Real Community Service

One strOng united vOice

fOr MinnesOta wOrkers

American Federation of State, County and Municipal

Employees, AFL-CIO

Working Together for Everyone’s Benefit

Lou Yang, of Local 2829, provides essential business services as a customer service specialist in the secretary of state’s office.

PAGE 6

Ramsey County Librarians Join AFSCME

Librarian – and new Local 8 member – Amy Boese helped open the door for all professional classification employees in Ramsey County.

PAGE 3

Jim Edin, of Hennepin County Social Services Local 34, leads a Sentencing to Service crew doing cleanup at Baker Park Reserve in Medina.

PAGE 4

volume 6, no. 1 January-february 2011

2 • s t e p p i n g u p • J a n u a ry- f e b r u a ry 2 0 11 • www.afscmemn.org

Mike Buesing, presidentEliot Seide, executive director

information and story ideas should be submitted to: Michael Kuchta, editor

published by afscMe Minnesota, afL-ciO300 Hardman ave. south, suite 2south saint paul, Mn 55075-2469

six times yearly:January/february, March/april, May/June,

July/august, september/October, november/december

subscription price $1 per copy; $5 per yearpOstMaster: send address changes to:

stepping up, 300 Hardman ave. south, suite 2, south saint paul, Mn 55075-2469periodicals postage paid at st. paul, Mn

publication no. 352180

Member international Labor communications association

design: triangle park creativeprinting: cooperative print solutions

Mailing: accurate Mailing

O f f i C E R S President Mike buesing, Local 221 Vice President Judy wahlberg, Local 66 Treasurer clifford poehler, Local 2938 Secretary Mary falk, Local 4001

E x E C u T i V E B OA R dJeff birttnen, Local 517, county sector

paul bissen, Local 868, district 3 (south)Leon bowman, Local 945, district 3 (south)

carmen brown, Local 977, district 6 (west Metro)kevin clark, Local 4001, state sector

Jean diederich, Local 34, district 6 (west Metro)Jody ebert, Local 3937, district 6 (west Metro)

John ewaldt, Local 8, district 5 (east Metro)gerald firkus, Local 3887, district 1 (northeast)

steve fitze, Local 1164, private/special sectorkaren foreman, Local 638, state sectordennis frazier, Local 66, county sectorduane gatzke, Local 2829, state sector

Jim gaylord, Local 66, district 1 (northeast) pat guernsey, Local 552, district 5 (east Metro)Jen guertin, Local 2508, district 5 (east Metro)

sebrina Hegg, Local 761, state sector John Hillyard, Local 600, state sectorJoann Holton, Local 607, state sector

roger Janzig, Local 668, private/special sectorkimberly Johnson, Local 753, district 4 (central) Mike Lindholt, Local 221, district 6 (west Metro)

robin Madsen, Local 1842, city sectorJohn Magnuson, Local 1574, district 4 (central)

Molly Malecki, Local 2822, county sectorMike nelson, Local 2829, district 6 (west Metro)

nickson nyankabaria, Local 3532, district 6 (west Metro )kevin Olson, Local 701, district 2 (west)

Melinda pearson, Local 4001, district 5 (east Metro)Mike rumppe, Local 9, district 5 (east Metro)

Monica shockency, Local 56, k-12 sectorwillie snyder, Local 707, county sector

dean steiner, Local 735, state sectordeb strohm, Local 66, city sector

sue urness, Local 66, district 1 northeastwes volkenant, Local 34, county sectorphyllis walker, Local 3800, u of M sectortamera weller, Local 607, state sector

bryce wickstrom, Local 2792, district 5 (east Metro)

afscMe council 5 is a union of 43,000 workers who provide the vital services that make Minnesota

happen. we advocate for excellence in public services, dignity in the workplace, and prosperity and

opportunity for all working families.

Executive Board Members 2010-2012

(elected September 2010)

sett ing tHe Pace

We’re the SolutionThe New Year brings us a welcome

opportunity to support a new governor who truly believes in government and our

ability to improve people’s lives. Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty told taxpayers that public workers were the problem. To Gov. Mark Dayton, we are part of the solution.

Gov. Dayton understands that we’re the blue-collar workers who took care of South St. Paul while Pawlenty cut his hometown. We kept motorists safe; Pawlenty let a bridge collapse. We fed grandma; he forced nursing homes to close. We staffed emergency rooms; he cut hospitals and health care to the bone. We helped minds soar; he crowded classrooms, hiked tuition and closed libraries. We did our jobs; he fled Minnesota to crusade for his next job.

Rather than working with us, Pawlenty made public workers his scapegoat. He blamed his budget mess on us.

His attacks are just the beginning. Coast to coast, there’s an all-out war on public services and the men and women who provide them. Our opponents have a bull’s eye on our backs and are trying to turn recession-ravaged taxpayers against us.

AFSCME is fighting back to make sure our side of the story is told. When you hear these myths, stand up strong and speak truth to the lies.

