Local 1549 Brooklyn Borough Meeting Report (May 2024)
Local 1549 held its Brooklyn Borough Meeting (rescheduled from its original April date) on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 6:00 PM in the Kings County Hospital’s 2nd floor auditorium. The following is a summary of business discussed at the meeting.
OPENING
The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance, a moment of silence for members who have passed away, and a recitation of the AFSCME Code of Conduct.
FINANCIAL REPORT
AFSCME auditor John K. and Local 1549 business manager Melitha Pope delivered a financial report for Local 1549 covering the union’s balance sheet, profit & loss statements, and budget vs. actual comparisons.
Financial report summary (members only)
NOTE: The financial reports presented at this meeting did not include year-over-year comparisons with FY2023 that were shown at previous meetings.
LOCAL UPDATE
Election Committee
Administrator Ryan Welles spoke for the election committee to provide notice that the deadline to request duplicate ballots was coming up this Monday, May 20th and that all requests should be sent directly to the elections committee email.
We’ve put together an easy guide to request a duplicate ballot here.
Administrator Update
AFSCME Strong & Membership. Administrator Ryan Welles discussed the number of new members signed up since October 1, 2022 and emphasized the need to continue signing up new members to account for retirements and attrition. He encouraged attendees to become a Volunteer Member Organizer (VMO) to keep the rate of nonmembers at the lowest among all DC37 locals. The next VMO training is schedule for June 1, 2024.
Constitution Update. Deputy administrator Jim Howell provided an update on the Local 1549 constitution, covering the timeline from when the local restructured chapters, voted on new chapter bylaws, and now holding chapter elections. The Local 1549 constitution committee made revisions to the constitution and sent a draft to AFSCME international in D.C. for pre-approval by the international president Lee Saunders. On APril 23rd, we received word that the constitution committee’s changes were approved from D.C. and this will be packaged together to be read at the Staten Island borough meeting in June for a First Reading before proceeding to virtual and in-person votes on the actual constitution after the Second Reading.
DC37 FIELD REPORT
Division director Tracey Ziemba introduced herself and mentioned that DC37 is in the process of moving back to 125 Barclay with a target open date of October this year. 420 W 45th St will be a temporary member service center with 2 representatives stationed there to assist with optical, dental, DC37 EdFund, etc.
Pay Dates & Retro Pay Update. The next 3% contractual raise is due on May 26th and will be received in the July paycheck. Members should expect to receive retro pay on that paycheck from May to July and this will affect your base salary. This is what DC37 has been told citywide and any specific issues should be brought up with your grievance representative.
Compressed & Remote Work. Different agencies determine which job titles are eligible for remote work, and if you're ineligible for remote work, you might be considered for compressed work schedules. If your title is deemed eligible but you're not given remote or compressed work, you can appeal to your agency—and if it's a mayoral agency, appeal to the agency head or their designee. During the appeal process, you can bring a DC37 representative. Currently, DC37 is in Phase III of the remote/compressed work pilot, focusing on compressed time, with H&H planning to implement PeopleSoft in May.
Division Update. Effective January 1st this year, tuition reimbursement is $1,500. Effective March of this year, there are changes in optical reimbursement where you now have $250 in optical reimbursements every 24 months. You can use a voucher, pay for it and be reimbursed, or use a combination of the two.
WRAP UP
NOTE: You must RSVP to this meeting in order to receive an advance copy of the draft constitution for the local. Additionally, the first reading of the draft constitution along with a member discussion will occur at this meeting—you must be present in order to participate, there will be no Zoom option.