Board of Governors Meeting Minutes
March 5, 2014
Meeting came to order at 12:05
Minutes: The minutes from the February 12 and February 19 meeting were approved with minor edits.
Outcome of Grievance Vote: The grievance committee engaged CREA counsel in a conference call to discuss certain outstanding questions. The committee asked President Moteff to request additional information from management and to request an additional extension. Management argued that the information request did not state with enough specificity the particularized need for the information and how CREA would use the information and did not agree to the extension. After further consultation with counsel it was decided not to resubmit the information request since it was not clear that the information existed or would improve CREA’s case. The committee voted to recommend not taking the grievance to arbitration. The Board concurred. President Moteff informed the Library that it was not taking the grievance forward but reserved the right to raise the issue again should it occur.
Library of Congress/CRS Budget: President Moteff attended the House Appropriations, Legislative Branch Subcommittee’s hearing on the Library budget. CRS requested $108 million, a $3 million increase above the current FY2014 budget. No programmatic increases requested. The additional funds would cover cost of living increases, within-grades, promotions, etc. Most of the hearing focused on copyright issues. One member specifically mentioned CRS positively at the end of the hearing. President Moteff mentioned that the Subcommittee is accepting written statements from outside organizations and he will try to draft something. The statements are due by week’s end.
Director’s Open Forum Meetings: President Moteff asked if the Board had any feedback or comments about the Director’s meetings. The back-and-forth between the Director and one of the CRS staff relating to snow policy, which occurred at the second meeting, was discussed. President Moteff asked and the Board affirmed that it would be useful to send again an earlier message to the bargaining unit that, while CREA has had some discussions with the Director about this policy, CREA still has not seen any written policy to which it can respond.
Open Mike: Governor Ester, based on an earlier item on G&F’s office remodeling, asked whether office remodeling was planned for the rest of CRS. President Moteff offered that it was his understanding that remodeling to new “ergonomic” office furniture was planned for the whole of CRS, but that implementation has been occurring slowly over years.
Meeting of the Membership Committee: V.P. Grasso said that a meeting of the Membership Committee planned for this week was cancelled and was rescheduled for next Monday at 9AM in the 6th floor cafeteria.
| Attendance: | |
| Jack Moteff, Pres. | Karma Ester, DSP |
| Clint Brass ,G&F | Chelsea Robertson, Office Support |
| Valerie Grasso, VP | Patty Figliola, RSI |
| Bryan Sinquefield, CIP/PUB | Carol Hardy Vincent, RSI |
| Phillip Brogsdale, Treasurer | Michael Martin, FDT |
| Betty Jean Oladapo, FIN |