Contract Proposals

Today I (and you) received a letter asking for contract proposals from our Business Agent of 5 months, Mike Carey.

Even though he has never come out to meet the rank and file members he did meet with all of the Stewards on May 4th. We were very straightforward.

At that meeting we asked that a copy of the contract be mailed to all of the members. He said it would be. It has not, yet you are now asked to make proposals on a contract many of you don't have a copy of.

On May 4th we also discussed the very contentious 28 day schedule and the shift survey we filled out. He told us that overwhelmingly 6/3 was the choice and he'd be sending a letter out to the members. That has not happened either.

At the end of the meeting Mike Carey said to me, "We have to make this work." When I got home a message about me was posted on the Internet (under one of 320's many aliases): LASZLO, JENSON AND DEAL CAN GO FUCK THEMSELVES! Posted at 1:29 PM, right as we were leaving the building.

On August 9th there was a step 2 grievance hearing with Hennepin County Labor Relations regarding the monitored sick time issue. Mr. Carey was not there.

He has however found the time to meet several times with management about the new dispatch center.

On August 4th I wrote him a very detailed letter asking several questions. He has not responded.

At the Teamsters Convention right before the State shutdown, Ed Reynoso our DRIVE representative (lobbyist) told me, one of your elected delegates, "Fuck You Wade" every time he saw me for the first three days of the convention. He never left the convention even when the State shut down! However he did write a full page article in the Joint Council 32 magazine about the shutdown as if they gave a rats ass.

Maybe the folks we pay to represent us should find the time to mail out copies of the contract, address the shift preference survey, and answer the questions asked in the letter. Unless of course they are too busy attacking members on the Internet.

You cowards like to hide behind fake ID's on the Internet, I challenge you to answer this using your real names.

Teamsters had a big drive this summer to "Stop the War on Workers." Maybe Teamsters Local 320 should stop the war on its' members.

You can reach your Business Agent Mike Carey at mcarey@teamsterslocal320.org or call him at 612/378-8727

August Updates

1. A grievance has been filed regarding the crackdown on sick time use. More specifically the use of monitored sick time without any previous warning to members.

2. Lexipol . What you say? Yesterday Lt. Mathison and Sgt. Hughes gave myself, stewards from the AFSCME clerical unit, HCSDA and the Detention Sergeants an overview of our new policy and procedures. They've contracted with a Risk Management Company calledLexipol and redid the Policy and Procedure Manuel and in the process DOUBLED the amount of P&P's we have. It's all about risk management through better P&P's. Of concern is that they pay a per employee cost, I hope they don't try to consider this an employee cost come contract negotiations.

One of it's features is that our P&P Manuel will ONLY be accessible via the Internet and we will be getting Daily Training Bulletins (DTB's). That's right 30 a month, but we will only have to complete 5-10. I was quick to point out the Jail has no Internet access. It's a problem they will have to address. I also pointed out it's been a problem for completing the Health Care questionnaires for lower co-pays. Maybe some benefit will come to us.

See our e group for more 'private' matters. As we continue to do more with less.

In solidarity,

Wade