LOCAL 2505
Meeting
April 25, 2009
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 April
2009 Newsletter which
was mailed April 10 to
all active members and
all retired members. A
meeting notice was
posted on the Website.
The meeting notice was
also listed in the
January 24, 2009,
minutes. Both the
separate notice and the
notice in the minutes
were posted on the
Website prior to the 15
day required notice.
Attending were: Ralph
DeJuliis (President),
Carol Lewis (Executive
Vice President), Mitzi
Brooks (First Vice
President), Mary Roberts
(Second Vice President),
Magda Mashburn
(Secretary-Treasurer),
Retired Member Janet
Harris and Johnie (Moore
DO) who didn’t attend
the first part of the
meeting.
Protests were voiced by
Mitzi and Jan that the
meeting was not legal.
The basis for the
protest was that the
bylaws call for a notice
posted on office
bulletin boards 15 days
prior to the meetings.
No such notice was
posted. Mitzi said
members had contacted
her and stated they
might have been able to
attend had they been
notified timely. (One
could not arrange a baby
sitter because they
didn't receive the
Newsletter with the
notice that the meeting
would be on April 25th.
Mitzi noted that she did
not receive the
Newsletter until April
14th when she got home
from work and got the
mail). Mitzi did not
wish to furnish names.
She stated these members
contacted her by either
e-mail or calling her
but did not want to
elaborate or give more
details or proof. No
calls or e-mails were
received by Ralph or any
other members.
Ralph noted the bylaws
specifying that meeting
notification was to be
posted on the Union
board of each office had
not been followed for 6
years as several offices
had not had any Union
reps for years nor did
they have an
active Union board for posting. Office Union
bulletin board postings
could not be seen by
members on extended
leave or retirees.
Ralph said he would
treat the protest as a
"Challenge to the Chair"
in that the Chair was
ruling that the meeting
was legal and would
proceed.
Voting YES would uphold
the chair's decision
that the meeting was
legal and should
proceed. Voting NO
supported the challenge
that the meeting was not
legal and should not
continue. Motion to
continue the meeting
received 3 yes votes
(Carol, Mary and Magda)
and 2 no votes (Mitzi
and Jan). The vote
supported the Chair's
decision that the
meeting was legal and
should continue.
Decisions in regard to
the AFGE National and
Council conventions both
occurring in August 2009
in Reno, NV, were tabled
for the next meeting. We
can send two delegates
based on our membership.
The per capita payment
has to be received by
AFGE not later than June
25. Credentials have to
be received by July 25.
Results of the election
and the Local’s
constitution including
AFGE’s stamp of approval
also have to be
submitted timely.
SECRETARY’S REPORT
Minutes of the prior
January 24, 2009,
meeting were previously
submitted to all who
attended the January 24,
2009, meeting and were
listed on the web site.
Corrections to the
minutes consist of
deleting Kathy Barrett
as one of the attendees
and that we cannot name
the specific person who
discussed returning to
partnerships in the
Legislative Report.
Carol moved the minutes
be accepted with the
correction mentioned
above. Mary seconded.
The Secretary's Report
was accepted. There were
no votes against
accepting the
Secretary's Report.
TREASURER’S REPORT
-Checking and saving
account statements were
discussed.
-CPA completed the 2007
audit and no errors were
noted.
-Documentation would be
given to CPA prior to
the next meeting to
complete the 2008 audit
-The 2009 Bond was paid.
-The Local's income
consisted of dues
(including the dues of
an OS wishing to remain
a member) and $555.79
from Ralph. The Local
had previously
reimbursed Ralph for his
travel expenses to the
Regional Meeting in
December in Albuquerque.
After some delays,
Council 220 reimbursed
Ralph in March. Ralph
subsequently reimbursed
Local 2505 for any money
he recovered from
Council 220.
-LM3 was timely
submitted to the Dept of
Labor March 30. Letter
dated April 16 indicated
they had not received
it. Letter was sent to
them April 24 that it
probably crossed in the
mail and to re-contact
us if they still didn’t
have it so we can
resubmit it and to
please correct my name
from Macda to Magda.
A motion was made to
accept the report. Carol
accepted and Mary
seconded. The
Treasurer's Report was
accepted. There were no
votes against accepting
the Treasurer's Report.
LEGISLATIVE REPORT:
There is no budget yet.
Overtime has been freed
up. There is no award
budget as of now. Witold
sent a memo re questions
remaining in regard to
Commissioner Astrue. The
budget provided for 3500
new hires averaging 2
per office. However, the
lion share will most
likely go to TSC’s.
Resources will be
devoted to expand
management’s
accessibility to more
and more lists so
management will be able
to pull up these lists
from any location.
California and Illinois
laid off DDS workers
even though the Federal
Government pays the cost
of their employment.
Proposed legislation as
to sick leave related to
FERS employees passed
the House and is pending
in the Senate.
SSA did not offer an
early out for the first
time in years.
