MSU Administrative Professional Association

The Public Employment Relations Act (PERA) is the reason you, as a public employee, have a contract of negotiated wages, hours, terms and working conditions at MSU. This law was passed in 1947 and amended to include public employees in 1965. It was signed into law by Governor George Romney. The primary point of the law was to ensure a fair and consistent process of discipline and allow public employees to bargain collectively. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-act-336-of-1947.pdf

There will be great debate this election season about the right to collectively bargain because Proposal 2 – Protect Working Families – will be on the November 6 ballot. Why should you care about this issue as a professional public employee? Without the right to collectively bargain, the University would be allowed to change your benefits and any of your working conditions anytime at will. The jobs at MSU are good quality of life jobs. APA/MEA work daily to ensure the benefits and rights you have today will also be the rights you have tomorrow. For more information http://protectourjobs.com/.

As a member of APA, you are a public employee. Public employees are at the subject to the Legislature for collective bargaining laws and funding for Michigan State University. The fundamental principal that is provided under a union contract is just cause for discipline. Just cause is a legal standard that determines where discipline is appropriate and requires the University to follow progressive discipline. In a non-unionized setting, employees are at will, which means they can be terminated for any reason as long as it does not violate discrimination laws. As an APA member, you are represented by the Michigan Education Association (MEA), which has the resources to represent you through any job related legal process.

Most people believe they will never be disciplined because they are good employees. Some go as far as to say being in a union does not matter. However, hard-working and conscientious employees run into situations every day that need union representation, and not necessarily on discipline issues. Evaluations, working hours, overtime, or Family Medical Leave are a few of the issues of concern to members.

The mandatory topics that APA/MEA bargains for you are wages, hours and working conditions. That means your health care, your workday, your retirement are all covered. Right now the APA/MEA and other labor organizations on campus are meeting with the University to work on your dental coverage. The goal is to enhance the coverage and access that has not been improved in a very long time.

To see all the aspects of your job that are currently protected by your contract go to http://lay.wyz.mybluehost.me/?page_id=24 or the pdf http://lay.wyz.mybluehost.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/APA2011-2015.pdf. If you would like a hard copy of the contract, please contact the APA office at (517) 353-4898.

By Leo Sell, Legislative Committee Chair

The biggest and happiest news is that the critical constitutional amendment, now dubbed Protect Working Families, will be on the November ballot. The language in this amendment locks in rights of people like you and I to have strong, politically unmolested collective bargaining rights. Passage would roll back some terribly onerous changes in Michigan law and will serve to increase the economic safety of Michigan workers and their families.

It is absolutely critical that every one of our members not only vote for this, but that we deliver the votes of family members and friends. We must use every influence to bring this amendment to victory.

Another ballot measure that I heartily support is the measure to repeal the absolutely outrageous Emergency Financial Manager laws. The EFM has been an economic weapon of terror unleashed upon public school and municipal workers. It has been government power abused in the worst possible way – abrogating the authority of elected officials, and nullifying the will of the voting public.

On the other hand, additional measures will be in front of voters that simply must NOT be passed.

The amendment to require a 2/3 majority of the legislature to raise taxes effectively makes the state a hostage to just 13 Michigan Senators.  Yes, no matter how justifiable and what the margin of passage in the House might be, a simple refusal of 1/3 of the Senate would prevent passage of a revenue bill. This misguided measure was bought and paid for by the same wealthy individual who has financed the faux “let the people vote” measure on the new bridge to Canada. Defeat of this measure is almost as critical as passage of the working families amendment.

Lastly, the bridge amendment. This one, together with the tax proposition, are huge examples of how a wealthy person or company can completely game the system of ballot initiatives and Constitutional amendments here in Michigan.

We must use our informed voting en masse to make sure that the voting franchise exceeds the power of wealth.

On September 5, the Michigan Supreme Court unanimously rejected a challenge from corporate special interests to block a vote on a proposal that preserves collective bargaining for working families.

The initiative will officially be on the Nov. 6 ballot.

“Collective bargaining is a basic right for working families,” said Angelique Peterson a member of UAW Local 245 in Dearborn. “We will fight for it and win in November.”
Corporate special interests pushed Lansing politicians to pressure the court leading up to the September 5 decision. But there was no legal reason to deny people the opportunity to vote on the proposal.

The Court of Appeals previously ordered the Board of State Canvassers to put the proposal on the ballot after the board deadlocked on the action.

The campaign collected nearly 700,000 signatures and the Secretary of State validated that more than enough valid signatures were submitted to put the proposal on the ballot.