Myth: Public employees are overpaid. Fact: AFSCME Council 5 members earn $38,000 a year, on average. Most of us have taken pay freezes for years and are struggling paycheck to paycheck, just like the average Minnesota worker, who earns $42,000.

Myth: Public employees earn more than private-sector employees. Fact: Public employees in Minnesota earn 4 percent less than our counterparts in the private sector who have similar education and experience. That’s because we’ve sacrificed wages for better benefits.

Myth: Public employee compensation is the cause of the state’s deficit. Fact: If Minnesota fired all state employees, the cost savings would erase only 21 percent of the state’s $6.2 billion budget deficit.

Myth: Public pensions are extravagant. Fact: AFSCME retirees have modest pensions of about $13,000 a year. Combined with Social Security, it’s the difference between dignity and

poverty. Ninety percent of retired public workers stay in Minnesota; their pensions keep them self-sufficient and fuel local economies.

Myth: Public employees drag down the economy. Fact: Every time government cuts a public employee’s job, local businesses lose a customer. The last thing we need is more layoffs – in the private sector or the public sector.

Myth: Government is inefficient. Fact: Minnesota’s state workforce is the 10th leanest and one of the most-productive in the nation. Minnesota has 71 public workers for every 10,000 residents, the census bureau says. That’s the same ratio as in conservative Florida.

Myth: Government is growing. Fact: State and local workforces

in Minnesota are shrinking. Yes, middle-income taxpayers are frustrated that they’re paying more and getting less. That’s because they’re subsidizing tax breaks for the richest Minnesotans. The wealth of

Minnesota’s millionaires doubled under Pawlenty, but their share of

state and local taxes decreased.

Myth: Reforming government will erase the deficit. Fact: Making state government more efficient will cut costs by only 2 percent – at most – experts say. It’s still worth the effort, because taxpayers deserve the best possible government services for their hard-earned dollars. Frontline workers know best how to do that, and Gov. Dayton wants to make us part of the solution. He respects us and will partner with us to cut costs, improve efficiency and improve service delivery.

Gov. Dayton knows truth from lie, and won’t let government lead a race to the bottom. Together, we will strive for a Minnesota where all labor is rewarded with wages that can raise a family, health care, and a retirement that’s dignified.

Never forget that workers rise or fall together. People who pit private-sector workers against public-sector workers are only trying to divide and destroy the working class. That’s why AFSCME fights for all workers.

Eliot SeideExecutive director

taxpayers deserve the best possible

government services. frontline workers know best how to

do that.

www.afscmemn.org • J a n u a ry- f e b r u a ry 2 0 11 • s t e p p i n g u p • 3

JOurney fOr jusTice

When Ramsey County librarians joined AFSCME this past fall, they made

a bigger impact than just 24 workers joining a union.

The librarians became pioneers. They are the first workers in any of Ramsey County’s “professional” job classifications to join AFSCME.

The librarians’ decision, backed by the organizing and political strength of Council 5, persuaded county commissioners to recognize the librarians’ union status as soon as they achieved a majority, rather than forcing them through the pain-staking representation process.

Better yet, the commissioners extended that policy to about 140 other professional classification employees. When these county workers want to gain collective-bargaining strength and become part of AFSCME, they will be able to do so through “accretion.” That means it happens as soon as a majority sign cards saying they want to be a union.

“This is just huge,” says John Ewaldt, president of Local 8. The local already represents more than 1,000 other Ramsey County workers, including clerks and pages in the libraries. “It really benefits everyone having the librarians with us,” Ewaldt says.

Council 5’s goal is to attract everyone into the union who is not a manager. “If we can go wall-to-wall,” Ewaldt says, “when we go to the county board, we’ll have a bigger and stronger voice not only for negotiations, but in improving all the terms and conditions of employment.”

Too much uncertainty

Gaining that voice was a key reason the librarians joined AFSCME, says Solveig Nilsen, a Hennepin County librarian from Local 2864. Nilsen became a volunteer member organizer who talked with Ramsey librarians.

“Having a seat at the table, being able to discuss issues in a labor-management context in this economy,

those kinds of things came up,” Nilsen says.

The Ramsey County Library, like most units of government, is juggling to meet rising customer demands despite tighter staffing and funding.

“Since 2000, we’ve steadily decreased full-time equivalents,” says Amy

Boese, one of the Ramsey County librarians who helped organize her co-workers. “But circulation, program use, computer time – all those things have

gone up.”

Library management was painting the big picture of how it

intended to adjust resources, Boese says, and managers made it clear that they did not intend to lay off workers.

But vacancies were not being filled, programs at the system’s seven libraries were being juggled, and librarians were feeling out of the loop, Boese says. Individuals could not tell how they and their jobs would be affected by all the changes taking place or being contemplated.

Becoming part of the solution

Librarians tend not to be confrontational, Nilsen says. “We recognize that management has challenges. But we need to be in conversation. If things are going to happen, let’s be part of the discussion about reallocating resources or staff.

“I was a librarian when we didn’t have a union, then we got one,” Nilsen says. “I know what it’s like from both sides. I think they saw the advantage of having that ability, just having a structure in place should anything happen, having someone to be an advocate on your behalf, instead of being on your own.”

