For two straight days, AFSCME members demonstrated outside MnSCU’s board meeting in St. Paul. The message was simple: Stop giving bonuses to college executives at the same time campuses are raising tuition for students, laying off front-line workers, and freezing the pay of workers who still have jobs.

Watch AFSCME Director of Research Kerry Korpi stand up to attacks on public employees and our pensions during an appearance on CNBC. At issue: should states cut public pensions to balance ballooning budgets?

You can cast an absentee ballot now if you will be on vacation or otherwise unable to get to your polling place for the Aug. 10 primary election. Here's how.

International Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders was sworn in as AFSCME’s 39th International Convention concluded in Boston. Click headline to read more.

 

Delegates to the 39th International Convention of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, (AFSCME), today elected Lee Saunders to be the next Secretary-Treasurer of the union representing 1.6 million public service workers.

AFSCME activists rallied Wednesday on Boston Common, in solidarity with Council 93, to prevent the loss of critical public services and to pass the jobs bill now stalled in Congress.

President Gerald W. McEntee used his keynote address on June 28 at the 2010 AFSCME Convention to demand that Congress pass a critical jobs bill — and that politicians be held accountable for their promises to working people. View video below or visit the Convention website here.

Nominations are now open for Council 5’s annual Achievement Awards. Here’s how to nominate individuals and locals.

Notes

News On Offered Health Care Plans

http://www.minnpost.com/politicalagenda/2010/04/30/17788

Dakota County Commissioner states, "Our first commitment is to the taxpayers of Dakota County. They too are faced with critical financial challenges. Our residents are suffering a seven percent unemployment rate and mortgage lenders have foreclosed on about 6500 Dakota County homes since 2006. These facts don’t take into account residents who’ve taken pay cuts or had their hours reduced."  Read on...

Dakota County has repeatedly come to negotiations saying they have nothing to offer AFSCME 306 members.  They appear to be positioning themselves as the only Metro county to offer absolutely nothing to their employees this negotiation cycle.  One member questions why those with so much, and a County with 59 million in reserves, continually says that they can offer nothing.  The following letter exchange seems to summarize a sentiment that is being heard and felt around our local workplace.

Note regarding Commissioner salaries and benefits:
Dakota County Commissioners receive a salary of $64,700/year for their part-time position and a car/expense allowance of $4752/year.