April 22, 2009
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Lois Ratzow
WSEU Local 82
FROM:
Shannon E. Bradbury
UWM Labor Relations Coordinator
RE:
WSEU Labor/Management Meeting Minutes for April 21, 2009
WSEU Local 82
Lois Ratzow (BC)
Pam Smith (BC)
Cecilia Lewandowski (AS)
Don Schmerda (BC)
Mike Maass (BC)
Cedric Humphrey (BC)
Stan Yasaitis (AS)
UWM
Shannon E. Bradbury
Colleen Murphy
Dave Danielson
Note: The next meeting will be held Tuesday, May 19. Please respond to items from your
area by Friday, May 15, 2009.
The meeting began at 9:05 a.m.
I.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Facility Services Issues. Custodial Services Supervisor. The union presented
information to Dave Danielson, the Director of Facility Services (FS). The
union again expressed its dissatisfaction with a particular Custodial Services
Supervisor whom they feel exhibits extreme insensitivity to his employees.
They described a couple of recent incidents highlighting this behavior. The
Director indicated that the described behavior is unacceptable, and that the
Department is working to make this individual a better supervisor. He asked
the union to allow the time for the employer to go through the steps necessary
to make that happen.
Cigarette Clean Up. Mr. Danielson stated that Facility Services has recently
received criticism from nonsmoking custodial employees, who believe that
smoking employees are getting extra privileges; an extra break time because
they are often assigned to go outside and clean up cigarette butts, and they
smoke while doing so. He asked the union to please speak to the nonsmoking
workers and assure them that cigarette detail is in fact a work task.
Green Cleaning. Buildings & Grounds will be making a transition to Green
Cleaning, using less toxic cleaners and reducing waste. Mr. Danielson stated
that the employees will be asked to try out new products and new equipment
to make sure it works before UWM makes a commitment to purchase. FS will
be asking for feedback from the custodial staff.
Authorized Design of Repair Projects. Mr. Danielson listed several
infrastructure repair projects for which the State has authorized the design of
the repairs, without authorizing the repairs themselves. The presumption is
that the Department of Administration is waiting for the state budget to be
finalized. The projects include the heating system in Garland Hall, installing air
conditioning in the Holton-Merrill-Johnston complex, installing stairs to the
fourth floor of Chapman Hall and adding a chiller to the Heat Plant. Repairs
on the tunnel between Enderis and Chapman have been approved.
B. Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Information. The union asked
that B&G employees be provided with information about the changes to the
FMLA, as they report getting conflicting information from supervisors. The
Department of Human Resources has the new information on its website
http://www4.uwm.edu/hr/toolkits/fmla_toolkit/index.cfm, and in the
PowerPoint from a recent presentation,
http://www4.uwm.edu/hr/toolkits/fmla_toolkit/upload/WFMLA-FMLAfor-Admin-Institute-2009.pdf, but the union says too many employees don’t
have access to the web or time to read everything. They asked for a written
summary of the changes.
C. Bus Service from Veterans/Marina. The union raised strong objections to
the cutback on bus service from the Veterans/Marina parking lot starting this
fall. Bus service will start at 6:45 a.m., too late for custodians who start work at
6:00 a.m. The Department of Parking & Transit (P&T) reports that it is not
cost effective to run that bus an hour earlier (from 5:40 a.m.) and that the
buses will still start at the earlier hour at the Capitol/Humboldt lot. The union
requested to see the supporting financial information, as well as the entire
budget for P&T.
On a related topic the union is concerned that decisions like this one are made
at the Transportation Subcommittee of the Physical Environment Committee
(PEC) in the absence of a real union presence at the meetings. The current
classified appointee was chosen by the Chancellor, not by the union, and the
unison wishes to make certain that this does not happen again
II.
OLD BUSINESS
A. Health & Safety
1. Completed or Ongoing Projects
Chemistry north elevator
Chemistry 800ACE, 838, 840, 842, 844
Curtin 100Q
EMS E174
Holton 320
Music elevator M100W
Physics B41
Union Garage EB90
2. Pending Projects
Bolton B45
Chemistry 170, 380, 380AB, 610, 614, 638
Curtin 208, 303, 304, 733
EMS E100V, EB30, 800A and 8th floor labs
Parking lot outside of Heat Plant
Physics B01Q
USB Rindl bindery vacated area
A detailed list is available at:
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/PPS/Usaa/ASB/projects.pdf
3. Evacuation of Bolton Hall. Colleen Murphy, Associate Director of University
Safety and Assurances noted that Bolton Hall had been evacuated on 4/16 due
to smoke, but that it was most likely cigarette smoke from outside being drawn
in by the air intake system.
