LOCAL 207 ORGANIZER
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF AFSCME LOCAL 207
Organize to
Win!
Wednesday, March 14, 5 pm
600 W. Lafayette at Third
(Park Behind Building)
Union meetings are becoming increasingly important, democratic and action-oriented. Not only do we take votes on motions, we use the meetings to organize the actions necessary to win the contract we deserve.
At our the Wednesday, March 14th meeting we will make a final push to organize city workers to attend the Rally Against Privatization & Contracting Out, which will be held on the following day at 4:30 at the City-County Building.
Besides the regular agenda we will prepare signs for the Rally, and prepare for the Council 25 Contact Convention to be held on Saturday, March 17th, 10 am to 3 pm, 600 W. Lafayette.
More members are becoming organizers. That is the key to victory. More and more our union meetings will become organizing meetings. Local 207 is becoming an active union, with lots of room for members to exert their leadership abilities. Come and do your part.
At the February 28th union meeting members voted on four amendments to the Local 207 Constitution. These amendments were proposed by the Local Executive Board at the January 10 union meeting. There was lots of democratic debate and, the members voted on the motions. This may seem common-place, but it’s a welcome change to our union. Thanks to the members for their participation.
• The membership approved by more than a two-thirds margin changing our union meetings from the current five meetings per year, to once every month.
• The members also voted by more than two-thirds to change the timing of officer election so that the election no longer effectively cancels the November membership meeting. Now the officer elections will be held the day before the November union meeting, with the election committee giving it’s election report at the regular meeting.
• The membership voted to “table” a proposed amendment to reduce the meeting quorum from the current 4.5% to 35 members.
• Finally the members voted against a proposal to reduce the stewards’ terms from the current two years to one. Thus stewards terms are remain at two years.
Members Vote
for
Strong
Contract Demands!
At the Local 207 Contract Convention, held Saturday Jan. 27, the members discussed, amended and voted to approve the following contract demands. Other ideas are still being accepted from members.
• “25 and Out” with full pension and benefits for retirement
• Eliminate “frozen minimums”—no one to earn less than $12 per hour
• $1.50 per hour per year for all members
• Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) folded into base rate yearly
• No step increases to take more than 3 year to reach maximum
• Prohibit management from disciplining or intimidating union members who choose not to write statements that implicate themselves or their fellow union members
• Put “Weingarten Rules” in contract
• Establish discipline for management found guilty of violating contract
• End compulsory overtime, negotiate definition of “emergency” for overtime
• Whenever the mayor invokes Executive Order #7 (snow emergency), or other emergencies occur all those who work to earn triple-time (or double time plus comp time at the member’s discretion); no penalty for tardiness during emergencies—paid from start of shift
• Restore 4-hour rule—if you work out of class for at least 4 hours then you must be paid out-of-class rates
• Working out-of-class to be considered on-the-job training: automatic promotion to higher classification if worked for one year, regardless of any other qualification factors
• Triple current tuition reimbursement; all fees and expenses associated with license exams, or license renewal shall be reimbursed by the city
• End “merit pay”—no pay to be on based management’s evaluations
• No city equipment or tools to be used by contractors
• Stop downsizing and privatization of Public Lighting and other Departments
• If management fails to deduct dues, or sends dues to the wrong union local, then they must pay the union double the money owed
• If out-of-class is not paid within 30 days the city must pay time-and-a-half for straight hours and double-time for overtime
• Shift Premium—$1.00 per hour for Afternoon Shift, $1.50 for Midnights
• Weekend Premium—time-and-a-half for Saturday, double-time for Sunday
• End co-pays and deductions for health insurance
• Add domestic partners to insurance and health insurance
• All holiday hours should be paid at premium rate, even if past 8 hours
• 2 more vacation days per year for all members
• Add an additional day of vacation per year for each year of service beyond 15 years
• Prohibit management raises greater than that which union members receive
• Best 3 out of last 10 years for calculating pension—including non-consecutive years
• Paid maternity leave with no loss in seniority
• Double the longevity pay
• Free parking for all locations
• Allow voluntary use of sick time, current or reserve, in event of family illness or parenting leave—end three day limit on use of family sick time
• End all restrictions on use of reserve sick time
• Full sick time payout upon separation or retirement from city employment.
