Pulaski keeps support staff?

Pulaski School Board President, Trina Townsend addressed rumors by writing to the Pulaski Chamber of Commerce:

January 13, 2012

Dear Pulaski Area Chamber Members. In the past few days I have fielded approximately five inquires from local businesses. Apparently they had been told that the "School Board" was going to fire all of the cooks, custodians and bus drivers.

NOTHING CAN BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH

As you probably are aware, the State of Wisconsin has significantly reduced funding for public education. The state has given school district so-called "tools" to help them manage their budgets. Essentially, the state has stripped many of the powers that employee unions previously possessed.

While many districts last year refused to extend contracts with employee unions, the Pulaski Community School District entered into one-year contract extensions with all of our unions, (teacher, cooks/custodial, para-professionals and bus drivers). All their contracts will expire June 30, 2012. After that time the Board or Education will have more discretion to direct the operations of the district.

In past contracts the district had been prohibited from contracting out for services (i.e. food Services, transportation, custodial) due to language in the collective bargaining agreements (contracts). While many school districts have contracted with private companies to provide these services mainly to control costs, the Pulaski Community School District had been prohibited from doing so.

Knowing that the district would have the ability to contract for services in the future (after June 30, 2012) when the contracts expire, the Board of Education had directed the administration to conduct an analysis regarding this matter. The Board will receive this report on February 1, 2012 at the Board of Education meeting.

As with any business, (the Pulaski Community School District is an almost 50 million dollar business) we must be strategic in our decision making and we must collect data to nuke thoughtful decisions in order for us to serve our customers (children and the community).

When we receive the report on February 1, 2012. we will most likely decide whether or not to request proposals from private companies for the transportation, food service and custodial functions. Even if the board decides to request proposal it docs not mean the district will contract for services.

Original:

A logo

Created to reflect the awesome environment in which the organization conducts itself.

Its sad that officers nostrils flare, and go to instantly defensive responses when questions are asked by their own members.

Members just want assurance that the job they are funding is getting done. Leaving everyone in the dark as to what the elected officers are doing and learning only naturally leaves one to wonder if they are being taken for a ride at their expense.

The officers sure talk the "We, not me" talk, but sure don't act it or show it.

I guess they forgot the active members (that pissed off minority of members, as stated) are the ones that pay the officers dues, and elect them to represent the membership.

Democracy is about power to the people.

Personally, I get very disturbed about the influence of money on politics. I think campaign reform is desperately needed to level the playing field. All that special interest money from both sides tends to drown out the voice of the average person.

Money has infiltrated every nook & cranny of politics. It keeps good people from seeking office, and it drives the agenda of those who are there.

10/15 Meeting

Many members had hoped to see major improvements in the way officers conduct themselves and the meetings in light of the Walker situation.

Instead we learned that the meeting only happened due to members repeated request, instead of on it's own.

Early in the meeting president, Janice comments that the only members that show up to the meeting are pissed off. (Doesn't that tell you something?)

Former treasurer Smits, gives Rita, the new treasurer a hard time about not having conference spending summaries at hand. (That's calling the kettle black, Sue. You didn't save receipts.)

Basically the same old tricks. It seems, all these officers know how to do is get defensive at their own members. How does this help foster unity?

Once again lacking was a report of association business since the last meeting. Such as;
-Conference attended over the summer, by which officers and what were the topics at hand.
-Building issues brought forward.... number of times the executive committee met, etc.

So officers feel unappreciated for their hard work. Perhaps you guys need to tell use what you have done on our behalf since the last meeting. This is defined as a report on new business.

Let members know what you are doing so they feel like they are getting something for their money.

Based on what we see at meetings on the officers who we elected to represent us, we look like a bunch of buffoons. I wonder if these officers conduct themselves the same way in front of district at negotiations?

Teachers Union answers questions about dues

DPEA United 0911

I agree with this. It's a shame our local president (Janice) couldn't provide an answer this good at last years meeting. Instead she resorted to scare-tactics that were not well accepted my the membership present.

"If you feel you are better off without a union..."

Since support staff in De Pere are some of the lowest paid positions in relationship to adjacent districts, a union makes sense.

But from the battles I have had, and everything I have seen... I like unions, just not this one (WEAC).

PAC Rebates

Rebate Available for Political Action Committee Contributions

A PAC contribution of $5 (full-time) has been added to your Bay Lakes United Educators dues for 2011-2012. The BLUE Board of Directors utilizes these funds to make contributions to: 1) The political campaigns of candidates for local or state office who have been recommended by our members for election because they are friends of education, and 2) committees that advocate for passage of school referenda. Any member wishing a rebate of the contribution must request such in writing by October 31, 2011.

Each request must be a separate letter including your name, address and local association name. All requests must be postmarked by October 31, 2011. A request is valid only for the year of that request. Rebates are normally issued by February or March.

For a refund of your Bay Lakes United Educators PAC contribution, write to: BLUEPAC, 1136 North Military Avenue, Green Bay, WI 54303. Telephone requests, multiple requests in the same letter, letters postmarked after October 31, email requests, and letters missing any of the required information (name, address and local association) will not be honored. They will be discarded. Fair share non-members do not need to request a refund. An automatic refund will be issued to all fair share fee-payers as soon as that person’s fair share status has
been certified.

At the state WEAC level, there is $10 for PAC that can be requested back. Write to: WEAC President, P.O. Box 8003, Madison, WI 53708-8003

Needless to say, I don't believe in giving money to politicians on either side of the political spectrum.

