Fall 2012 Edition Volume XV - Issue #2

IN THIS ISSUE: 2) Secretary-Treasurer’s Report, Brian Aldes. Sue Mauren’s Retirement Letter 3) President’s Report, Joanne Derby. 4) Vice President’s and D.R.I.V.E. Report, Sami Gabriel 5) Recording-Secretary’s Report, Curt Swenson. U of M Community Fund 6-7) Teamster Scholarships & Steward

Seminar Information

LOCAL 320 SECRETARY-TREASURER’S REPORT

Farewell to a Friend and Welcome to New Beginnings

Page 2

By Brian Aldes

While we are sad to see Sue retire from Local 320 as its Secretary-Treasurer, we wish Sue all the best in her retire-

ment. I believe we all deserve an op-portunity to enjoy the fruits of our labor and all of our hard work. Over the past 13 years as an employee of Local 320 as a Business Agent, Recording-Sec-retary and Vice President, her example of leadership is how I will represent our membership.

Public employees work hard and are dedicated to their communities. Whether they are providing public safety, good schools, clean parks or customer ser-vice, public employees are the faces of our communities. Our Local needs to continue to fight hard for the rights of public employees and fight off the at-tacks of the new anti-government, anti-worker and anti-community politicians.

Over the last 12 months we have seen the Freedom of Employment Scam (right-to-work) legislation, and count-less bills that strip public employees of their rights. In fact, we have received a public letter written to Governor Dayton by Senator Parry and Representative Drazkowski encouraging Gov. Dayton to violate the rights of state employees and unilaterally freeze their wages. These are vicious attacks without cause and we will not sit still.

As we have lead this Union in the past under Sue Mauren’s leadership we will continue to work aggressively this Fall to ensure only our friends go to the State Capitol and represent the interests of the working men and women of Minnesota. We all work hard and deserve the re-spect we have earned.

Thirty four years ago I became a Teamster when I was hired by the University of Minnesota. From my first day of work, my co-workers instilled in me the importance of the Union in our workplace. Through their guidance, I quickly became an active and loyal Teamster member, and was elected to the position of union steward on the day I passed probation.

While I was a dedicated Teamster member, I couldn’t have anticipated the role that this Union would play in my life. Twelve years after being hired by the U, I went to work for Local 320 as an organizer and later a business agent. In 1996 the members elected me to the principal officer position of Secretary-Treasurer, and I am honored to have been re-elected to every term.

I have now come to the point in my life that many of us aspire to, and that is retirement. Effective June 28th 2012, I resigned as Secretary-Treasurer of Local 320 and President of Joint Council 32. I will remain Director of the Teamsters Women’s Conference until December and I will continue to be available to the members and officers of Local 320 any time I am needed.

I couldn’t retire without the assurance that I am leaving Local 320 in good hands. I have the utmost confidence in the new Executive Board and I have already been im-pressed with their new ideas.

I wish each of you well in the future. I thank you for the support that you have given me as your leader and I hope you will do the same for your new Executive Board. Even though I am retired, once a Teamster, always a Teamster.

In solidarity, Sue Mauren

Teamster Scholarships are Fundamental to Our Union

LOCAL 320 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

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By Joanne Derby

One of the great benefits of being a Teamster is our wide array of educa-tional scholarships.

In 2012 Local 320 pro-vided 41 Lowell D. Lynch Scholarships of $2,000 for our members/dependents who are attending an accredited college, university or vocational technical school.

Teamsters Joint Council 32 offers Local 320 members/dependents the opportuni-ty to apply for the Harold J. Yates Schol-arship of $2,000 for use at an accredited college, university or vocational technical school.

Joint Council 32 also offers the Martin Duffy Adult Learner Scholarship Award $500 tuition scholarship for use at any accredited university college or vocation-al school. Two scholarships are awarded each year.

The International Brotherhood of Team-sters provides the opportunity for Local 320 members/dependents to apply for the James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholar-ship. The essay contest awards $1,000 scholarships annually to 50 students.