4. Bell Ambulance. The union noted a recent incident where the drivers of a Bell
Ambulance did not seem to know the campus well enough to find a building.
The parties agreed that Bell, which is new to servicing this area, should have a
campus map.
5. Tornado Drills. Tornado drills will be conducted in most buildings at 2:00
p.m. on 4/23.
B.
Security Officer Schedule Change. To accommodate a new permanent
Security Officer (SO), and in response to a recent incident where an
employee was badly hurt by a driver crossing Maryland Avenue, the
University Police have increased the security presence on campus. Classified
SOs will now staff the pedestrian crossing in front of Lubar Hall and unlock
the buildings on the weekends. The union noted that they were not noticed
on the schedule change as required by the contract.
C.
Surveillance Cameras. The union again requests a list of all campus
surveillance cameras and where they are located. They feel that the campus
would improve security by posting areas with “under video surveillance”
signs. The acting Chief of Police has offered to attend this meeting to
discuss campus surveillance.
D.
Student Affairs. The union inquired about the potential for reclassification
of a Facilities Maintenance Specialist at Kenilworth. The Vice Chancellor
had suspended promotions and many recruitments in the Division last fall
awaiting information on the budget. The personnel officer reported that she
would ascertain whether those suspensions could now be eliminated.
E.
Educational Psychology. There are no plans to fill the position in
Educational Psychology recently vacated by the resignation of a USA 2.
F.
School of Continuing Education. The parties discussed the planned
changes to the work assignments of the Administrative Support employees
at SCE. Because of the elimination of some programming, the employees
are being “pooled” and can work on any project for any program on any
given day. The employees report that this results in a lack of responsibility
to a particular program, and results in low morale. They also reported a
situation where one individual was apparently given a special exemption
from the “pool” and instead slotted into a position in registration that was
not opened for recruitment. The union would like to place an appointee on
the committee that is actually making the big decisions as to layoffs and the
clerical pool.
G.
More Facility Services Issues. Library Keys. In response to an item from
last month’s meeting, Mr. Danielson stated that the keys to the Library do
not belong to Facility Services but to the Library itself. The construction
crew had a construction project key.
Trip Hazard. B&G reported that the pipes that were stacked in front of the
Library elevator have been removed.
Trash Bags. The trash bags that were too large for the office waste bins were
a temporary purchase because the vendor was out of the right size. They
have now been used up
Floater/Project Custodians. Mr. Danielson stated that he might form a
committee to review the work of floaters, but that those positions may be
converted to regular assignments in the near future.
Traffic Around Pavilion. P&T will put up speed limit signs around the
Pavilion.
Computer Training. Buildings & Grounds management has posted the UITS
computer course availabilities at the time clocks and will help anyone who
needs help to sign up.
University Housing Shuttle. FS and P&T will review the routing of all
shuttles to assure the least street congestion.
Ice Cleanup 2/27. The University Police and the Heat Plant have been
reminded to make emergency calls to the supervisors, not directly to the
employees in a clean up situation.
Equipment. The union stated there are non-functioning extractors in
Chemistry, a couple in Bolton Hall and one in Cunningham that is tagged but
not repaired.
Dumpsters. The contract for trash pick up is soon to be renewed, and Mr.
Danielson assured the union that dumpster size would be considered and
written into the bid specifications. The union asked to see a draft of the bid
specifications before they are let, to make sure that their concerns are
considered. They said that they have seen dumpsters belonging to Waste
Management that are as big as Veolia’s, but have waist-high top openings.
Mr. Danielson also indicated that he had asked the supervisors to take
pictures of every dumpster and every dock, so that they could be compared
and a real decision reached. He will forward the statistics on dumpster related
injuries. He is also examining the installation of more trash compactors.
The meeting ended at 11:15 a.m.
III.
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, May 19 in 122 Engelmann Hall, 9:00 a.m.
Cc:
Carlos Santiago
Karl Sparks
John Krezoski
Dave Danielson
Dev Venugopalan
Pat Villarreal
Patricia Arredondo
Mary K. Madsen
Deans/Division Heads
Personnel Representatives
Steve Butzlaff
Bob Grieshaber
Colleen Murphy
Linda Woods
Claude Schuttey
Mike Marzion
Janet Mittelstadt
Kate Nelson
Mike Reck
Christy Brown
Rita Cheng
Jim Skorlinski
Kathy Clark
Linda Swenson