February 26, 2010
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Mike Maass
WSEU Local 82
FROM:
Shannon E. Bradbury
UWM Labor Relations Coordinator
RE:
WSEU Labor/Management Meeting Minutes for February 23, 2010
WSEU Local 82
Stan Yasaitis (AS)
Lois Ratzow (BC)
Mike Maass (BC)
Cecilia Lewandowski (AS)
Sharon Doelle (BC)
Bernie Schruender (BC)
UWM
Shannon E. Bradbury
Kurt Hennemann
Colleen Murphy
Dave Danielson
The next meeting will be held Tuesday, March 16. Please respond to items from your area by
Friday, March 12.
The meeting began at 9:03 a.m.
I.
NEW BUSINESS
A. Memorial for Don Schmerda. The Union noted that University Housing is
planning on holding a memorial service for the late Don Schmerda, although
plans have not been finalized.
B. Facility Services Issues. Development Offerings. An attendee to the
meeting described a situation where she had requested to attend a 90 minute
self-development program, and was told by her supervisor that she could go,
but would have to use some of her own time. She chose not to use any
personal time. She inquired whether others were allowed to attend on
employer’s time. The union argued that personal development opportunities
are important for morale. The Department will examine its policies on
attendance at campus offerings.
Performance Evaluations. An attendee to the meeting felt that his performance
evaluation had been completed late, and indicated that he hadn’t been given a
copy of the final evaluation. He stated that he would like more feedback during
the year to know whether his performance is improving or declining, rather
than just getting that information once a year. On a related topic another
employee felt that her evaluation had been rated lower twice for the same
infraction. The Employer reiterated that anyone can dispute what is written in
a performance evaluation by submitting a response document that will be
added to the official Personnel File
Work Areas. The union suggested that employees be included in discussions
of how the custodial work areas are divided and distributed. They feel that the
people who do the work are best able to identify an equitable distribution of
the work load. If there is finally a disagreement, the supervisor can make a
final determination. This has apparently worked for the distribution of work
areas in one building.
Section Meetings. There have been employee complaints that issues specific to
one person are brought up and discussed “generally” at section meetings,
instead of being addressed with the individual involved.
Local 82 Elections. The Local 82 officer elections are coming up in April. The
union asked that custodians be given some leeway in being allowed to vote.
The Director stated that would not be a problem.
Time Clocks. The union applauded one supervisor’s rule that employees
couldn’t stand around in the supervisor’s office waiting to punch out. They
have now heard a rumor that time clocks amy be placed in the hallways. The
union disapproves of this suggestion because workers’ time cards would be in
plain view.
C. Permissive Transfers. The union inquired about permissive transfers, and
whether there is a benefit to being an existing State employee. There is a
benefit in that applications for permissive transfer to counterpart positions do
not require a civil service examination and in that the employer is more likely
to hire someone who already understands the campus. On a related issue,
they asked why it takes many weeks for job candidates to find out whether they
have gotten the job. Employers generally wait until a newly hired employee
starts work to notify other candidates that they were not successful.
D. UITS. The union would like the employer to invite someone from UITS to
this meeting next month to discuss cyber security.
II.
OLD BUSINESS
A. Health & Safety
1. Completed or Ongoing Projects
Chemistry Building 510/514
EMS B100Q, B40, EB1Q, WB60, W202, W209, W302, W309B,
W365A
Heat Plant basement
Hefter Center 309C
Tunnel Points F, J, O, M
USR 260A
2. Pending Projects
EMS EB00Q, W101, W330, WR400 stairway
EMS (energy) performance project (over 200 locations)
Greene Museum project
USR 200G, 277
WATER 100M, 200M
A detailed list is available at:
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/PPS/Usaa/ASB/projects.pdf
3. Fire Safety. The union inquired about the safety of fire doors in the event
of an emergency. Colleen Murphy, Associate Director of University Safety
and Assurances (US&A) stated that fire doors must be kept closed if they
are not outfitted with a magnetic lock that activates in the case of a fire.
She also stated that for people with mobility problems, the safest place is
to go to a stairwell and wait for the Fire Department rescue.
4. Eyewash Station in Enderis. The eyewash station near the loading dock in
Enderis Hall is not working. This should be reported through the making
of a Trouble Report.
5. Toner. The union discussed the problem of loose toner whenever a toner
cartridge is changed, and asked if toner is toxic. Ms. Murphy responded
that particulate matter should never be inhaled, but that anyone can look at
the Material Safety Data Sheets on any chemical with which he or she
comes into contact on campus.
B.
Facility Services Issues. EMS Building. Following up on an inquiry from
last month about work loads in the EMS Building, Facility Services Buildings
& Grounds responded that they are working with the employee in question
to track what work does and doesn’t get finished in a given day, and to
assure that vacuuming is done every week.
Engelmann Hall. In response to an item from Engelmann Hall, they
explained that the supervisor had been trying to assure that an employee was
trained in the use of particular chemicals, and the employee had been
resisting the training and thus believed that the supervisor was harassing her.
The employee has since received the training.
Trash Barrels and Carts. The department has two new choices for trash carts
and they are being shown to staff.
Building Openings. Campus buildings are actually supposed to be open at
7:00 a.m. although man custodians open their buildings at 6:00 a.m. when
they arrive.
The meeting ended at 11:03 a.m.
III.
Cc:
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, March 16, in 122 Engelmann Hall, 9:00 a.m.
Carlos Santiago
Bob Grieshaber
Colleen Murphy
Linda Woods
Scott Peak
Deans/Division Heads
Personnel Representatives
Steve Butzlaff
Mike Reck
Christy Brown
Rita Cheng
Mike Varebrook
Karl Sparks
John Krezoski
Dave Danielson
Dev Venugopalan