News for July 2005:

Greetings from the trenches. The contract campaign is in full swing with many of our members spending countless hours on committees, meetings and in contract training. As stated previously, this local has decided to join in with the other Hennepin County locals for joint bargaining on the main issues. Cate Wagner, Rhonda Bode, Pat Guernsey and I represent the local on both the Master Committees and the Table Team. For the past two months, those committees have worked on finalizing the union proposal to be submitted to the county. That proposal will be submitted on July 18, 2005, which is the first official face-to-face negotiating session. A list of the specific proposals can be located at the AFSCME Council 5 website and will be mailed out to you shortly through the Table Talk newsletter.

In addition to the Master Committee and Table Team, there is an Action Committee. Brenda Wood and Robin Martinson are representing the local on that committee. They are in the process of planning various actions and functions to facilitate support for the contract negotiations. The first major action occurs on July 18, 2005. A large rally has been scheduled at noon on the north plaza outside the Hennepin County Government Center. Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin and AFSCME Executive Director Eliot Seide will be addressing the assembled group. We will be reminding you about this rally in several different ways in hopes that each and everyone of you can take time out from your lunch hour to show your support for a fair and equitable contract. Four years ago, a large rally was held in the same location and the entire county board came down to watch the proceedings. I represented the local on that Action Committee and believe it had a significant impact on the county administrators in their approach to settling that contract. Please mark your calendars and make every attempt to attend. Brenda and Robin are working very hard and we would all appreciate you support.

A Strike Committee has been established and our local is being represented by Sue Wick and David Tremewan. I know the S-word makes everybody nervous. Let me make it very clear that there is a large group of people working very hard to avoid that possibility at all costs. Through the Master Committee and the Action Committee, we hope to let the county know that we are serious and motivated to achieve a better contract than we’ve had to endure for the past two years. Unfortunately, if the county chooses not to negotiate in good faith or to continue to force financial hardship on our members, a strike may be the only way to force a better settlement. Once again, I would ask you to strongly support all the efforts being made to support this contract campaign and accept that a realistic possibility of a strike is the best way to show the county that we will not accept an inferior contract.

We all know that many of the organized units in the State of Minnesota were forced to accept a zero and zero contract. Hennepin County followed the state lead by forcing that upon us also. However, the following graph depicts the contracts from the seven county metropolitan area and what their employees received through their contracts.

It is safe to say that these counties also suffered hits to Local Government Aid from the state. However, while minimal, they respected their employees enough to at least give them something in the terms of forward salary progress. Many of you know that Hennepin County Probation/Parole Officers have fallen behind in salary to our counterparts in Ramsey, Dakota and even the Arrowhead Region in Northern Minnesota. Did you also know that while we settled for zero and zero contract, the Hennepin County Administrator received a $14,000 bonus, non-union nurses at HCMC received a 4% and 5% increase during that contract and the county recently took action to have the salary of the Metropolitan Health Plan Director (a county job) raised from a top salary of $111,156 to $150,000 per year. That represents a 35% increase at the top salary. Our contract proposal represents a cost of living adjustment as well as market rate adjustment to get us back in line with the salaries of our peers around the state.

Lastly, a significant hurdle in contract negotiations will be that we are heading in negotiations without final health care rates in place. Cate Wagner, Pat Guernsey and I have been meeting for the past three months with the Joint Management/Labor Health Care Committee. In a nutshell, Blue Cross Blue Shield has reported that they are losing millions and millions of dollars on the Hennepin County contract. They readily admit that if they were to raise their fees to the break-even stage, the increase would be so dramatic that they would price themselves out of Hennepin County all together. They have stated that the only way they could be involved with Hennepin County is to make a pitch to take over the entire Hennepin County contract. Given the fact that economic indicators are making Blue Cross Blue Shield significantly alter their proposal for 2006-2007, the committee discussed at length the wisest way to proceed. This group is represented by professional consultants, Deloitte and Associates. It was decided that the county would put out a Request for Proposals and open up the entire county bid to whatever health plan that would like to take a chance at securing this large number of people. Realistically, Blue Cross Blue Shield, HealthPartners and Medica are the only significant players who are anticipated to make a proposal. Until those proposals are submitted and a final decision is made by the Joint Management/Labor Health Care Committee, we will not know what the anticipated rates are and therefore will not be able to negotiate those items until that information is finalized. Please be aware that we are more than likely going to be left with only one health care provider for the next two year cycle. While no one wants this alternative, as we have benefited by competition in the past, there does not seem to be any logical way around it. Please note that those of us on this committee know that our doctors and health care providers are important to both us and our families and that all decision making will be made with every attempt to minimize impact on our membership and on all Hennepin County employees.

IMPORTANT: Remember the rally on July 18th at 12 o’clock noon. This is the first day of negotiations and we will be presenting our proposal to the county. The county’s response and counter-proposal, will come on August 18th at the next scheduled session. Please support the local by showing your enthusiasm and encouragement for a fair and equitable contract for 2006 and 2007. Thank you very much.