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I will be working on implementing some ideas I have around the topic of communication during the next year. Hopefully, our USO membership can feel “connected” again. I announced at the last USO Executive Committee meeting that beginning in August, I will put out to the membership what will be covered at the USO Executive Committee meeting. This will help the membership to be aware of items that committee will be discussing. Agenda items can be added at the beginning of the meeting. This happens at almost every Executive Committee meeting. We print our agendas about one week prior to the meeting. I will share with the membership what is on the agenda at that time. Along with that announcement, I will publish the names of Executive Committee members so that you will know who you can talk to regarding the Executive Committee. Again, I will make communication a major effort of improvement in the upcoming year. I need your help with this. When you have a concern, please contact me or anyone from the Executive Committee so we can have a conversation about your concern. With all of us working together, we can be successful. SOLIDARITY…With it, great things can happen. Without it, we can be destroyed! Spotlight on…MEA Uniserv Directors The Uniserv program is the “heart and soul” of the MEA, and it has a great impact on the entire organization. Uniserv directors and associate staff in field offices around the state provide direct representation to the membership in areas such as bargaining, contract maintenance, grievances/arbitration, training, etc. For this issue of the Flash, we decided to take a closer look at a real, live Uniserv director. While most are the wild, untamed, unpredictable sort, we did find one in captivity. Let’s take a closer look at Kevin Karpinski, Uniserv Director for the 8-B-F Coordinating Council (Lansing area). Flash: What is your background; how and why did you become a Uniserv director? “My labor background is in the transportation industry. I worked for the largest regional airline in the world (Air Wisconsin, a.k.a. United Express) and served as a District Vice-President in the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW). District 143 is the second largest airline local in the world, having over 30,000 members in its ranks. I handled grievances, arbitrations, training, pension fund administration, lobbying and collective bargaining responsibilities. I lost my job due to hostile takeover (see the movie “Wall Street”). I then had my own business for two years until getting a job for the Clerical-Technical Union of Michigan State University (CTU of MSU) as a Contract Administrator. The CTU is the largest bargaining unit on campus (2000 members). In addition, I served as adjunct faculty for the Labor Education Program (LEP) at MSU before coming to MEA as a Uniserv director. Why did I join the MEA staff? I liked the challenge, and MEA’s reputation as an advocacy organization was very appealing. Flash: How would you describe your style of bargaining/advocacy? Traditional/confrontational or “neauveax unionism/ collaborative? “My style of bargaining changes depending on the needs of the group. I prefer a collaborative approach, with information sharing and problem solving. Sometimes the traditional approach is neccessary AND productive. “The structure of the traditional model is usually more appealing to school board members who may not be familiar with labor relations and are participating for the very first time. The ‘new wave’ models of bargaining are more effective once a trusting relationship has been developed between the parties. Sometimes you can force a reluctant party to the ‘trust us’ concept if they are not quite ready. You do this through a patient and concentrated effort, usually involving the election of favorable board members and rallying community support for your educationally-sound agenda.” Flash: What are the greatest difficulties you face in your job (besides expense account deficiencies)? “My greatest difficulties revolve around the completion of ‘Activity Reports’ which MEA uses to compile staff time in order to determine the rates charged to fee payers (non-MEA members). I hate doing the paperwork and I hate fee payers.” Flash: What do you consider to be your greatest achievement(s) as a Uniserv director? “Helping organize the first non-union charter school in the state. It is now the largest union charter school in the country. They now have a constitution and bylaws, an elected board, building representatives and negotiations survey results. We are preparing to bargain.” Spotlight on MEA FS Service Representative Let us also introduce you to Judy Crites, MEA-FS Service Rep 2. Judy came to Financial Services 16 years ago as a temporary, doing filing. She obviously liked what she saw because she soon was full-time and eventually moved into doing service work. Her day-to-day activities include processing applications re-ceived from the marketing reps to open new client accounts, making changes to existing accounts and handling service problems called in by either the client or the marketing reps. Judy takes pride in handling client concerns promptly and thoroughly. She is highly regarded among the mar-keting reps as being helpful and always showing attention to detail. Tammy Church, Operations Supervisor at Fin-ancial Services, had this to say about Judy: “She is very conscientious and always willing to help out. If we need someone to pitch in for an extra job, there she is. She always follows up on work and is just a pleasant person to work with.” As a USO member, Judy has been active in past years as a unit officer and a member of the retirement board. She feels the union is necessary but needs to stay dynamic and flexible to meet the needs of the membership. Judy’s personal life has been difficult this past year, with the death of her fiancщ last August. Friends and counseling are helping her work through the loss. Judy – don’t even think about retiring. We need more people like you! USO ANNUAL MEETING The USO Annual meeting was held Saturday, May 20, at 10 a.m. in the MEA Headquarters 1350 Building cafeteria. It began with a call to order from Tom Greene and an introduction of Pat Richey as the parliamentarian advisor to the group. Pat provided helpful hints in understanding “Roberts Rules of Order,” as well as direction on how the meeting should proceed. The minutes from last year and the financial report were approved; various officers gave their respective annual reports for 1999-2000. During the USO President’s report, Tom Greene discussed the three-year contract extension which will bring a decent wage increase, keep our present benefits and increase our future benefits with the addition of two new health plan riders. Tom Greene submitted updates on the following projects: (1) Employee Relations Committee (ERC)— a joint committee of the affiliate presidents, Bob Marshall, Dorothy VanConant and Sharon Morford, formed to discuss concerns of mutual interest, as well as future issues, before they become major conflicts; (2) Cultural Diversity and corresponding activities which included February’s Black History Month celebration and May’s Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month celebration; and (3) Inception of a one-day diversity training for new employees led by a team of MEA/MEA-FS/MESSA employees, with assistance from Dr. Leeke. Other updates included the success of the new employee orientation program, up-coming safe workplace committee meetings, griev-ances (USO handled over 50 during the past year), CBC guidelines, additional pos-itions, advocacy training and staff retirement, MEDNA’s dissolution and the creation of a USO Web page. The USO Treasurer, Vera Stafford, submitted the financial report and gave reasons for the various increases. Notably, president’s travel expense increased due to the higher price of gas. The dues are based on the number of members (dues are based on a formula which is, in turn, based on salary). The crisis fund line item increased due to expenses incurred during expedited bargaining. Chuck Agerstrand spoke regarding NSO services to its affiliates and upcoming NSO elections. Reports from the affiliates spotlighted the many changes and challenges faced during 1999-2000. MESSA SSA cited the dress code, mail testing, Warren Culver’s retirement and MESSA’s new leader, Cynthia Irwin. MESSA PSA announced its new officers: Nancy Schemanski-President, Larry Donston–vice president, Fonda Brewer–treasurer and Kay Robinson-secretary. MEA-FS focused on the importance of lending support to MEA Financial Services representatives since they were not able to extend their contract via expedited bargaining due to the complexity of issues. The 2000-2001 USO budget was adopted; various motions were made. A motion was made to amend the Bylaws so that the Executive Committee must give members a vote if it plans to spend in excess of $1,000. Since Bylaws can’t be amended on the floor of a committee meeting, and it requires a petition signed by 25 USO members to be introduced, the motion was then reversed. It was moved to the committee as a whole to discuss a proposed future amendment to the Bylaws with no action. It needed a majority of the positive for the motion to pass and that did not happen. A motion was defeated to create a standing committee called the “tech committee” which would provide a mech-anism for members to com-municate (chat forum, video conferencing) on union issues via a secured intranet site. A motion was passed that stated prior to an annual meeting, budget hearings would be held and open to members for discussion. A motion was passed to form a study committee to examine ways to communicate with members on making their voices heard. Congratulations to all of the raffle prize winners! USO Calendar (Bargaining, Grievance, and Executive Committee meetings previously scheduled for June 20 were held June 5.) June 16-17 NSO RA July 16 Communication Committee 12:30 p.m. August 15 Bargaining Committee 10:00 a.m. Grievance Committee 12:00 p.m. Executive Committee 2:30 p.m.  Rooms have not been assigned for the July and August meetings. Contact the USO office if you have any questions. At the August meeting, the schedule for the next year will be determined. Members can get a listing of the calendar from the USO office or continue to find this information in this publication. In This Issue: USO member spotlight USO annual meeting Calendar How Are We Doing? The USO communication committee welcomes your ideas and editorial comments on the USO Flash. What would you like to see in upcoming issues? Are there specific concerns you would like us to address? Please contact any committee member. We welcome hearing from you. 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