Jesse
Marble, of St. Peter DHS Local 404.
DHS workers are taking an old labor slogan literally. For them, says David Ruth,
of Cambridge DHS Local 390, “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
Lisa Pehlke, an LPN at Anoka Metro
Regional Treatment Center, joined
other Local 1307 members in
demonstrations on Workers’ Memorial
Day. She, like many others, wore a
bandage to protest the number of
injuries at work.
Jan Gasper, Jackie Spanjers, and Susan Mabera, all of Anoka DHS Local 1307,
enlist the help of Sen. John Hoffman in seeking safe staffing in state mentalhealth facilities.
LPN Lawrence Johnson joins other
Local 1307 members in demonstrating
outside Anoka Metro Regional
Treatment Center on Workers’
Memorial Day.
Above: Tim Headlee and Chuck
Hottinger, of St. Peter DHS Local
404, confer with Sen. Kathy Sheran
about a bill that makes it a felony
to attack workers in state mentalhealth facilities. The bill is a victory for
AFSCME members; Gov. Dayton signed
it into law on May 11. Right: 5-year-old
Jozie Lecuyer joins a demonstration
outside Anoka Metro Regional
Treatment Center. Her grandmother,
Nancy Lecuyer of Local 1307, is a
human service technician at the facility.
AFSCME members have created a Facebook
community to share their stories and unite their
efforts to improve safety at work. To read stories,
watch videos, or join the community and the
campaign, go to www.facebook.com/safestaffingmn.
Or, use your mobile device to scan this QR Code.
Michelle Rodning, of DHS Local 404
at the Minnesota Security Hospital,
joins the Workers’ Memorial Day
demonstration in St. Peter.
Like many demonstrators on Workers’
Memorial Day, Stacey Mueller, of St.
Peter DHS Local 404, carries a sign
that includes a photo of the battered
face of Renetta Engelson. Engelson,
a former member of Local 404, no
longer can work because of injuries
she received after being beaten by a
patient.
Retiree Carol Rose joins demonstrators
in Moose Lake. Rose worked at
treatment centers in Brainerd,
Faribault, Fergus Falls, and Moose Lake
during her 30 years with DHS.
www . a fsc m e m n . or g • m ay - ju n e 2 0 1 5 • S t e p p i n g U p •
7
e v e ry day h e r o e s
International award honors
achievements of Duluth
domestic violence program
M
ore than 30 years after it
started, the Duluth Abuse
Intervention Program has
received an international award as
one of the world’s most innovative
and effective programs to address
violence against women and girls.
“The Duluth model” launched in
1981. It pioneered a coordinated,
community-wide response to
protect victims of domestic abuse
and to hold abusers accountable.
It requires that police, shelters, the
legal system, and social workers
take a consistent and coordinated –
rather than fragmented – approach.
Since the beginning, AFSCME
members were involved in making
the revolutionary approach work.
They still are.
Safety is the priority
Making a woman’s safety the top
priority is one standard that sets the
Duluth model apart. Places like Safe
Haven Shelter put that standard
into practice daily.
For example, Local 3558’s Margo
Colomb, a legal advocate at Safe
Haven, first helps women obtain
the legal protection they and their
children need. She then escorts
women through the court process
until their abuser is sentenced.
At the shelter itself, staff such as
Local 3558’s Angie Wynn help
victims find the safety and support
to escape an abusive relationship,
to heal, and to start their lives
over. That can mean finding a new
place to live, finding clothing and
furniture if necessary, enrolling
children in a new school – “the
whole big picture,” Wynn says.
Safe Haven also sponsors support
groups for any member of the
community, through its downtown
Resource Center. “That’s part
of coordinating the community
response,” Colomb says.
Part of a familiar pattern
Another ground-breaking trait of
the Duluth model is that it treats
domestic assault as a pattern of
abusive behavior, not as a single
incident or a “heat of the moment”
criminal act, says Melanie Shepard,
a retired professor of social work at
the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Above: “We develop a rapport with
people,” says 911 dispatcher Ryan
Stauber. “There’s an emotional side to
it, that you do have a stranger pulling
for you.” Right: The relationship
between police and shelter providers
has improved tremendously under
the Duluth framework, says shelter
worker Angie Wynn. “They go out of
their way, I think. I don’t know what
we would do without their support.”
