September 23, 2008

Fellow Staff,

The officers you elected to represent you in contract negotiations wanted to take a moment to tell you how the negotiation process is proceeding.

It has indeed been some time since a decisive majority of you voted for union representation, and your officers have been as eager to see negotiations begin as you. However, even as the three of us waited for the administration to settle on their team so that the important work of contract negotiation can begin, we have been busy collating your responses to the staff survey that was mailed out. Our AFSCME rep, Jay Wallace, tells us that he and his colleagues have never seen such a large response to a survey, and we are all heartened by staff interest in these negotiations.

Thus far, we have been working hard to develop a draft contract to present to the administrative bargaining team. To this end, we have incorporated your responses to the staff survey while using existing contracts from the Louisville Free Public Library, the Hammond Public Library, the Gary Public Library, and the draft contract of the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library as templates. We have also incorporated portions of our own personnel manual into the draft. This is important because it exemplifies the fact that we are not pulling demands out of thin air; we are not “asking for the moon”.

Our goal as negotiators is two-fold: 1) we want to solidify what we already have, and 2) we want to get into writing what you feel is lacking in the current language of our personnel manual. In addition, a contract will give us a concrete grievance process, define equitable benefits and suitable working conditions, and give us a real voice in discussions of regular cost-of-living and longevity wage increases. Remember, at present, any input we have is a privilege; a union-brokered contract is an important opportunity for us to finally have a guaranteed say in the establishment of our wages, benefits, and working conditions.

On September 11, we met for the first time with the administrative negotiation team. Their team consists of Sara Laughlin, Kyle Wickemeyer-Hardy, Bonnie Estell, Mickey Needham, Chris Jackson, and Paul Sinclair, a lawyer from the Ice-Miller law firm in Indianapolis. Our team consists of Phil Eskew (union president), Bobby Overman (union vice-president), Jane Ruddick (union secretary), and Jay Wallace, our AFSCME rep.

This was a preliminary meeting; it did not signal the beginnings of negotiations; rather, it was a chance to make introductions and go over formalities relevant to the process of negotiation. At this meeting, we reviewed the resolution approved by the MCPL board which defines the rules for the negotiation process. The key section of this resolution is Section 5. Our goal in upcoming negotiations is to work with the administrative team to finalize a contract that will then be submitted to the board for approval. We all discussed the need to remain professional, and agreed that what happens at the negotiation table is to remain confidential. This means that neither we nor the members of the administrative negotiation team are to discuss what transpires during negotiations with other staff, whether they be managers, friends, or spouses. The contents of these negotiations are confidential, and they will begin on October 10.

The fact that these negotiations are confidential does not mean you do not have a voice at this point. First, we are basing our draft contract on your survey responses. Second, all of the members of the unit (i.e. those who have signed cards) will have an opportunity to vote on the contract once it is approved by the board. Which is to say, we do not have the final word on the contract; you do.

We hope you will be patient as this process moves forward, and we will do our best to keep you informed without violating the rules of confidentiality. If you have any questions, please direct them to Phil, Bobby, or Jane. We will do our best to answer them.

In solidarity,

Phil Eskew     Bobby Overman     Jane Ruddick

President     Vice-President     Secretary

AFSCME Local 2802     AFSCME Local 2802     AFSCME Local 2802