The decision to go union is a positive step, Boese says, not an antagonistic one. With AFSCME, she says, it’s easier to find out – and to have an impact on – what will happen when.

Having a union “allows everybody to talk about what they want their job to be, then to present that in a systematic way,” Boese says. “We know more clearly how decisions are made. We can be part of the process.” n

A nEw CHAPTERRamsey County librarians join AFSCME

Amy Boese specializes in teen programing at Ramsey County’s Maplewood library.

Libraries play a bigger roledespite dwindling resources, libraries play an expanding role in their communities, says librarian amy boese. they do more than lend books and other media – they’ve become true community centers, with classes and activities for children, teens and adults. “we’re teachers a lot of the time, as well as being information gurus,” boese says.

since 2007, circulation in ramsey county’s libraries is up 8 percent. computer usage is up 37 percent. the number of visitors taking advantage of wireless internet access has more than doubled. attendance at children’s programs is up 17 percent; attendance at adult programs is up 62 percent.

for some users, libraries are the only way to get computer access, or to get affordable access to the internet, or to books, video and music. cutting-edge technologies, such as electronic readers and downloadable books, make the task even more complicated.

“Libraries remain an equalizer,” boese says. they are open to anyone regardless of economic status. “we’re trying to do more with fewer staff people,” she says. “it’s an ongoing struggle to serve people appropriately.”

BRiEfS

FIRST on the scene againfor the second time in a year, a first driver made a dramatic rescue on a twin cities highway. this time it was Julie Todora, of MndOt Local 221.

On dec. 17, todora used a defibrillator to revive an unconscious driver who had a heart attack and crashed on Highway 169 in plymouth. Other public workers – 911 dispatchers, a state trooper and a volunteer firefighter – assisted in the rescue.

in July, Local 221’s don Machacek rescued a family whose car had crashed and was sinking into a pond off of interstate 35w in richfield.

Making families’ lives betterafscMe locals and members donated more than $4,000 worth of toys and cash to the annual twin cities toys for tots campaign. Local 3400 – Child Care Providers Together –

organized the drive within afscMe and among families of children they care for. Other donations came from Hennepin county Local 34, revenue Local 3141, university of Minnesota clerical Local 3800, Mnscu Local 4001, Council 5 staff, and their staff union, MACE.

Supporting Guard families: Members of MndOt Local 637 raised $1,250 to make the holidays better for national guard families in the bemidji and detroit Lakes areas. afscMe members raised the money through a giving tree, a pot-luck fund-raiser, and an auction. proceeds go to the guard’s family readiness group, which supports families of guard members on active duty.

Standing with a veteran’s family: corrections Local 2728 at Lino Lakes and the council 5 Veterans initiative “adopted” the family of desert storm veteran nicole groschen for what could be the family’s last holiday season together.

groschen’s husband, chad, was diagnosed in november with inoperable cancer. Steve Kotval, a steward and next wave member in Local 2728, is spearheading efforts to help the

groschens and their two sons during the ordeal.

for the holidays, the local and veterans initiative donated $550 in gifts and cash. next up: a benefit feb. 12 at the forest Lake american Legion hall.

council 5’s goal is to

attract everyone into the union who is not a

manager.

Jeff fowler (left), his daughter, Molly, Becky Sirovy, and her daughter, Callie, delivered this bin of gifts to Toys for Tots.

4 • s t e p p i n g u p • J a n u a ry- f e b r u a ry 2 0 11 • www.afscmemn.org

we dO tHe Work

Tom Toratti pulls out Koochiching County’s outdoor recreation map. He starts pointing to picnic areas and

campsites; boat landings, docks and parking lots; hiking, ATV and snowmobile trails. Just about everywhere he points is a testament to the work that Sentencing to Service crews have done to build or keep the county amenities functioning.

“We’ve got 280,000 acres of public land,” says Toratti, who is a county forester. “It’s really easy to come up with brilliant ideas for public access. But the maintenance of that is a nightmare.”

There’s no way, he says, that the county can afford to hire staff or outside contractors to build and maintain all that outdoor infrastructure. “The money just wouldn’t be there. It just wouldn’t be an option,” Toratti says.

doing work that wouldn’t get done

The solution is STS, a partnership between the county and the state Department of Corrections. The state runs STS crews in 68 of Minnesota’s 87 counties. State crew leaders are members of AFSCME Local 2728. (Some counties also run their own crews, based on the state model.)

In fiscal 2010, the state’s 80 crews saved local taxpayers more than $10.6 million. The work that crews did would have cost $8.3 million more to do some other way, according to figures local governments provided the Department of Corrections. STS also saved counties $2.3 million more because work crews are more cost-effective than sentencing these same offenders to jail.

Typically, nonviolent offenders wind up on STS crews because a county judge sentences them to perform “community service.” Sentences usually are punishment for petty misdemeanors, for minor drug offenses, or for violations such as drunken driving or driving without a valid license. Sometimes, offenders perform community service in order to reduce their jail

time or to work off fines they can’t pay.

