MSU Administrative Professional Association

Per the APA Constitution and Bylaws, the annual APA Executive Board election shall be conducted by March 31 of each year.  This year the 2013 election is scheduled to run from March 14 – March 25, 2013.

The 2013 election will include five (5) seats on the APA Executive Board with terms ending in 2016 and five (5) MEA/NEA Delegate positions with terms ending in 2016.

This communication serves as notice of the election and the opening of candidate nominations.  All nominations must be submitted via email to the chair of the APA Elections Committee, Aaron Ledger, at [email protected] no later than 4pm on February 7, 2013.

All members in good standing are eligible for nomination. After close of nominations, properly nominated candidates will be contacted by the Committee to confirm willingness to run for office.

The APA 2013 Elections Committee includes: Aaron Ledger (Chair), Erica Phillipich, Leo Sell, Nancy Vanderwest, and Dave Graff.

Each year, the APA Nominations and Elections Committee work diligently to operate an efficient, accurate, and transparent election in compliance with the APA Constitution and Bylaws.  In doing so, the Committee has scheduled an open ballot testing on March 11, 2013. There will also be an election results announcement on March 25, 2013.

Both public election events are open to full members of the APA and will commence at 5:15pm at the APA Office, located at 1480 Kendale Blvd., Suite 300 in East Lansing.   If you have any questions please feel free to contact Aaron Ledger at [email protected].

Further announcements around the election will be provided in future APA Newsletters and via the official APA ListServ. Please watch your email for important election information.

On Tuesday, February 19, 2013 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm the APA will be hosting our members, local legislators and leaders of MEA at the new Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU. Sponsored by the Broads and other benefactors and designed by prize-winning architect, Zaha Hadid, the museum’s innovative design is meant to symbolize the University’s dynamic vision.  The Broad Art Museum hosts several collections of art spanning a wide breadth of time periods and artistic styles, providing for a rich viewing experience.

Due to the reception being held after normal museum hours, we encourage your participation and that you reserve a spot to see the wonderful collection of art.

The reception will be sponsored by Michigan Education Association and MEA Financial Services.

Please send your RSVP to Shawn Mahorney at [email protected] no later than February 12, 2013.

APA bargains your annual wage increases and health care coverage collectively with the other labor organizations on campus (Coalition of Labor Organizations (CLO)) through the Joint Health Care Committee.

Historically, the University and the unions have collectively worked together to protect the quality of health care coverage while keeping costs down. The health insurance increases for the University have been below the national trend for many years. This has been accomplished by problem-solving together.

The mission of the Joint Health Care Committee (JHCC) is as follows:
We commit to work together to support and promote the health and well-being of Michigan State University, its employees and their families through cost effective, accessible, quality driven health care in an effort to ensure a productive workforce.

The Memorandum of Understanding between Michigan State University and the CLO expires on December 31, 2013. This agreement is referred to in Article 44 Health Care Coverage of the MSU-APA Master Agreement. Over the life of the current agreement, the cost of health care has been held well below the 5% increase threshold. In the last plan year, there was no health care cost increase except for legally mandated tax under Public Act 142, the Health Insurance Claims Assessment Act, which assessed a one percent tax on the cost of each paid health care claim.

As we approach bargaining wages and health care this year, it is important that APA knows what your health care experience has been and what challenges you have faced with dealing with the current third party administrator, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Blue Care Network. If you have any concerns of which the bargaining team should be aware, please contact APA  at [email protected] or (517) 353-4898.

If you have questions regarding coverage or claims issues, representatives from both the Community Blue and BCN MSU health plans maintain office hours in the Human Resources office each week. Krystal Williams from Community Blue is available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays in Suite 30 of the Nisbet Building. Jasmine Henry from BCN is available on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the same location. You can call 517-884-0128 to make an appointment with Krystal or Jasmine. Both also see walk-ins during their office hours, but those with appointments are seen first.

In a disingenuous and non-democratic course of events, the Michigan legislature and Governor Rick Snyder jammed through right-to-work for less legislation, signing it into law as Public Act 349 on December 11, 2012.  All but four Republican senators and all but six Republican House members voted in favor of the legislation.  No Democrats in either chamber voted in favor of the bill.

What Are Right-To-Work Laws
In right-to-work states, unions are prohibited from including union security clauses in their contracts, which are those clauses that require all employees in the bargaining unit to either join the union or pay a portion of its dues as a condition of employment.

Worker-friendly states (those states without right-to-work laws), on the other hand, allow provisions for the union to be the exclusive bargaining agent for those workers who are eligible for membership, and may also require all eligible employees to pay at least a portion of the union dues.

In right-to-work settings, the union maintains the same legal obligation to all potential members for representation around wages, hours, and conditions of employment.  However, the law allows those who receive the union benefit to not pay their fair share, free riding on those who remit dues.

Maintaining the uniformed legal obligation of service on the union and foreclosing the structure for funding those responsibilities strains the union’s resources to zealously represent each and every member.  Thus, right-to-work laws are generally enacted by anti-union, anti-labor, anti-middle class state legislatures to weaken a union’s role in the workplace.

Impact of Right-To-Work Laws
The action of Michigan’s corporate special interest governor and state legislature attempt to diminish the positive impact the APA has diligently worked to secure around your wages, hours, and conditions of employment for the last 25 years.  Two recent studies from the Economic Policy Institute and Ball State University show that right-to-work laws lower wages and benefits for everybody—not just union members.

Unionized settings ‘pull up’ wages and benefits for everybody. When unions are weakened and there is no wage pull, employers have no check and balance when they unilaterally drive down wages and benefits in both unionized and non-unionized sectors.

Result of Public Act 349 on APA Members
The recently passed legislation will go into effect on March 27, 2013.  However, when the law goes into effect, by its terms, it does not apply to any current agreements between the APA and Michigan State University.  Since the APA is a party to a current collective bargaining agreement through September 30, 2015, the new legislation will not have any effect on the APA until, at least, the expiration of the current contract.

The APA continues to be extensively involved and deeply concerned with the impact of Public Act 349 on members’ wages, hours, and conditions of employment.  We continue to be engaged with our state (MEA) and national (NEA) affiliates and other statewide unions and organizations as we assess the best path to move forward.

Despite the governor’s intention to weaken labor in Michigan by endorsing Public Act 349, we are certain this will only elevate the necessity of unions and strengthen our resolve.

At this moment in time, there is no change for APA members and the benefits afforded under the contract will continue.  We remain steadfast in providing the quality service and representation on all aspects of your wages, hours, and working conditions.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the APA office at (517) 353-4858.