Find all Local 320 scholarship information on our website: www.teamsterslocal320.org/scholarships

We published Jacob Deling’s gracious ‘thank you’ letter for the Lowell D. Lynch Scholarship. To all Local 320 beneficia-ries, please know it is our pleasure to serve you! On pages 6-7 we have all 2012 scholarship beneficiaries listed.

Kraig Deling, Teamster from U of M, is the father of Jacob Deling

It’s DO or DIE this Election!

LOCAL 320 VICE PRESIDENT’S/ D.R.I.V.E. REPORT

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By Sami Gabriel

Public employees and unions are at the cross-roads of economic destiny. We have all seen the end of free collective bargaining

for public employees in Wisconsin. We cannot allow this to happen in Minnesota!

According to the Wall Street Journal:

“Public employee unions in Wisconsin have experienced a dramatic drop in member-ship—by more than half for the second-biggest union—since a law championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker sharply curtailed their ability to bargain over wages and working conditions [...] Membership declines could be self-perpet-uating, said Mr. Chaison of Clark University. With diminished dues, unions deliver fewer services, making membership less appealing and hampering recruiting.”

By the numbers we can see the clear failure of the Walker Regime in regards to pay and benefits for Wisconsin public employees. The portion of health premiums paid by employees more than doubled, from 2.5 percent to 5.6 percent in 2011. Walker’s law requires public employees to pay at least 12.6 percent of the average cost of annual premiums. The law also requires that employees under the Wis-consin Retirement System (WRS) contribute 50 percent of the annual pension payment.

That’s just in Wisconsin... In Detroit, Michigan the city administration imposed a 10% pay cut on all of its employees including cops and fire-fighters; in Scranton, Pennsylvania the mayor unilaterally placed a ceiling on wages to reflect the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for its entire workforce; in Illinois Gov. Quinn canceled pay raises required under union con-tracts with state employees and further plans to cut thousands of jobs by closing state prisons and mental-health facilities, and reducing retire-ment benefits for state employees, teachers and university staff. These are just some of the more recent examples.

In Minnesota the fight continues as the anti-union Tea Party tightens its grip on the state GOP. A major wake-up call took place on the August 14 primary - our good friend, GOP Rep. Steve Smith, who was chief author of the bill al-lowing court reporters to organize, was defeated by an anti-public employee, anti-union extremist Cindy Pugh. She said she will push for right-to-work (for less) if she is elected to the House.

Pugh is not the only Tea Party candidate to put union-busting on top of the political agenda. Tea Party candidate David Osmek narrowly defeated incumbent Rep. Connie Doepke (R-Orono) in the primary for the District 33 senate seat and he said to MPR, ‘“right to work” will be the first thing on my list.”

The GOP currently holds an 11-vote magin in the House, with one empty seat, and a sev-en-vote margin in the Senate. If Teamsters, unions, and public employees can elect enough D.R.I.V.E endorsed candidates this November, and give at least one chamber to the DFL, we can balance out the Tea Party and save our Union!

Introductions are in Order

Page 5

LOCAL 320 RECORDING-SECRETARY REPORT

By Curt Swenson

I became a Teamster in 1986 when I took a position at the University of Minneso-ta in food service. I worked my way up the ranks to a general mechanic position.

In 1988 I became a Teamster Steward at my workplace as well as a negotiator. I was al-ways active in our Union; I attended all the meetings and was a founding member of the Labor-Management Committee for residential life. I worked hard on behalf of the members at the U and the Local 320 Executive Board.

Today I still work hard on behalf of the Team-sters at the U and the Local 320 Executive Board. In 2006 I took a position with the Local as a Business Agent and have served in that capacity until July 2012 when I was appointed Recording-Secretary. I remain the Business Agent for the U of M, the Minneapolis Conven-tion Center and the City of Andover.

Going forward, I view it as my mission to get more of our members active in the Union. Sea-soned members must educate new members on the importance of being a Teamster. Only as a united group can the labor movement and public employees fight back against the anti-union forces within the Tea party.

