LOCAL 2505 MEETING
APRIL 5, 2008
The meeting was called to order by Local
President Ralph DeJuliis at 11:20AM
The meeting was held at the home of Local
Secretary-Treasurer, Magda Mashburn (3837 Highpoint Ct, Norman, OK)
The meeting notice was included in the
March 2008 Newsletter which was mailed to all active members and all
retired members.
Attending were: Ralph DeJuliis (President), Magda Mashburn (Secretary-Treasurer), Carol Lewis (Executive Vice President) and Mary Roberts (Moore DO).
SECRETARY’S REPORT:
Minutes of the January 12, 2008, meeting were previously submitted to all in attendance and on April 5 to Carol Lewis.
Carol made the motion for the minutes to be accepted and Mary seconded the motion.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
A PDF copy of the Local’s 1965 Charter is now on a CD and Ralph will add it to the website. Since it is an important document and part of the history of Local 2505, it needs to be properly preserved. The document is currently in the possession of Hobby Lobby for matting and framing. Once framed, the Charter will be displayed in the office of President Ralph DeJuliis.
Distributions were made of the following checking and savings account bank statements:
- January 31, 2008 and
February 29, 2008
- Explanations as to income
and expenditures were furnished.
- The February dues deposit
included $307.35 back pay for Ylita Edd’s dues.
- It was pointed out that I
made an erroneous deposit of $45.18 (personal non-Union related funds)
for which I was submitting a voucher for
reimbursement.
- Mention was made of the bond payment and that action was taken to drop Ylita Edd as a signer on the AFGE Local 2505 bank account and to add Carol Lewis as a new signer.
All information necessary for the audit
for 2007 has been compiled and will be submitted to CPA 4-7-08.
1099 Misc were mailed to CPA and Ed
Bankston (arbitrator) 1-31-08
LM-3 due March 31 was mailed to Dept of
Labor 2-14-08
990-EZ for IRS has been completed. Since it
is not due until May 15, it was included with audit for review by CPA.
ACTION ITEM: Ralph reminded me that he needs copies of LM-3 and 990 EZ and audit for Mike Kelly (District 9). He will also post the documents on our website.
No contact had been made yet with Mike Kelly by me to resolve discrepancies of missing and confusing reimbursement by District 9 and/or National for organizing expenses and sign up bonuses because of time limitations. Recent reimbursement of sign up bonus has been $20. Ralph stated the District should reimburse us $30 and National $20.
ACTION ITEM: Resolution of discrepancies will be attempted to be done prior to the next meeting.
A reminder was received from National to contribute $516 to the LAF fund (Legislative Action Fund). Since the contribution is sizable and not a legal requirement, Carol made the motion not to pay this and this was seconded by Magda. There was no debate. The election not to pay was passed unanimously.
Benefit Architects signed up a DM. As of now, I have not received the 1187 or allotment for dues.
ACTION ITEM: Ralph will follow up with Benefit Architects.
Bond has been paid for $5000 coverage which is the minimum amount required. This was considered adequate at present.
A comparison was submitted of actual 2007 expenditures for individual items versus what was shown on the proposed 2007 budget submitted at the 3-24-07 meeting.
Reconciliation of the 2007 budget only needed adjustment in 3 categories.
- 2007 item for postage
was adjusted upward from $200 to $400
- 2007 item for CPA was
adjusted upward from $400 to $600
- 2007 item for Lunch and
Learns was adjusted upward from $2000 to $6000.
Motion to adjust these 3 categories
upward to cover actual expenditures was made by Carol and seconded by
Magda
There was no further debate
All were in favor and the measure passed
unanimously
Ralph DeJuliis made the motion to accept the Treasury report as presented. Carol seconded the motion.
LEGISLATIVE REPORT:
We have no current coordinator.
National encourages the appointment of a
Local Women’s Coordinator and a Local Fair Practices Coordinator. No one
in the Local has expressed interest to serve in either capacity,
however.
There is proposed legislation for FEHB to cover minors up to age 25. If this info is of interest to a member, the Local will furnish information so the member can write to his/her individual congressman/woman.
LITIGATION REPORT:
Dates will be secured by Ralph from the arbitrator on the previously invoked and authorized arbitration on SSA’s refusal to give awards to Enid S/R’s.
Pending grievances on awards (3) are being scheduled. Affidavits have been taken on SSA’s failure to provide information.
Award justifications in Tulsa and Enid: Employees in both offices have now received these.
Bartlesville pending arbitration: Ralph needs to resolve the date set for this arbitration as it conflicts with the date Ralph is assisting Council 220 in June.
Arbitration on Section 10 on SSA’s failure to properly complete final EEO counseling for employee: Motion was made by Magda for the Local not to authorize payment for arbitration since remedy will not involve discipline or remuneration. Local will reconsider its position if Management takes retaliatory action against employee. Carol seconded the motion.
There was no debate.
Motion was passed unanimously.
Arbitration on the Hutcherson dues withholding is in the process of being scheduled.