Most of the people on crews are “the working poor, people who are just trying to get by,” says Jim Edin, a a crew leader for Hennepin County’s STS program and a member of Local 34.

Crew leaders say STS lets offenders pay their debt to society in a productive way and gives communities an affordable way to accomplish hard, physical work they could not otherwise get done. The state and community split the cost.

Everyone has seen crews that clean litter from highways, says Local 2728’s Steve Borough. However, as the Koochiching County map of trails, boat landings and picnic areas points out, his STS crews have done much more than that.

Borough has supervised crews for 16 years. Those crews have also demolished abandoned

houses. Shoveled snow. Painted fire hydrants. Built vandal-proof picnic tables. Worked with community groups on recycling drives, parades and festivals. “Just about anything you can think of, we’ll tackle,” Borough says.

STS doesn’t ‘steal’ regular jobs

The nature of STS means crews do a lot of grunt work. They are some of the first groups deployed to clean up after storms or natural disasters.

Edin’s crews, which work primarily in the Three Rivers Park District, spend most of their time clearing brush or chopping wood. The park district sells the final product as firewood. Other crews in Hennepin County do basic landscaping, or park and boulevard maintenance.

Crew leaders are quick to point out that they don’t undercut local public works departments

Crew leader Steve Borough hauls a chain saw out of his van for a project near Lake Seretha in Koochiching County. He sees firsthand the value of STS to communities and individuals. “One young man, if you saw what he was and what he is, it’s just night and day. He’s done a lot of hours with us. And he’ll be off probation when he’s done. That’s the first time this young man has been off probation in a lot of years.”

Delivering real community Service

figuring out how to generate productive work out of people with different skills – and different levels of cooperation – is a core challenge for sentencing to service crew leaders.

“it’s kind of like the first day of work every day,” says Local 34’s Jim edin. in his Hennepin county program, a typical offender spends only two to five days on a crew. that doesn’t make it easy to do much training or build teamwork.

“you have to know how to read people, how to work with people. i have days where i literally have to explain to people: this is the difference between a log and a round and firewood. because to that group of people, all wood is wood.

“Other days, i’ll have all landscapers and i’m the least knowledgeable person on that crew.”

Leading by example

crew leaders say it helps to pitch in, lead by example, and be able to solve problems on the fly.

“i don’t have to be the hard-nosed corrections guy,” edin says. “i’ve just got to take them out, show them the job, ask them to do it, and then make sure it gets done safely.”

“at the end of the day,” says Local 2728’s steve borough, “i’ll always tell them ‘thank you.’ when they do good, i tell them that. we treat them like we want to be treated.”

“i get right down there in the ditch with the rest of the guys,” says Local 2728’s Mark berg. He also makes it a point to make sure his crews step back and appreciate what they accomplish and what

sTs

When budget cuts nearly shut down the state’s Sentencing to Service programs last year, the threat rallied AFSCME crew leaders and local allies. It also pointed out how much the programs contribute to individuals and communities.

Crew leaders learn to make a difference

Mark Berg and his iCwC crews have built much of Plymouth’s Millennium Park, including this waterfall.

www.afscmemn.org • J a n u a ry- f e b r u a ry 2 0 11 • s t e p p i n g u p • 5

Jim Edin oversees crews that maintain wood piles that the Three Rivers Park district sells to campers. “i’ve worked at jobs where i’ve gotten paid more, but this is one of the best things i’ve done,” he says. “And i get to go to a park every day, so i guess that’s one of the reasons i like it, too.”

or their jobs. When STS crews show up, they either do work that local communities don’t have adequate staff to perform, or they make it possible for public works crews to do more.

“Any jobs that would be done by union workers, we can’t do,” Edin says. “I think that’s fair. I don’t run equipment that the park workers would run and I don’t do the type of work that they would do. We just enhance what they do.”

“We’ve got a real good working relationship with all the other members,” says Mark Berg, a member of Local 2728 who supervises crews in a parallel state program called Institution/Community Work Crew. “They understand that we’re not here to take any jobs. From the workload I see, they’re pretty strapped due to the budget and everything else. They’re pretty pressed on being able to get all their work done, not counting all the extra stuff that we do.”

Berg’s crews, for example, were the difference in building the trails, gardens, waterfalls, and gazebos in Plymouth’s Millennium Park. The park is a huge money-maker for the city, which rents it for weddings and other events.

Crew leaders fight back to save program

Because STS accomplishes so much, crew leaders were shocked when Gov. Tim Pawlenty and some legislators tried to terminate the program on June 30, 2010. Crew leaders swung into action.

“We stayed up late and wrote letters and made phone calls and made things happen,” Berg says. “We turned the table.”

“We went to our commissioners, all the legislators, everybody from the governor on

down,” Borough says. “They all received packets showing what we do. By they time we were done, they knew who we were.”

“A lot of these people started to understand what we do and that it was valuable,” Berg says.