Water Department Supplemental
• For Sewage Plant Operations—5 crews, 8-hour fixed (“straight”) shifts, shift preference by city seniority, yearly bidding
• Pay out-of-class weekly
• All hours worked past 16 shall be paid at double-time
• Provide for onsite Steward elections
• Provide Stewards office to do union business at each location
• New Steward positions for Afternoon and Midnight shift Security, and for Construction Crew
• At first step grievance hearings provide Stewards with all requested materials from members’ files, management statements and evidence
• Workers receiving follow-up medical care after returning from job injury must be released on paid time
• If management doesn’t answer grievances within allotted time, then they automatically lose
• Management will provide outdoor coats or coveralls and work boots yearly
• Uniforms to be provided to all members
• Negotiated staffing levels and negotiated job descriptions to reduce short-staffing and contracting-out of our jobs
• Convert an additional vacation day to comp time each year
• Two additional comp time days each year, not to be taken out of sick time bank
• All members to receive a minimum of two 20-minute breaks and one 45-minute lunch break for each 8-hour shift, with a half-hour wash-up time
• If a member decides that a job is hazardous, management must not have the work done alone, and must provide for safety inspection by the union
• Hazard pay for classifications that may be assigned to hazardous work
• Two centralized, properly-trained Hazmat teams available at all times
• Fully-paid Sick and Accident Insurance.
Come to the Rally!
Stop Privatization &
Contracting-Out of
City Jobs & Services!
Thursday —
March 15th — 4:30 PM
The contract fight is here. This is our opportunity to reverse the long pattern of concessions, and to win a good contract. The actual shape of the battle is not formed yet, but one of our main objectives must be stopping Archer from contracting-out and privatizing our jobs.
Events are moving swiftly now. Two days after the rally Council 25 holds it’s Contract Convention on Saturday, March 17, from 10 AM till 3PM at the union hall. The more Local 207 members who attend this event the better. Master Contract negotiations are scheduled to start on March 26. Now is the time to join the fight for a good contract, and the future of our jobs. Local 207 is still impatiently waiting for the Water Department to answer our request for Supplemental Negotiations (including Sewage Plant Operations schedules).
At the Feb. 28 Local 207 meeting the members voted unanimously to support the rally. Already the rally has been endorsed by AFSCME Local 312 which represents the DDOT mechanics. AFSCME Local 345 is also helping to build the rally. Local 345 represents janitors and cafeteria workers at the Detroit Public Schools. They are under direct threat of privatization by the Archer/Engler-appointed school board.
Helen Moore, the well-known activist opposed to the school take-over is also supporting us. Local 207 has thrown our support behind the lawsuit filed against the racist school take-over. This is in line with our support of the “student intervenors” legal defense of Affirmative Action at U of M’s Law School—and is part our strategy of coalition-building with the black community on important issues. AFSCME 312, AFSCME 345 and the Detroit Federation of Teachers (DFT) are also backing the lawsuit against the school take-over.
We are urging other unions, including the Detroit teachers, and other city worker unions to participate in the rally too, and we are hoping they will. But Local 207 will not wait this year for other union officials to get off the dime, and neither should anyone. All city workers, all union members, and anyone concerned about the future of Detroit should attend. There’s no good reason to miss it. All city workers should urge their union officials to unite against Archer’s privatization schemes.
This is an election year for the mayor and city council. Both city workers and the black community have a pent-up desire to fight against Archer’s corporate agenda, but till now we have lacked the leadership to succeed. City workers have been saddled with a series of concession contracts as Archer brags that over $12 billion has been invested in the city. The very fact that Archer carries out his privatizing a little bit at a time, calling it anything but privatization, is evidence that he lacks support for this policy in our community.
Privatization and contracting-out city work siphons tax money from Detroit’s working class into the coffers of big business. These corporations then use this money to buy more political influence over Detroit’s pliable politicians, who then back more privatization and take-overs. Privatization is part of Archer’s general political strategy to shift more money, jobs and political control out of Detroit and toward the biggest corporations. It threatens the very existence of public services and jobs in Detroit. It would eventually mean higher prices for reduced services as companies seek to squeeze more profits out of privatized services.
These negotiations provide us the best chance in years to make our case to the community and fight to win both more, better-paid, secure jobs, and improved city services for our neighborhoods. The members of Local 207 have elected a leadership dedicated to leading a real fight for real gains, and the members are keeping the pressure on us to do just that. The membership is starting to participate in greater numbers than ever before, but even more members must step up now so that our local can provide a fighting example to the rest of the city workers, who will then start providing leadership themselves. Organizing the members to conduct a real contract fight is what the new leadership of Local 207 was elected to do. Let’s continue building a strong union.
Initial Endorsers: AFSCME 207, AFSCME 312 (DDOT Bus Mechanics), City
Workers for Justice (CWJ), Helen Moore (Community Activist), Coalition to
Defend Affirmative Action and Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means
Necessary (BAMN)