LITIGATION REPORT
Enid:
-non-selection EEO
-MOU on Woodward Contact
Station
McAlester:
-Temp TE grievance
Miami:
-Appraisal grievance
Muskogee:
-EEO complaint in regard
to distribution of walk
in interviews
-Step 1 grievance
concerning an employee
being forced to take AL
because part of an IVT
session was missed (note
IVT is not mandatory)
-Section 10 regarding
non-purging of 7B file
-Section 10 on not
permitting Muskogee SRs
to work Saturday
overtime in Tulsa ODAR
Oklahoma City:
-a BIG WIN for President
DeJuliis on proposed
demotion - management
withdrew the proposal.
Retroactive back pay,
interest, WIGI and
career ladder are
expected
Okmulgee:
-6 employees filed OWCP
on a frightening
hazardous material
incident that
occurred 4-13-09 which resulted in the office
closing, all employees
having to shower at an
emergency unit set up
on-site, changing into
scrubs and going to the
emergency room.
Poteau:
-Step 3 should be
completed by 5-16-09
Shawnee:
-Award grievance needs
to be scheduled at step
3
-appraisal grievance
needs to be scheduled at
step 3
-3 grievances were
settled (PACS, 1 temp TE
detail, 1 admin leave
grievance) with
appraisal raised from
four 3's to two 3's and
two 5's and a 120 day
detail to GS 12 TE.
Stillwater:
-ULP on changing office
hours and lunches and
bypassing bargaining
with the Union
Tulsa:
-Appraisal grievance
awaiting information
-Big win for 2nd VP Mary
Roberts: OWCP case won
-AL grievance resulted
in leave being restored
-3:15 PM appointments
removed from calendar
-SRs no longer open
front windows at 8:30
NEW BUSINESS
Merger with Arkansas,
Local 3291 (Tabled from
last meeting):
Ralph stated it was a
great idea. It would
give us the advantage of
becoming a bigger local.
We would be in the top 4
locals in size. There is
great strength in
numbers. The sum would
equal more than its
parts. The greater
membership strength
would allow us to force
a vote from Council
220-Dallas Region to
eliminate its 60cents
per member per month per
capita for which our
members have little or
nothing to show. It
would also give us
another 50% slot (500
hours) in official time.
Local 2505 currently has
150 members. Local 3291
has about 140 members.
Motion to merge with
Arkansas was made by
Magda contingent on
Arkansas having a
similar motion/vote and
agreeing to the merger.
Carol seconded. Debate
proceeded. Mitzi
requested an explanation
on the procedure
involved. No new
elections would be
needed for Local 2505.
Arkansas consists of 16
offices with 2 officers
and 10 reps. Our Local
has been contacted
several times to deal
with issues for Arkansas
members (changing work
assignments, hardship
reassignment, awards,
PA/OPS, denial of part
time, removal, 120 day
suspension, 90 day
suspension,
non-selection, denials
of admin leave in
inclement weather,
etc.). Council
220-Dallas Region has
refused to send contract
trainers to train Local
3291 reps because
Council 220-Dallas
Region doesn't have
time. Local 3291 doesn't
really have enough
official time to train
everyone, anyway. The
last meeting the
Arkansas Local had was
in June 2008. The
Arkansas Board is
resistant to the merger.
However, feedback by
members shows the
majority would favor the
takeover and having the
benefit of being
represented by Local
2505 and its President,
Ralph DeJuliis.
A question was asked if
multi-state locals were
common. LP De Juliis
said that the entire
Seattle Region (WA, OR,
ID, AK) is one local.
The entire New England
Region is one local. The
Philadelphia Region
consists of two locals:
one for MD and one for
the rest of the states
in the region. There is
one local covering NC,
SC, Northern GA and
Western TN. The Denver
Region has two locals:
one for the Salt Lake
City Area and one for
the rest of the region
(CO, WY, MT, ND and SD).
There is one ODAR local
for the entire Atlanta
Region. There is one
ODAR local for the
entire San Francisco
Region. Multi-state
SSA-AFGE locals are
common.
There was no further
debate and debate was
closed.
Vote was taken to accept
the motion to merge with
Arkansas. Four ayes
(Carol, Mary, Magda and
Johnie) and 2 nays
(Mitzi and Jan) were
received. The ayes
carried.
Proposal was made to
change the bylaws.
Currently, the bylaws
state notification of
meetings will be made by
a posting on individual
office boards and notice
shall be posted 15 days
prior to the meeting.
This has not been
adhered to for years.
Many offices neither
have a Union rep nor
have a designated active
Union board. Proposal to
use the Newsletter to be
postmarked 15 days prior
to the meeting as
notification was tabled
to the next meeting.
Announcement will be
made in the next
Newsletter.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
There was none
ADJOURNMENT
Carol made the motion to
adjourn. Mitzi seconded.
Meeting adjourned at
1:40PM.
The next meeting is set
for July 18 at 11 AM and
will be in Tulsa.