Governor Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette took the unprecedented action of requesting the Court of Appeals deny citizens the right to vote on the proposal.
“Corporate special interests have spent millions and will spend millions more to mislead voters and silence our voice to negotiate for fair wages, benefits and working conditions that benefit us all,” said Cheryl Weston, a 31-year nurse who works at McLaren Lapeer Region Medical Center.

Last week, the Protect Our Jobs campaign announced that more than 500 small business owners across Michigan support the right of working families to collectively bargain.
“Collective bargaining lifts wages for everyone and when working families have more income, they spend it at small businesses in their communities,” said Mary Apps, owner of Fraser Flower and Gifts. “That helps us invest in our businesses and the surrounding community, strengthening our ties.”

On the November 6 ballot, Michigan voters will get the chance to vote yes on this initiative and maintain democracy in the workplace.

The APA has asked APA member Todd Ring to help the communications committee make changes to the APA website. Some of these changes will be visual and some of them will not. During the next several months, as these changes occur, if you have any trouble accessing anything on the web site please feel free to contact Todd at [email protected] and put APA website in the subject line. Additionally if you have any suggestions please relay them as well. All suggestions will be presented to the communication committee for approval before any implementation.

Here are some of the current approved changes that will be taking place in the coming months.
1. Add a calendar of events
2. Add a twitter stream to follow MSUAPA
3. Add a new page for the Lunch and Learn meetings with the date and topics (also included on the calendar)
4. Add a calendar quick view to the main page
5. Convert some of the currents Posts to Pages

So if you see some changes and things are not looking quite right, relax, take a breath, blink, and then take a second look. An update will be provided in upcoming newsletters, as well as a page on the web site to keep everyone updated.  A very special thanks to Todd for his hard work!

MEA maintains a listing of recommended candidates for offices in Michigan that is constantly updated as decisions are made. In some races, and Screening and Recommendation will occur before the August primary, and in most, before the general election in November.

We encourage members to consult the listing and vote for the recommended candidates on the ballot.

See http://www.mea.org/mo-political-action for the current listings (you will need to log in with your MEA membership number), and consult it again before each election to see who is most friendly to our interests in education, labor, and the middle class.

Walk to End Alzheimer’s Saturday September 8th

The Community Outreach Committee needs your help!  We are forming a team to participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s and need walkers!  The walk is the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research.  There are no registration fees, however each participant is expected to fundraise in order to contribute to the cause and raise awareness.  The Community Outreach Committee has packets available for team participants.  The walk will be held Saturday September 8, 2012 at the State Capitol.  To register for the team or to receive additional information contact Nick Boarland [email protected] or Deb Porter [email protected].

Summer is here and APA members are having fun in the sun! APA has been busier than ever planning membership activities – including a membership picnic hosted in June, and a planned outing to a Lugnuts game on August 5.  Many volunteers have come together and worked hard to organize fantastic summer events.

Over one hundred members joined their colleagues and families on June 8, 2012 for food and fun at Patriarche Park! The event marked the second annual picnic hosted by the APA and proved again to be a popular experience. Participants shared conversation over grilled hotdogs and hamburgers and met individuals from all across campus. Many kids left the park with colorful Play-Doh sculptures, fanciful creations, and table prizes.  Featured this year, APA member and artist Derrick Turner crafted caricatures of many picnic-goers.

However, summer fun is not over yet!  Planned for Sunday, August 5th at 2:05 pm, the APA invites you to join fellow APs for the Lansing Lugnuts game at the Cooley Law School Stadium.  This event brings APA members and their families together for a day of fun and baseball.

For every adult ticket purchased by an APA member, 2 child tickets (ages 3-17) will be provided free of charge. Each adult ticket is $10 and may be purchased at https://www.what-if.com/SECURE/LLB/grouporder/LL_12_MSU_APA.html

August 5th is also Kids Day! Families can play catch on the field from 1:00pm – 1:30pm.  Kids can run the bases for free immediately following the game. An APA member is guaranteed to win a Lugnuts gift during the Group Raffle! Also, our group photo will be taken and posted on the Lugnuts website, where it can be downloaded for free.

We hope you will join us for a day of fun and baseball!

Members of a collective organization such as the APA/MEA are well advised to make political action committee (PAC) contributions so that our influence can be aggregated and increased far beyond that of a single individual. You can use the “members-only” area of www.mea.org to access an online form to make your PAC contribution. Such contributions will be used to support recommended candidates, particularly those in a contestable election.

Most APA members will first have to create their log in, but once you’ve set that up, navigating to the page and making a contribution is pretty straightforward.