I have been around for a while and I can hon-estly tell you that it has never been this bad for public employees and Teamsters. Everyday I look on the news and see some politician or corporate-funded stooge spouting off about how our state, counties and municipalities are going broke and the only way to fix it is to cut workers’ pay and benefits. I’m not buying it, and neither should YOU! If we stay united we can overcome anything.

Support U of M Community Fund!

Jim Larson is a Teamster Steward at the Minneapolis U of M Campus and is also a Local 320 representative on the U of M Commu-nity Fund. The Commu-nity Fund raises money for seven prominent charities by soliciting donations from U of M employees. There are two ways U of M employees can contribute: sign-up for a payroll deduction or give a one-time contribution at an event. Jim hopes more Union members will contribute to the Fund this year.

“If you care, please share”, says Larson. “One dollar can make a big difference! I find a dollar, or more, in change every week on the campus and turn it over to the Fund. One dollar per week equals $52 per year towards the Fund. If we all did the same thing we could really do a lot for charity.”

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LOWELL D. LYNCH 2012 SCHOLARSHIPS

Megan AdamJohn AndersonMarissa AusenKaitlin BruunAlexis BurlingameDelaney ChurchwellSamantha CollinsJacob DelingCarlie DerouinHannah FischerBrian HansonLindsay HeynMichelle HoffmasterMegan HortonJoshua HosekMichael HubleyTyler JohnsonJessica KeenanMichael KelseyAndrew KingCassandra KrenzJacob LarsonClare LawrenceNeal MagnusonSamantha MarkmanHannah NeigebauerNicole NistlerBailey OpsalKatelynn PankratzMark RosnoJinah SchadAllison SchroedlKelsey SoremPeter StorlieAshley VanderveurKami VogtJoseph WalkerMatthew WellsBenjamin WilliamsBrett WillsTaylor Yliniemi

Applicant’s Name Member’s Name Barganing UnitCarol AdamJoan Stanoch AndersonShelley AusenKurt BruunJanelle BurlingameTimothy ChurchwellTricia KruegerKraig DelingTerri LucivanskyMichelle FischerKathryn HansonCarolyn HeynNorma HoffmasterMike HortonDavid HosekDebra HubleyDarla JohnsonBrenda KeenanPaul KelseyPing WangLynne KrenzPaul LarsonLesa LawrenceJoAnn MagnusonLaurie MarkmanJane HofmeisterJulie NistlerKari OpsalKelly PankratzJames RosnoJohn SchadRobert Schroedl JrGloria SoremMark StorlieBrenda VanderveurDiane VogtMary ZelenakDarlene WellsBelva Britton-WilliamsKathleen WillsMichelle Yliniemi

State of MN CATState of MN Court Reporter Inver Grove Hts ISDSt Louis CountyHeritage Living CenterState of MN Public DefenderLeSueur CountyU of MRochester ISDHubbard CountyRosemount ISDCrow Wing County SSRice/Steele CountyRamsey CountyNorth St PaulState of MN CATChisago CountyBlue Earth CountyU of MMSUAASFState of MN Court Reporter City of West St PaulMSUAASFRosemount ISDRice CountyState of MN Court Reporter Stearns CountyState of MN Court Reporter St Peter ISDHennepin CountyCity of LakevilleHennepin CountySherburne CountyMACState of MN Court Reporter Nobles CountySherburne CountyRosemount ISDSherburne CountyWest St Paul ISDHeritage Living Center

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HAROLD J. YATES 2012 SCHOLARSHIPS

Applicant’s Name Member’s Name Barganing UnitJohn AndersonJacob Deling Lindsay HeynTanner KrausLauren MakeyMark RosnoBritta Ruberto

Joan Stanoch AndersonKraig DelingCarolyn HeynClifford KrausJane MakeyJames RosnoMario Ruberto

State of MinnesotaUniversity of MinnesotaCrow Wing CountyCity of ChaskaCrow Wing CountyHennepin CountyMetro Council Police Dept.

Martin Duffy Adult Learner ScholarshipRedenta Okeleng - University of Minnesota

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