The uprising saved the program – for now. Counties agreed to pick up a larger share of the cost, saving 80 jobs and the work the programs deliver.

“It was proven to all the counties – it’s going to cost them more to get rid of us than it is to save us,” Borough said. “This program, I’m sold on it. I’m looking to keep my job and everything else, but it’s just a wonderful program. If this isn’t done anymore, who does it? That’s the sad part, nobody will.” n

“Some days are tough, some days are hot, some days are cold,” Mark Berg says. “But every day, i enjoy coming to work. i love being outside, using my hands. it’s pretty satisfying.”

The basics of STSwhen judges sentence people to X number of hours of community service, offenders typically wind up in a sentencing to service program – which many people simply call sts or “sentence to serve.” Others might get sts sentences as an alternative to jail. this could include nonviolent offenders who violate probation or people who cannot pay traffic tickets or some other court-imposed fine.

the state department of corrections oversees 47 state-run crews and 33 county-run sts crews, says ron solheid, a field services regional manager for the department. in fiscal 2010, sts enrolled more than 22,500 offenders. they performed nearly 900,000 hours of supervised work. individuals can be on crews anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

Half a dozen counties run their own programs. Hennepin county, for example, has 30 adult and juvenile crews. in fiscal 2009, nearly 21,000 offenders performed more than 322,000 hours of community service, says Hennepin’s program manager, John ekholm.

typically, crews operate under contracts with cities, counties, school districts, park districts or nonprofits. the crews do an immense range of manual labor, from cleaning up litter, shoveling snow or clearing deadwood and invasive species in parks, to building trails and working on long-term community projects. the state pays 25 percent of the costs; local contracts pay the rest.

iCwC is similarthe department of corrections runs a similar program for selected inmates who are near the end of their sentences in minimum-security state prisons. On a typical day, about 80 inmates work on 15 crews as part of the institution/community work crew program, solheid says.

in fiscal 2010, icwc crews performed 198,000 hours of work. four crews are dedicated exclusively to building or repairing affordable housing in western and northern Minnesota. since 1998, the crews have built or repaired more than 425 homes.

icwc pays for itself, solheid says, because the local government or nonprofit agency covers the costs of crews, crew leaders and equipment.

the work-release program helps inmates develop real-world skills and work habits, solheid says. inmates also receive salaries of up to $1.50 an hour through the department of corrections’ unified pay system. that money goes toward child support, court-ordered restitution, personal expenses, and the inmate’s pocket money when they complete their sentence.

they contribute to the communities where they work. “i try to give them a pat on the back as much as i can, because they work real hard and they usually don’t get that.”

Security is rarely an issue

crew leaders remain aware of potential security issues when they’re in the community, but they say they rarely have problems. “these people aren’t murderers and cut-throats,” borough says. “some have just made a mistake.”

“Most people that come to sts are good people,” edin says. besides, he says, “the crew leader has a big hammer. Most of these folks have a consequence hanging over their heads if they don’t complete, or refuse to work, or basically won’t follow directions.” it’s up to crew leaders to determine if someone is just having a bad day – or needs to be terminated from the program.

“some of these folks have jail time, some of these folks have money that they’ve got to pay, some of them have a probation officer waiting for them,” edin says. “in any one of those cases, sts seems to be the better alternative than what’s going to happen.”

Making a long-term impact

sometimes, crew leaders say, the program actually helps someone turn their life around.

that’s most likely on one of berg’s institution/community work crews. where sts works with offenders sentenced for misdemeanors, icwc deals with prison inmates near the end of their sentences. an inmate typically spends six months on an icwc crew – sometimes as much as a year and a half. that allows them to take on longer projects, or see a project through from start to finish.

“it’s definitely a training program,” berg says. ”we try to work with them, try to build a positive work ethic, help them get more skills that they can use once they do get out.” He leads minimum-security crews out of Lino Lakes correctional facility.

“you have a lot more time to do a one-on-one or talk with a smaller number of the guys” berg says. “it’s quite different from being inside the fence.

“you still keep your professional distance and you still are the supervisor, but you do get to learn the guys’ strengths and weaknesses, and you get to see them progress.”

“even if i fail to get through to somebody,” Hennepin county’s edin says, “every shovel full does something better for the park. even if the folks don’t get it and they keep coming back, that person has done more for the community than many people who don’t offend.”

6 • s t e p p i n g u p • J a n u a ry- f e b r u a ry 2 0 11 • www.afscmemn.org

everyday heroes

Michael nelson, Local 2829 president: “Mark Ritchie has done a lot of stuff around here to make people’s attitudes different.”

anyone who talks about reforming government, about making government

more efficient, or about making government an engine for creating jobs, should look into Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s office.

It’s an example of how, with the right leadership, a state agency:

• Does more with less• Utilizes the expertise of workers

who actually do the job• Improves the level of service the

public gets• Partners with Minnesota

businesses in a way that benefits everyone

“I have a talented, skilled, dedicated, devoted staff,” Ritchie says. “They do a very good job. My job is to encourage them and make sure they have the tools they need. Then I don’t get in their way.”

