Local Holds Statewide Convention
Click here for pictures from the
convention.
Your union local held its first statewide convention in its
26-year history, and the first statewide meeting since proposing a
new constitution and by-laws in 2003.
There were several speakers at the convention, including Idaho
State Representative Anne Pasley-Stuart. Representative
Pasley-Stuart talked about the important jobs that public employees
perform -- frequently jobs that the public would rather ignore. She
also talked about the importance of public employees becoming active
in supporting candidates that support public employees.
Paul Burks, President of IBPO (International Brotherhood of
Police Officers) talked about the tremendous potential of the local
and NAGE's dedication to helping the local grow.
Mary Kay Brandt, an organizer from SEIU Local 503 in Oregon,
discussed the importance of driving fear from the workplace, and how
essential it is that unions work with managers toward cooperative
goals.
Board member Jennie Rylee (Boise City) talked about her history
with unionism, starting as someone who had no knowledge or
experience with unions to becoming an activist. She talked about the
admiration she gained working with union firefighters and the
frustration of having to file a grievance without union assistance.
Board member Bob McCarl (Boise State University) told about his
experience as a union member beginning in his teens. He talked about
the unity and camaraderie he felt knowing that other workers may
have different views or backgrounds, but that they stood united on
workplace issues.
Convention activity included nomination of candidates for board
positions and a review of needed changes to the constitution and
by-laws. Information on these will be posted here soon. The local
will also be mailing out information to members in the next few
weeks.
Lobby Day 2006
(More photos from
Lobby Day 2006)
The third consecutive Lobby Day is in the history
books and what an entry!
Fifty five Local R14-687 members gathered at the
Statehouse to directly lobby elected officials about wages, hours,
working conditions and, more important, what being a state employee is
all about.
Members of both houses and both parties addressed
the group, speaking about the issues affecting our members. House
Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet was first up thanking the group for
attending and then getting right into the proposed wage increases.
She discussed the importance of electing pro-employee candidates in
the coming election and voting for people who will stand for what is
right.
Next up was Kathie Garrett from District 17.
Garrett, a republican, is in her second term. As a former state
employee and manager, she spoke from direct experience as she
addressed the group. Garrett paid particular attention to the
infamous “problem solving process” how broken a process it is and
suggested a peer review process as a start to getting it fixed.
Following Garrett was Senator John Andreason.
Andreason is a six term Senator from District 15 and a longtime
advocate for state employees. Senator Andreason was one of the
co-chairs of the Interim Committee on State Employee Wages and
Benefits. As with the previous speakers, Andreason advocates
additional pay increases for state employees and an overhaul of the
process.
After the guest speakers, Amanda
Brown took over, pairing up members to go in search of Legislators to
talk with. Once the group was out and about the reports from the
first groups started to come in. For the first time ever, there
weren’t any doors slammed in our faces and everyone was at least
cordial.
The real successes were with newer members of
the House and Senate.
John McGee, first term Senator from Nampa, held
court with a group of ten or so members in front of the Senate. The
meeting lasted about twenty minutes and was very positive. McGee is a
member of the Joint Finance Appropriations Committee (JFAC) and held a
seat on the Interim Committee. McGee had very kind words about our
efforts and said he looked forward to working with us for quite a
while.
Meetings ran the full spectrum of legislative
membership.
As workplace constituents, Local R14-687 members
are members of no particular party and are united by the work they do
and their employer. This made for some interesting meetings:
The constant word back was that our messages have
been heard. For the first time in a very long time, state employees
are getting top billing at the statehouse instead of being relegated
to the end of session pie dividing.
Where do we go from here????
Bills affecting our members have already been
written and are on their way to votes or to committees for
consideration. You will all receive updates as the events warrant.
In the meantime, keep up the great work!
Your emails, letters, phone calls and home
district lobbying have gotten you further than ever before. Now,
instead of having legislators turning their backs on you, closing
doors or completely ignoring you, they are engaging you in
conversation and have begun to realize the crisis in state employment
is very real.
Members who came to the statehouse on their day
off, turned out from BSU, DEQ, Health and Welfare, ITD, and the Tax
Commission and came from as far away as Payette and Shoshone.
We are already talking about next year and trying
to double our numbers. Since there will be an entirely new cast of
characters next year, it should be a great time.
