At 10:30 Friday night (August 10th) the University brought a “settlement offer” to our negotiations committee.
This offer was for 2.25% across-the board on July 1st of each year of the contract, and did not address the other issues we had sent to them in our previous proposal, including looking at a cap on health insurance premiums along with other ways of distributing the economics of the contract.
Our negotiating committee members agree that this proposal does not even come close to meeting our economic needs. The State Legislature was generous in its allocation to the University this year and we know that there is money in that appropriation for staff wage increases.
We believe the University can do better than this trivial amount in compensation for the distance we’ve fallen behind inflation over the last 5 years. In order to make economic progress our general wage increase must be more than the inflation rate. If it isn’t, we don’t get a salary increase -- we get a pay cut.
We know that the compensation for senior administrators has been more than generous, and that the University is making deliberate decisions about where it will put the money from its compensation funds.
The AFSCME Joint Negotiations Committee made a decision on Friday night to send the settlement offer back to the University’s negotiators, along with a letter to them stating that we would send their proposal out for a vote of the membership. We told them that we would be sending this to our members with a recommendation of “reject and strike.”
We have already scheduled Strike Preparation meetings, beginning at noon Tuesday, August 14th. These meetings will be held all over campus and will focus on updates and explanations about the developments of the last evening of negotiations.
The Twin Cities campus meetings are progressive, and each week we will address a different aspect of strike readiness. Please plan to attend one meeting each week. If you are unable to attend during that week, contact your Union and arrangements will be made to get the information to you by other means.
IT IS CRUCIAL that you attend one of these information meetings. We will be talking about what you need to do in the event our members vote to authorize a strike. The meeting dates are listed below.
Also see the Local Union’s web sites for meeting dates:
The following meetings have been scheduled to update U of M AFSCME technical, clerical and health care workers on the latest developments in contract negotiations and prepare for the possibility of a strike. These meetings are a forum for members to provide input on this important subject. All meetings are from noon to 1:00 pm unless otherwise noted. The Twin Cities campus meetings are progressive, and each week we will address a different aspect of strike readiness. Please plan to attend one meeting each week. If you are unable to attend during that week, contact your Union and arrangements will be made to get the information to you by other means. If you are unable to arrange childcare, please feel free to bring your children to the meeting. Please check the websites below for updates on locations and for more meetings as they are added.
WEEK 1
Tuesday, August 14, 2007, West Bank Meeting, 255 Blegen Hall
Tuesday, August 14, 2007, St. Paul Meeting, 125 Coffey Hall
Tuesday, August 14, 2007, Crookston Campus Meeting, Sahlstrom Conference Center, Room D
Wednesday, August 15, 2007, Med Area Meeting, W-120 Boynton
Wednesday, August 15, 2007, Duluth Campus Meeting, UMD Garden Room
Thursday, August 16, 2007, East Bank Meeting, 162 Amundson Hall
Friday, August 17, 2007, WBOB Meeting, 140 WBOB
Friday, August 17, 2007, Gateway Meeting, 235 McNamara Alumni Center
Friday, August 17, 2007, Evening Meeting, 5:15 pm, 162 Amundson Hall
Saturday, August 18, 2007, Saturday Meeting, 11:00 am, 102A UTEC, 1313 5th Street SE
WEEK 2
Tuesday, August 21, 2007, Morris Campus Meeting, Student Center Prairie Lounge
Wednesday, August 22, 2007, Med Area Meeting, W-120 Boynton
Thursday, August 23, 2007, East Bank Meeting, 16 Johnston Hall
Thursday, August 23, 2007, St. Paul Meeting, 125 Coffey Hall
Thursday, August 23, 2007, Evening Meeting, 5:15 pm, 162 Amundson Hall
Friday, August 24, 2007, CUHCC Clinic Meeting, Community Room
(Note: CUHCC meetings will be held at both 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm)
Friday, August 24, 2007, West Bank Meeting, 415 Blegen Hall
Saturday, August 25, 2007, Saturday Meeting, 11:00 am, 102A UTEC, 1313 5th Street SE