Woodward Contact Station: A third proposal was submitted and is under consideration. Currently management is objecting to part(s) of the Union’s demand for fire extinguishers, fire drills and an evacuation plan.
All other litigation was on hold because of Ralph’s hospitalization and pending his recovery.
NEW BUSINESS:
The Local’s website is now up and running thanks to Webmaster, Amanda Lamb, who did an superb job. We have received several favorable comments in regard to its professional appearance and how easy it is to navigate.
Discussion was made of the notice dated March 19 stating Local 2505 would not be eligible to vote in the District Caucus scheduled May 17 because Local 2505 had an outstanding per capita tax balance. Per capita payments had been paid timely through 1-18-08 which covered statement date 12-11-07/1-10-08. No statement was received for 1-11-08/2-10-08. The first time I became aware that the prior statement was not received was on 3-19-08 when I got the 2-11-08/3-10-08 statement showing the balance. A check to National was immediately mailed. However, that same date, National issued the letter of ineligibility. Even though the letter was dated March 19, it was not received until March 29. There was no apparent reason for this significant delay. Ralph contacted District 9 and talked to Kathy who would refer it to Liz who would refer it to Mike. No response received so far. In addition the info and forms for proxy requested from Mike Kelly on January 12 were never received.
It is very interesting that no bill for the per capita tax was received for the 1-11-08/2-10-08 period since we have always received all the prior bills. It appears there may have been a deliberate attempt not to issue the bill to Local 2505 to cause the Local to be delinquent and, therefore, to prevent Local 2505 to exercise its right to vote in the District Caucus.
Motion was made by Carol not to send a delegate to AFGE 9th District Caucus since we would not be allowed to vote. Motion was seconded by Magda.
Awards: No one was aware of any public
announcement in regard to awards.
In order to receive a QSI, a person needs
to receive a rating of 5 in all 4 categories rated in the appraisal.
The Union was told by a knowledgeable source that no one in our region
received all 5’s . This means no one in the region will receive a QSI.
A person is eligible and therefore MAY receive a ROC, if the person received an average of 4 in the 4 categories for which they were rated at the appraisal.
Ralph stated that anyone unhappy with the size, type or lack of award should file a grievance. This applies even if the person did not file a grievance on the appraisal. This still applies even if the appraisal ratings received would not qualify the person for an award (i. e. the average did not equal 4 or above and, therefore, according to guidelines, there is no eligibility for either a QSI or ROC).
Further information will be gathered in regard to the instance where an employee was forced to take annual leave when they were late for IVT training. If it were not for the IVT training, the employee would not be required to take leave as they completed the full 8 hour work day.
Relocation for the Oklahoma City office: The Union submitted a proposal and notice it wishes to bargain on the new space. As of now, no response has been received from Management. .
ACTION ITEM: Ralph will furnish the bargaining proposal for office space for Magda to post on the OKC office bulletin board with a note if any one has questions, to contact Ralph via phone or e-mail. Magda will also post the Newsletter on the bulletin board.
Proper disposal of Union material contained in 4 file cabinets (each with 5 drawers) at one time maintained by former President Ylita Edd was discussed.
ACTION ITEM: Magda will bag/box materials up for Ralph to review as some may be important documents for the Union to keep and/or put on the website. Other documents that are obsolete will be shredded to protect privacy.
Ben Toman was promoted to an OS position and is moving to Arkansas.
ACTION ITEM: Magda will drop Ben from the roster. Ralph will check why the dues withholding list did not show Ben as being dropped from direct withholding since he now is a member of management.
Election of Second Vice President:
Position needed to be filled because Carol Lewis, former Second Vice President, was elected Executive Vice President and, therefore, vacated the office of Second Vice President. Since this was a mid-term election, no election committee was required.
Notice was mailed via Newsletter to all members. There were no mail in nominations.
President DeJuliis called for nominations. Magda Mashburn nominated Mary Roberts. Mary Roberts accepted the nomination. President DeJuliis called for nominations three more times. There were no further nominations. Nomination for the office of Second Vice President was closed. Magda Mashburn as the Recording Secretary cast the vote. President DeJuliis proceeded with the swearing in of Mary Roberts as the new Second Vice President.
Amendment of Constitution and Bylaws:
Proper notice was given via Newsletter.
Motion was made by Carol Lewis and seconded
by Magda Mashburn to make the following amendment to the Constitution
and to the ByLaws:
ACTION ITEM: Ralph needs to send a copy of the signed minutes to National for their approval.
Increase in dues: The notice of the intent to increase dues was inadvertently left out of the March Newsletter. It will be published in the next Newsletter. The next Newsletter will contain notice of the next meeting so interested members can attend and discuss the proposed increase. The increase is needed to cover the one time increase in Council Association dues and increases in other expenses.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: There was none.
Next meeting is scheduled for July 12,
2008, at 11AM at the residence of the Secretary-Treasurer in Norman, OK.
.
Meeting adjourned at approximately 4PM.