It’s an approach that Local 2829 president Michael Nelson hopes spreads throughout state government, now that Gov. Mark Dayton is bringing in new department heads and a new attitude of partnership with frontline workers.

Amalgamated Local 2829 represents AFSCME members in Ritchie’s office and 31 other state agencies. As union president, Nelson deals with a wide range of management styles. A lot of agencies, he says, are a lot more top-down and a lot less open to staff ideas and collaboration than Ritchie is.

“There’s always been ongoing discussions between Mark Ritchie, between supervisory staff, and between the unions. It’s been a real good give and take,” says Nelson, a 26-year veteran of the office.

finding alternatives to cuts

Most people know the secretary of state’s office because it oversees Minnesota’s elections. But the office’s biggest workload involves business transactions.

The office registers businesses and their trade names, tracks liens and other loan records, notarizes and authenticates official documents, and maintains filings related to the uniform commercial code. That code is the complex network of laws under which businesses do business.

The office’s record-keeping duties also help consumers deal with issues ranging from whether contractors are legitimate to overcoming the paperwork hurdles of international adoptions.

A veteran staff – the average length of service is 15 years – brings considerable expertise to those duties, Nelson says. His co-workers “come up with a lot of suggestions. And Mark Ritchie takes those suggestions very seriously.”

It’s an approach that, so far, has helped the office deal with budget cuts, adapt to a 15 percent reduction in staff (without layoffs) and still create a huge, new, online data base that Ritchie expects will help his office – and state businesses – run more effectively.

Ritchie’s approach is also a 180-degree turn from how the office ran under his predecessor, Mary Kiffmeyer. Kiffmeyer dealt with budget cuts, in part, by cutting office hours.

Secretary of State’s office proves the advantages of

wORKinG TOGETHER

Millie Cardinal works the service counter at the secretary of state’s business office in St. Paul.

That move backfired, Ritchie says. Instead, it sent a message nationwide that, in a business world that is increasingly 24/7, Minnesota was an unreliable backwater that functioned for only half a day. Five years later, he says, law firms in Minnesota still suffer reverberations from competitors in other states.

If Minnesota wants to remain competitive, Ritchie says, “We cannot reduce hours and customer service and business services. We cannot.” Instead, he is finding ways to maximize the expertise of his staff to make the office more productive.

data base changes the equation

A new data base – the Minnesota Business and Lien System – is key to improving the office’s service to businesses. The data base allows businesses and individuals to quickly look up and print routine information themselves. By automating hundreds of basic transactions a day, the data base frees up staff to devote more time to personally helping those customers who bring in more complex transactions, says customer service representative Carly Lykes.

Staff and other day-to-day users were involved in all phases of deciding how the new data base would work. “A lot of the input and testing has been from our line staff,” Nelson says. Staff weighed in not only on software and policy issues, but also by paying attention to picky details such as how screens would look, so users can find what they are looking for faster.

A new routine

Ritchie says there’s no doubt the new data base is helping his office run more effectively. “Having staffing available to help people is only possible in this budget climate by making sure that things that can be handled by technology are handled by technology.”

The data base is also helping the state’s businesses and law firms run more effectively, he says, because they, too, are spending less time on routine transactions. In particular, he says, the data base helps companies in Greater Minnesota,

www.afscmemn.org • J a n u a ry- f e b r u a ry 2 0 11 • s t e p p i n g u p • 7

Carly Lykes: “i think it’s going to be a lot easier for customers and a lot more efficient for us.”

Russ Scheidler fires up a rally in the Capitol Rotunda.

‘uncle russ’ plays like he means itif there’s a big AFSCME event in

Minnesota, chances are pretty good that you’ll find Russ Scheidler and his

guitar stirring things up somewhere.

Over the past decade, Scheidler has become Council 5’s unofficial troubadour. He leads conventions, rallies and demonstrations in labor anthems or sing-alongs on his own songs.

“King Tim,” his most popular AFSCME piece, is a rousing polka about the recent governor’s ambitions and attitude.

The song “almost wrote itself,” says Scheidler, who processes claims for MinnesotaCare, the state’s affordable health plan for low-income workers. Like other public employees, Scheidler had to deal firsthand with the consequences of Tim Pawlenty’s policies.

“It’s very satisfying to be able to get people health care,” Scheidler says. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s the model for national health care: It’s a joint public-private operation, client-based, sliding fee.”

Teaching managers how to behave

But Pawlenty tried repeatedly to slash benefits, limit access, and gut the dedicated fund that helps reduce premiums for MinnesotaCare. It meant that Scheidler had to put up with “senseless” administration decisions that forced applicants to wait months to obtain insurance.

Then, as a steward and executive board member in Local 2181, Scheidler had to put up with managers who refused to abide by common sense or the union contract. He repeatedly took on the challenge of “training management how to do their jobs correctly.”

More recently, he recruited “a whole bunch of young, active stewards” to carry on the battle. “I love bringing in new stewards because they bring in excitement and good energy,” he says. “It feels good to be able to recruit and train people, and then be able to hand over the reins to them.

