CREA Board Meeting Minutes
March 19, 2014
Meeting Started 12:05 p.m.
In attendance:
| Governors
David Bradley Clint Brass Patty Figliola Michael Martin Bonnie Mangan Libby Perl Brian Reeder Bryan Sinquefield Mallary Stouffer Carol Hardy Vincent
|
Officers
Phillip Brogsdale Valerie Grasso Julius Jefferson Jack Moteff Alison Siskin
|
Others
Chelsea Robertson Cassandria Dortch
|
Minutes: Accepted with minor edits.
Membership Committee: Cassandria Dortch gave a presentation on the newly formed membership committee. The committee has met twice and wants to create: (1) a mission statement; and (2) a new member handbook. The committee discussed the possibility of having Mary Mazanec have a quote in the handbook to try to alleviate new staff’s fears that joining the union will impact their evaluations. The BOG will discuss. The President noted that there may be legal constraints on what the Director can contribute, and that the handbook might not be the best forum but it might be possible to get something similar in another forum. It was also noted that we don’t have control over who joins the union but do have control over who is contacted about joining, so having a goal of contacting certain bargaining members (e.g., all new staff) or a percentage the membership is probably a good aim.
IFPTE Federal Caucus: Jack, Julius and Valerie are going next Monday. Will report back.
Digitization Project: Bought the software and scanner on February 19, 2014. Needed to upgrade the operating system to work with the software. Chelsea had the training and is working on a manual of what records will be kept/not kept. Software seems to be working great. The software vendor has been supportive and there have not been issues that she hasn’t been able to resolve by calling them. Chelsea is training a CREA member on how to use the software and scanner so that there will be some in-house capacity and continuity should Chelsea leave. Next step will be to test whether Jack and Julius can successfully search for some documents.
White Papers Committee: Julius and Clint have an idea for CREA writing new white papers similar to the old CREAgrams. They would be written by analysts and attorneys in CRS unbiased style on subjects such as the snow policy, performance, and promotion. The white papers could also be solely informational. Would need to form another committee. Bonnie commented that it could be an ad hoc committee. Clint responded that the committee wouldn’t write the white papers. The papers would be brought to the BOG for approval prior to release since they would be released under CREA’s name. Need to decide who is the targeted audience? Is it only for CREA member? For bargaining unit members? Julius and Clint will create a proposal for a new committee.
Senior Level Issue: There are a few senior level bargaining unit members left. The issue has to do with provisions in the MOU regarding senior level pay and the timing for submitting performance files. The LOC is supposed to give provide senior level employees with letters with bonus information before the performance files are due, but the LOC claims that due to the budget not being set that they are unable to notify the senior-level employees about the bonus amounts per the MOU. CRS drafted an MOU specifying that the original MOU remains in place. The senior-level employees preferred providing the LOC with a waiver specific to this year.
Contract Negotiations/Impasse Panel: The initial schedule established by the impasses panel has expired. It is taking a while for the Library to write and negotiate the fact-finder’s (Joe Swerdzewski’s) contract. It should be done by the end of the month. The impasses panel does not need a formal request for an extension. It will establish a new schedule once CREA, the Library, and the fact-finder find a date to begin the process.
No open mic.