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Cheryl A Akers writes: > OOPS. Hit send too soon. > > I think this is a great and thoughtful discussion. Is anyone forwarding > this to the APA chair? Does anyone object if I do? Ehren, I could leave > your post out if it makes you uncomfortable. > > Ehren Benson writes: > >> I wish I had time to attend those however I was not able to. >> >> Sorry for so long but I encourage the read to see if anyone else feels >> this way.... >> >> >> It bothers me to NO END that we are affiliated with MEA/NEA. I get the >> stupid MEA Voice newsletter at my house and as I look through that I >> struggle to find even a single that that is even remotely relevant to >> higher ed. Yes its like "Legal fee insurance" but here are a few of the >> things that are big on my hot list at the moment. >> >> These are not going to be exact numbers as I don't have the newsletter in >> front of me but you will get the point, look up the numbers if you want >> to know down to the penny. Ok so many years ago APA was in hot water >> with a few thousand in the bank and 50K in debt. At that point they >> affiliated with MEA and MEA covered the debt and started being a APA CYA. >> Which at that point made sense. This was 20 years ago...a completely >> different world. Several years ago APA had something like 750K in the >> bank at which point instead of raising dues they decided to start using >> that to subsidize the dues. Good idea right? >> >> NO >> >> What APA should have done is say, OK great we have some money now... And >> at that point disaffiliated with MEA/NEA, ridding the union of the >> expenses related to membership with MEA/NEA and LEAVE (yes LEAVE) the >> dues the same for 2 or 3 years allowing the union to rake in some cash >> and stash away 2-3 million bucks. THEN LOWER THE DUES to a reasonable >> amount to cover the operating expenses of the union plus a small >> percentage to still add a bit to the 'reserves'. Then the 3-4 million in >> reserves should be smartly invested and managed to gain return and that >> money used to allow APA to 'insure themselves'. Managed properly this is >> a no brainer, this is what most of the other unions do. >> >> All that said now most of that 750K has been squandered away subsidizing >> dues, my belief is that this was partly done on purpose so that the union >> did NOT have as large of a reserve and so people could NOT say... HEY BUT >> WE HAVE THIS RESERVE DO WE REALLY NEED THEM?. Now the damage is done >> though and it is around a third of what is was (the actual number is in >> the newsletter) so doing what I said above would be much more difficult. >> >> Which leads me to my next point... I have heard from several reliable >> sources that our chairpersons mother is a higher up at the MEA (conflict >> of interest if you ask me) and given that he is headed down the >> lawyership path would aspire to be a MEA Lawyer someday. Take this with >> a grain of salt because this is my opinion but thinking this really makes >> me wonder if our chairperson is even going to be ABLE to see what is best >> for the membership of APA, or what is best for HIM. Because clearly >> disaffiliating with MEA would not be best for him (my opinion again), but >> in the long run may be in the best interest of the APA as a whole. >> >> I really wish the disaffiliation discussion would be had amongst the >> membership on a very serious level. I have been speaking with MANY APA >> members and not a one I have ever talked to has said "we should stay with >> MEA", so why is no one making a stink and pushing the issue? >> >> Everyone please feel free to Flame me or Pat me on the back, I can take >> both and would like to hear all the different angles. All I know is with >> the way expenses on everything are going up and true real Income is going >> down (even though we get raises) our union should be looking for new was >> to actually help its members make more with experience and years of >> service instead of yet again seeing my net income go down compared to the >> cost of living. >> >> End Rant >> >> /Ehren >> >> >> >> On 10/7/08 3:16 PM, "Rachel Zakhem" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> Just a reminder, there are informational sessions today about the dues >> increases. >> >> Akers Hall - room 133 - 4:00 pm to 4:45 pm and >> Communication Arts - room 147 - 5:15 pm to 6 pm >> >> >> >> Rachel A. Zakhem >> Site License Coordinator >> Michigan State University Computer Store >> 110 Computer Center >> East Lansing, MI 48824 >> Tel: (517) 432-5367 >> >> >> On Oct 7, 2008, at 2:54 PM, Joe Besko wrote: >> >>> On Tue, 7 Oct 2008, Steve Bogdanski wrote: >>> >>>> a.) That those who choose to not become a member pay a smaller >>>> service >>>> fee that would reflect the costs/benefits of collective bargaining on >>>> their behalf without charging them for other services that are for >>>> members only. This seems rather easy to implement without much >>>> hassle. >>>> >>>> -or- >>>> >>>> b.) That those who choose not to be members do not benefit from any >>>> collective agreements at all. So in the case of the recent APA raise >>>> of 2.75%, those who had previously chosen not to be members would not >>>> get the raise. As long as such things were made clear at time of >>>> employment, so that individuals could make their own informed >>>> decision, >>>> I don't see what the problem is. Well let me rephrase that, I >>>> don't see >>>> where the problem is for employees, but the APA definitely wouldn't >>>> like it if they started losing members (a.k.a. $$). >>> >>> Service fee paying members pay a substantial amount, but they don't >>> have a >>> voice in the contracts, they don't get to vote, they have to fill out >>> paper work every year to continue their service fee status and are >>> considered *non-members* to the APA/MEA, but they still pay a hefty >>> sum. >>> >>> ----------------------------------------------------------------- >>> >>> Joe Besko Phone: 517.432.5335 >>> Systems Programmer Fax: 517.353.9847 >>> Michigan State University E-mail: jbesko(a)msu.edu >>> 313 Computer Center >>> East Lansing, MI 48824-1042 >>> >> > > >