I'm a firm believer in Campaign reform. I don't want one penny of my money funding those political mud flinging ads. Think publicly funded campaigning. This guy has the right idea:

GREEN BAY — What we need in this country is an overhaul of the election process. We need to get back to the issues and get money out of the election process.

First, I propose to make it illegal for business and corporations to donate to a candidate. Why? Because people working hard to make their money may not be for the candidate they are donating to. So in a sense they are forcing their employees to donate for a candidate they don’t want.

Second, a business can only donate to a general election fund that is divided equally between all candidates.

Third, private individuals can only donate $1,000 per election to a candidate. That will eliminate millionaires from buying their candidate. It will make for more equal terms.

Fourth, all candidates will be limited to the same amount of money to spend in their election. Money will be given to each candidate out of the general election fund to bring all on equal terms. We don’t need big money buying elections and candidates. This will make the candidates talk about the issues, and not flood the airways with garbage ads that do nothing but drive the rest of us nuts.

Stephen Francies

Dues Are Going Down?

Dues For 2011-12

Dues For 2010-11

I intercepted this Blue Memo.

If you do the math, it works out to $24.94 per check for 2011-12. At the end of last school year our dues were $28.38 per check.

There seems to be some discrepancies here. We've been told that only $15 dollars (per year) of each members dues stays in our local treasury.


At a meeting early last year members inquired after dues went up slightly on how the dues increase process works.

It was explained that delegates from each local attend an annual representative assembly (RA) meeting as a voice for each local on such issues.

Ironically who attended from our local is never reported, nor is any information on what topics were part of the agenda. Under inquiry, President Janice said Sue and Kelly L***** typically go, but that it is open for anyone to attend if they express the desire.

Here is an interesting section from the Constitution of the De Pere Educational Support Personnel Assocation. Keep in mind that we recently all went though the bylaws so that we'd hopefully have a better understanding of how we are supposed to be operating.

ARTICLE XI - DELEGATES

The delegates to the WEAC or the NEA Representative Assembly shall be elected by secret ballot. Association officers whose duties include serving as delegated to Representative Assemblies or other official business meetings of organizations with which the Association is affiliated shall be as specified in the Constitution.

To the best of my knowledge for the last decade we have not even elected RA delegates.

WEAC issues layoff notices for 40% of staff

Aug. 15, 2011 By Erin Richards of the Journal Sentinel

In the aftermath of legislation that clips the power of public employee unions in Wisconsin, the state's largest teachers union exhibited the first signs of a wobble Monday when it issued layoff notices to 42 employees.

The new legislation limits collective bargaining, but it also requires local unions to hold annual recertification votes, prohibits employers from automatically deducting union dues from a public worker's payroll and allows bargaining-unit members to opt out of paying union dues altogether if they wish.

The announcement of layoffs at the Wisconsin Education Association Council, which affects about 40% of its workforce, comes at a time when the organization is reaching out to members to rally support for the union.

WEAC Executive Director Dan Burkhalter said Monday that the layoffs and budget cuts are based on a projected loss of revenue as a result of Gov. Scott Walker's "union-busting legislation."

Burkhalter said WEAC's membership decreased because of extra retirements last year and districts limiting their hiring of new employees this year.

He said the cuts were not related to any prediction that there would be a further drop in membership as a result of the upcoming re-certification elections for local unions around the state.

The recertification elections are to be conducted by Dec. 1 for all bargaining units that don't have a contract in effect.

"By law, to continue on as the representative, the union needs to garner the re-certification votes of 51% of all eligible voters," said Peter Davis, general counsel for the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission, which will oversee the elections.

WEAC is made up of about 98,000 state teachers and education-support professionals. It collected about $23.5 million in dues in 2009, the latest year of data for which federal tax filing information is available.

It's been holding membership continuation drives this summer in districts where teachers and other workers are no longer covered by a contract and even making house calls to connect with people in person.

WEAC spokeswoman Christina Brey said home visits were a choice made by local union leaders, and she heard positive feedback.

"We really need to look each other in the eye at this point," Brey said.

Burkhalter said that a little less than a third of WEAC's membership does not have a contract covering it anymore.

He wouldn't say how many people have volunteered to continue their WEAC membership - it's internal information, he said - but he added that the organization has signed up members since the bill passed.

Membership is steady in districts that signed or extended contract agreements with unions before the new legislation passed, he said. That includes large districts with lots of members, such as Milwaukee and Kenosha.

In Fond du Lac, where a contract was not extended, Fond du Lac Education Association President Hedy Eischeid said her group and WEAC are working in concert to recruit members and talk to people about why the union is relevant. Persuading teachers to pay dues comes at the same time another element of the Walker law requires most public employees to pay more for their health care and retirement benefits.

Eischeid said the local organization traditionally forwards a portion of members' dues to WEAC, the national organization (for WEAC members that's the National Education Association) and UniServ ("united service"), the regional offices that help deliver services to members.

She said Walker's legislation was intended to break the power of WEAC and local unions and make them ineffectual, and that's "a slap in the face" to people who consider the work that unions do important.

Eischeid said that in Fond du Lac, teachers have united in shared anger over the new legislation, and more than 90% of the local membership has committed to stay in the union.

"We won't have 100%, and there are some people that we will not get to join," she said. "We didn't have people who were 100% with us even when (the district) took dues out automatically. But now we're having important conversations about that, and the power of dialogue is strong."

Eischeid didn't disclose the cost of union dues in Fond du Lac.

In Milwaukee Public Schools, where teachers are operating under an extended contract, most Milwaukee Teachers Education Association members pay about $1,000 per year in dues. Teachers who decline membership still have to pay a $700 "fair share" payment for contract enforcement and bargaining.