“And it’s paying off. We have far fewer grievances to deal with now. And it’s been a long time since anyone’s tried to be a bully at the main office.”

A detour through the Marines

Scheidler has blended activism and music most of his life. He started playing guitar in basement bands in middle school. After graduating from Minneapolis Southwest in 1969, he enlisted in the Marines. While still on active duty, he got involved with antiwar activists. That led to his first exposure with union issues, supporting striking textile workers in North Carolina in the early 1970s. After his discharge from the Corps, he became active in Vietnam Veterans Against the War, the first of several veterans’ causes he has taken up.

Scheidler eventually wound up in the San Francisco area, where he got serious about music. He took classes, played bass for a college gospel choir, and played with a 17-piece stage band. “In two years, I learned more about music than I had in 20 years previously,” he says.

west Coast connections

In San Francisco, his union, veteran and music connections started crossing paths. He got recruited to play guitar for a labor group called the Solidarity Singers. That led to working with legends such as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Joe Glazier and Country Joe McDonald. For a while, he and McDonald even co-produced an “audio magazine” called Tape Talk – a cassette that featured music interviews

and concert recordings.

Scheidler helped organize benefit concerts for

veterans. One featured a reunion of Iron Butterfly. After the iconic 1960s band played “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” to a tumultuous reception,

the next singer refused to go on. Too tough an act to

follow, she said.

So Scheidler, who was the “token veteran” in the line-up, took the stage. To this day, it allows him to claim that Iron Butterfly opened for him.

He returned to Minnesota in 1987. He played with an Irish band, The Druids, because, well, he is part Irish – and Irish bars typically paid better. Scheidler also recorded half a dozen CDs in his basement studio for musicians from Ireland who were touring the U.S.

He got more involved with the local Pagan spiritual community, where he records under the name Hugin the Bard. The latest recordings feature jazz standards with themes tied to the powers of the natural world. “I love playing jazz standards,” he says, “because they’re really hard songs, they’re challenging, but they’re great songs.”

Scaling back

These days, Scheidler plays guitar, bass, and the occasional concertina or keyboard. He pretty much limits live performances to playing jazz at art shows and leading protest songs at political, union or veterans’ rallies.

“Up until about 5 years ago, I led the band. I was the front man – did the lead singing, did all the business things, hauled all the amps and stuff. But my body started talking to me. I just couldn’t be the roadie anymore, or sing for 4 hours. So I stopped that.” n

Russ Scheidler:

“i come with the attitude, if you’re a

human being, you and your kids should have

health care.”

who often had to drive to the Twin Cities to take care of routine matters. Now they can handle many transactions from their desktop.

To make sure businesses understand the potential of the new system, Nelson spent much of the last year touring the state, talking with businesses, chambers of commerce, and industry groups about what the data base does – and can do.

“It’s one of those things that’s kind of fun to do,” he says. “At the same time, it’s basically just being able to do a better job, a more effective job, for our customers.” n

Public project helps businesses – really!the Minnesota business and Lien system data base is a good example of how the public and private sectors can work together for each other’s benefit.

previously, the secretary of state’s office either kept business records on paper or stored them on one of three different software platforms, which Mark ritchie describes as ancient and increasingly unstable. even though his office generates more revenue than it spends, the Legislature and governor would not put money into the budget to solve the problem. nor would they change a state law that prevents the use of bonding for software development.

so ritchie teamed with the business and law communities to twist the arms of legislators and gov. tim pawlenty. they created a “technology fee” on selected business filings. the fee is dedicated to paying for the data base.

Long term, ritchie says, the data base will deliver more than day-to-day efficiencies for his office and for individual businesses. instead, he suspects, companies will find new ways to use, package and create business opportunities with the data. that will mean new wealth – and jobs.

Secretary of State Mark Ritchie

Keeping up on current eventsruss scheidler’s newest recording, “crown thy good,” is typical of his albums about topical events. these cds, which he records under the name uncle russ, feature a mix of acoustic folk and resistance songs, traditional melodies with updated lyrics, and original compositions.

“crown thy good” includes “america the beautiful” done as a texas two-step; a powerful version of the depression-era “brother can you spare a dime”; the pop vocal standard “bye, bye blackbird” – redone as “bye, bye bachmann”; and his “king tim” polka.

“i write whatever is appropriate at the time,” scheidler says. “i write romantic ballads, i write happy songs, i write angry songs, i write folk songs. i write protest songs. i write jazz songs. i cover a lot of genres.”

unfortunately, his music is not available on itunes, Myspace or other file-sharing sites. “i’m old school,” he says. “i drive a computer for eight hours at work. when i go home, i don’t want to turn on another one.”

However, you can hear “king tim” and other samples at www.afscmemn.org. click on “resources,” then click on “songs.”

8 • s t e p p i n g u p • J a n u a ry- f e b r u a ry 2 0 11 • www.afscmemn.org

solidariTy cOrner

at Northwest Airlines, most workers were union. At Delta, most

workers were not. Now that Delta’s takeover of Northwest is complete, more than 15,000 former Northwest workers – many of them based in Minnesota – no longer have a union. They lost elections in late 2010, outnumbered at the ballot box by the much-larger Delta workforce.

