President's Page

Our Union had its annual meeting on October 9, 2004. I am happy to report that the state of our Union is strong. The atmosphere at the meeting was extremely positive and there appears to be widespread satisfaction with our new four year contract.

I am hopeful that we will soon begin mailing out our new contract to those members who have yet to receive them. We will also send a separate sheet delineating any errors or omissions we have discovered. Currently, we do not have a copy of our collective bargaining agreement on our website but John Suda, Tim Holder, and I are actively working on it.

During our annual meeting, I shared the results of the survey taken of our membership earlier this year. Those results were not only vital in helping us formulate an approach to the 2004 negotiations but also gave us insight into other areas of importance to our Union. One of those areas is the use or non-use of our Union website at www.afscme3357.org <http://www.afscme3357.org/> .

Most of those responding to the survey do not access the website. I assume that those who did not respond to the survey also do not access the website. It's time for everyone who wants to stay informed to begin to use the Union website NOW! ( emphasis added). All of our lives are very busy and it takes a great deal of additional time and expense for your Union to mail information to members directly. That same information can be obtained on our website at www.afscme3357.org. The founder of our Union, John Suda, has put together a superb website that is constantly being enhanced and improved. Steve Hofer from our Indianapolis office has a Blog site that is extremely informative and entertaining. I have encouraged webmaster Suda to include embarrassing photos of Union members. In a nutshell, the website is informative, fun, and an integral part of this Union. Please log on at least once a month from home or at work in order to stay informed.

I have had a number of recent conversations with Plan Personnel Director Elaine Eizelman regarding Article 9.2 of our collective bargaining agreement. Article 9.2 is a new contractual provision that, once implemented, will allow a staff attorney to purchase up to $150,000.00 of additional term life insurance for him or herself without an initial medical examination or any other type of physical or verbal screening. Article 9.2 will also allow for the purchase of term insurance of up to $50,000.00 for a spouse and $10,000.00 of insurance for each child. It is my understanding that there will be a verbal screening for a spouse who wishes to purchase additional insurance beyond $10,000.00. Additional details will be forthcoming by way of a power point presentation sent to each individual member at their office later this year. I wanted to give everyone a heads up regarding this additional optional insurance coverage since there will be an initial window in which members can purchase this insurance regardless of preexisting conditions. This means that Union members who may not have been able to qualify for life insurance coverage may now be able to do so. I would encourage everyone who would otherwise be considered uninsurable or a high risk insurance candidate to consider purchasing this insurance during the initial no examination or screening period.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments you may have at the phone numbers and e-mail addresses listed below.

Fraternally Yours,
Paul Colavecchio
President AFSCME Local 3357
Phone 330-945-7326 (Home)
Phone 1-800-289-5030 (Work)
Home e-mail- dcolavecchio@neo.rr.com
Union e-mail- President@afscme3357.org

President's Column

(by Paul Colavecchio, Staff Attorney, Twinsburg -Ohio )
July 6, 2004

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

July 6, 2004

Hello again everyone.

I am pleased to announce that our membership has passed a new collective bargaining agreement by an overwhelming vote of 85 to 20. There were 140 ballots mailed with 108 returned. Three ballots were ruled invalid. The passage rate percentage was 81% for and 19% against.

I want to again thank the ninety of you who completed the survey mailed out earlier this year. The survey results were of great assistance in preparing for the negotiations with Plan management. The negotiating team was able to gain insight into those matters of most importance to our members through the survey results.

EXPANDED RETIREMENT HEALTH CARE BENEFIT
During negotiations, the Union asked for an increase in the amount of money used to fund the retirement health care benefit and a decrease in the age of eligibility. Plan management informed the Union that they are committed to keeping this valuable benefit fully funded. On Tuesday, June 29, I participated in a conference call with Elaine Eizelman, Bob Esler and Ed Parker regarding the expansion of this benefit. I am pleased to announce that the current 3% annual funding has been increased to 4% and the age of eligibility reduced from age 62 to age 61. These changes will take effect on September 1, 2004.
You must still have 15 years of service with the Plan to be eligible. I want everyone to know that this is an ERISA protected benefit that cannot be revoked. There is the possibility it could run out of money if not adequately funded. The 4% annual funding represents an enormous amount of money. Four percent of all the salaries paid to Plan management and Plan employees will be matched with a corresponding contribution to the retirement health care plan. During negotiations the Plan revealed their projections that the 3% funding level would carry the benefit until the year 2018. The 4% funding level should carry us well beyond 2018.