“A lot of the women we work
with have been in an abusive
relationship for a long time,” Wynn
says, “and if they don’t have the
money or the funds, they stay out of
fear. They feel really trapped.”
“Previously, the officer had
discretion,” Shepard says. “A lot
of times, they didn’t arrest. They
didn’t prosecute. And, typically, the
women were too frightened to press
charges themselves.”
The Duluth model uses a visual tool
– the “power and control wheel” –
that illustrates tactics abusers use to
maintain control.
Mandatory arrest, combined with
firm prosecution guidelines, means
the city no longer takes a “wishy
washy” approach to domestic
violence, she says. That approach
has spread nationwide and beyond.
It’s similar to the “power wheel”
that union organizers use, Wynn
and Colomb point out, because
intimidation, isolation, and other
tactics of control often are the same
ones supervisors use on workers.
Most visibly, the Duluth model sets
a new expectation by mandating
arrest of the abuser.
respond to a domestic assault.
Dispatchers take part in “quality
assurance” trainings where they
team with police, attorneys, case
managers, and others to assess how
actual cases are handled – and how
everyone’s response can improve.
Dispatchers, for example, learn
which questions to ask and how to
ask them, depending on what they
hear and perceive on the phone
call. “Can I go in-depth vs. yes-andno questions?” Peterson explains.
Always trying to do better
Finally, the Duluth model tracks
results and constantly tweaks
tactics. That’s evident at the 911
call center, where Local 66 members
such as Ryan Stauber and Stefanie
Peterson often are the first ones to
“The level of intensity just varies,”
Stauber says.
The Duluth program received the
Future Policy Award from the InterParliamentary Union, UN Women,
and the World Future Council.
L A B O R H I S T ORY
A ny way Yo u M ea s u r e I t
We’re
not the
problem
State Rep.
Sarah Anderson
is the latest
Republican to
lead the parade
of disrespect for
state workers.
Anderson wants
to cap how
many workers
the state can
hire. That will
keep us doing
the work of
more than one
person for a
long time.
“There’s a
whole host of
areas that are
ripe for rightsizing,” she
says. Anderson
obviously isn’t
paying attention
to these facts.
8
DOING MORE WITH LESS, part 1
4TH LEANEST
State General Fund is paying for 1,000 fewer FTEs
Minnesota has fewer
government employees overall
2008
16,146
2015
per 10,000
71residents
15,113
1
Giveaways to Billionaires
Who’s really the GOP’s priority?
Minnesota has the fourth-lowest
number of government employees
(per capita) in the nation.3
DOING MORE WITH LESS, part 2
Cost of state government is down
1. Minnesota Management and Budget: FTE Report Q4-2015
2. Minnesota Legislature, 89th Session, HF844, HF848
3. U.S. Census “State Government and Employment Data”;
Gallup “State of the States” series
4. Analysis of Minnesota Management and Budget data
• S t e p p i n g U p • m a y - J u n e 2 0 1 5 • www.afscmemn.org
In 1912, a multi-national mix of more than
20,000 mill workers – the vast majority of them
women – went on strike in Lawrence, Mass.
The landmark event became known as the
Bread and Roses Strike.
In 1979, the New York-based National Union
of Hospital and Health Care Employees paid
tribute by launching the Bread and Roses
Cultural Project. It was an effort to display the
artistic talents of working women and men.
House Republicans give $15 in business tax breaks for
every new dollar they invest in education.2
Sources:
Bread and Roses Artist: Paul Davis
The per capita cost of the state’s
General Fund, adjusted for
inflation, is 11.4 percent lower
today than in 2002, during the
Pawlenty administration. 4
Davis’ painting draws on the long “Bread and
Roses” tradition in labor: Workers deserve
more than being able to survive – the “bread.”
They also deserve to enjoy the finer things that
life offers – the “roses.”