With the state’s biggest airline becoming even more nonunion, it got us wondering about other airlines that serve Minnesota. So we researched commercial carriers at Minneapolis-St. Paul, Duluth, Rochester and Brainerd. We also looked at airlines that fly to the border cities of Fargo, La Crosse and Sioux Falls.

The chart above shows the results. It shows how unionized each airline is, and which workers at which airlines have union contracts.

Especially in today’s rocky aviation industry, having a voice and strength at the bargaining table makes a real difference for airline workers, for their families and for passengers, says Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department at the AFL-CIO.

Collective bargaining brings, among other things, more training and more stability

to their everyday work, he says. That means “passengers benefit from a safer and better flight experience.”

Regional complications

Unfortunately, booking a flight on a particular airline doesn’t mean you actually fly that airline. That’s because most major carriers in Minnesota outsource much of the actual flying. This is especially true if you take short or connecting flights on smaller, “regional” jets.

Many Delta flights, for example, use the “Delta Connection” name. That means you could be on any one of four airlines – Comair, Mesaba, Pinnacle or Republic. All four actually are more unionized than Delta is. In fact, the most unionized of the four are Comair and Mesaba – which Delta owns.

It gets even more confusing. Pinnacle and Republic operate flights for other airlines, too. Both fly as US Airways Express. Pinnacle flies under the Continental Connection and United Express names. Republic flies as Continental Express and Frontier.

not exactly ‘one big union’

The unions that represent airline workers are just as fragmented. Yes, a few major unions – the Air Line Pilots

trying to ‘fly union’?

BRiEfS

Sign up now for Day on the Hillday on the Hill is the biggest chance for afscMe members to show up in force at the capitol to save our jobs and the services we provide.

events begin the morning of March 22 with workshops and training at the crowne plaza in st. paul. Members then travel to the capitol to join a mass action in the rotunda at 12:30, followed by an afternoon of lobbying legislators. the day ends with a reception at the hotel.

registration is $20, which covers a boxed lunch, transportation, training and other expenses. the registration deadline is feb. 18. forms and complete, up-to-date information are available at www.afscmemn.org/afscme-day-hill-march-22.

• Rattle the Rotunda: if you can’t make it for the whole day, come on down and join the free rally in the rotunda at 12:30 p.m.

Camp Ripley honors security guardLocal 2829 member daniel Beeson, a civilian security guard at camp ripley, received an award for humanitarian service on dec. 16 from Maj. gen. richard nash, the adjutant general of the Minnesota national guard. nash praised beeson for his actions in september, when he provided cpr to a cardiac arrest victim on the base.

Save the datesAfSCME international’s women’s Conference: March 18-20, Orlando, fla.

AfSCME international’s next wave Conference: July 8-10, atlanta, ga.

Council 5’s 2011 Convention: Oct. 6-8, duluth

footnotes: 1 work groups at air canada may be represented by different unions in the u.s. and canada

2 pilots at allegiant have an “in-house association”

3 american eagle is owned by american

4 continental and united are legally merged but currently operate as separate airlines

5 comair and Mesaba are owned by delta; they fly under the delta connection name

6 icelandair did not respond to requests

7 pinnacle flies under the names of continental connection, delta connection, united express and us airways express

8 republic owns chautauqua, frontier, republic and other airlines that fly under the names of american connection, continental express, delta connection, frontier, and us airways express

9 sun country is privately owned; it is not required to submit 10-k filings and did not respond to requests

Association, Association of Flight Attendants/CWA, Machinists, Teamsters, and Transport Workers – represent tens of thousands of workers.

But even among airlines that serve Minnesota, seven different unions represent pilots. Seven unions represent flight attendants. Four unions represent mechanics. Some of these airline unions are affiliated with the AFL-CIO, but many are independent. And on it goes. n

Camp Ripley’s post commander, Col. Scott St. Sauver, congratulates daniel Beeson during his award ceremony. Photo: Minnesota National Guard

union workers at airlines that serve Minnesota

% of workers wORK GROuPS wiTH uniOn REPRESEnTATiOn Represented flight Ground Customer Airline by unions Pilots Attendants Mechanics workers Service dispatchers Other

air canada1 50% + • • • • •

air tran 52% • • • • •alaska 82% • • • • • •

allegiant travel2 23% •american 70% • • • • • • american eagle3 70% • • • •continental4 45% • • • • •delta 15% • • comair5 77% • • • • Mesaba5 84% • • • •icelandair6 na

pinnacle7 69% • • • •republic8 45% • • • • •southwest 82% • • • • • • •sun country9 na • •united4 82% • • • • • • •us airways 87% • • • • • • •Sources: airlines’ 10-k filings with securities and exchange commission in 2010; airline unions; airline media departments

MnSCu members made their voices heard at the rally in the Rotunda during 2010’s day on the Hill.