SAME GENDER MEDICAL COVERAGE
I am enclosing an explanation of how same gender partners may qualify for health care benefits. This language and the benefit itself is identical to that of UAW members. I want to assure our members that the Union received this additional benefit along with the new hearing aid benefit and contraceptive benefit without any givebacks in return. These new benefits, along with the expanded dental and orthodontia coverage, will not go into effect before January 1, 2005. The Plan would not commit to a date certain when they will take effect but it is in management's own self interest to implement this benefit quickly since they also stand to gain.

SEPTEMBER ELECTIONS
I want to make everyone aware that elections will be held this September for most of the Union offices. Nominating petitions will be mailed out shortly and I encourage you to nominate yourself if you wish to run for an office. Our council 66 representative, Peter Nickles, will contact all those nominated to see if they wish to run in the September elections. The continuing growth and vitality of our Union is utterly dependent on the willingness of our membership to sacrifice some of their valuable time for the betterment of all.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I want to once again thank my negotiating committee comprised of Cindy Tuczynski, M.J. Van Sickle, Tim Holder, Roger White, and Council 66 representative Peter Nickles for their dedication, sacrifice, energy, and talents in helping bring the 2004 collective bargaining negotiations to a speedy and highly satisfactory conclusion. Our new contract greatly simplified our salary and bonus structure-it is also now fairer and more understandable. The benefits of this structure should carry forward to make preparing for and conducting the 2008 negotiations a much simpler task.

President's Column

(by Paul Colavecchio, Staff Attorney, Twinsburg -Ohio )
February 22, 2004

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

February 22, 2004

Hello again to everyone.

During my last message, I discussed at some length an important grievance that your Union had filed against the Plan. As some of you may already be aware, we achieved a significant victory over Plan management in this case before Arbitrator Richard E. Allen. The arbitrator ruled that a staff attorney may use accrued sick leave to care for an ill spouse or child. For many years, the Plan has forced some staff attorneyÕs to either use vacation time or be otherwise uncompensated in order to care for an ill spouse or child. The arbitrator ruled that the Plan must allow a staff attorney to use his or her accrued sick leave in order to care for an ill spouse or child as is clearly stated in article 18.8 of your collective bargaining agreement.

Arbitrator Allen ruled as follows:

1. The language of article 18.8 is clear and unambiguous.

2. The employer failed to establish that there was a consistent past practice

agreed to by both Union and Management that would override the clear and

unambiguous language of the collective bargaining agreement.

3. Assuming arguendo that Plan Management had established that an

past practice had been established, the clear and unambiguous language

of a collective bargaining agreement must prevail.

This decision was certainly good news for the affected grievant. She had been forced to use four vacation days to care for her hospitalized husband. These vacation days have been restored. This decision is also very good news for all of the staff attorneyÕs in our local. They can now use their sick time to care for an ill spouse or child without fear that the Plan may convert their request to use their sick time as vacation days or not compensate them at all. It is obvious why the Plan did not want to allow our members to use sick time. If we donÕt use our sick time, we lose it. Many other employers compensate their employees for unused sick time. Our employer does not. Other employers allow their employees to donate their excess sick time to other employees who are experiencing a serious or extended illness. Our employer does not.

This decision is even better news for its precedential value. The Plan for many years has bulldozed its way past many provisions in our collective bargaining agreement that are clear and unambiguous. They have sometimes gotten away with this because our Union members are either ignorant of their rights or too timid to exercise them. When a Union member does object to a Plan directive that contradicts the collective bargaining agreement, the Plan will usually argue that there is an established past practice that overrides the CBA. The Plan can no longer get away with this. Arbitrator Allen ruled that the language of our CBA forbids an arbitrator to ignore clear and unambiguous language in a collective bargaining agreement regardless of the past practices engaged in or agreed to by the Union and management. The plan may no longer unilaterally decide to implement any scheme or policy that contradicts the clear and unambiguous language of the CBA. The entire decision of Arbitrator Allen can be found at our new and improved website located at www.afscme3357.org. Please take some time to visit our website, download this decision for yourself and review it.

This win for our Union was long in coming. It could not have come at a better time on the eve of the 2004 negotiations. The ruling could not have been any better. Our leverage at the 2004 negotiations has been greatly enhanced. I will have more to say regarding the 2004 negotiations once IÕve obtained the results of the survey of our membership and met with our entire negotiating team that will occur in late March. I am anticipating negotiations will begin during the first weeks of May, 2004. I will provide much more information regarding survey results and the 2004 negotiations in my next Presidential message. As always, I welcome your input. Feel free to call or e-mail. I try to respond immediately.

Fraternally Yours,

Paul Colavecchio