Hi, I’m Brian Madigan, and I’m running for President of AFSCME 2822.
The current President of our local union no longer labors alongside the workers whose dues pay her salary. The vote to change this happened at a meeting by a vote of less than four percent of 2822 members.
Our dues pay for two members to do union work full-time at a cost of about $140,000. As a rank-and-file member, I only found out about this after the decision had been made. People who choose to do union work do an important job for all of us, and they should be compensated for their work. As a union, we should have a greater say and engagement from those we are paying to represent us.
This lack of transparency threatens to destroy the integrity of our union’s criticisms about the hypocrisy of administration types who make decisions about our day-to-day working lives from their at-home work arrangements.
So, I decided to put my name in to run for president of 2822 to give members a choice of the leadership type they want. If elected, I will keep working my dues-paying job and give everything I can to lead from an inclusionary style that would benefit 2822 the most.
My wife, Anne, and I are a union family. She belongs to a Service Employees International Union (SEIU) chapter, where she served as a contract negotiator for her team for three contracts. We know what unions mean to the middle class firsthand. I also learned the value of unions growing up. I heard stories about my grandfather, a linotype operator for the Chicago Tribune. His union went on strike for TWO YEARS in the late 1940’s. I know it was a hard thing to do for him and his family, and I also know it was courageous and vital.
I have worked in many other jobs before coming to the library. One was on the staff of Senator Al Franken’s recount. There, I worked as an advocate for individual voters whose ballots had been improperly denied. I met with disenfranchised voters, listened to their stories, and provided a case we could take to court to have their vote counted. That’s the background I would take in to fight for our members.
There are three goals I would like to press for as we go into a contract negotiation year:
Transparency for 2822: I think it’s as important to demand transparency from the county and our managers as it is to demand it of ourselves. Agendas for meetings should be published as completely as possible and made accessible for members to know what is being discussed. Minutes of the same meeting should also be as easy as a click on our website.
Automatic COLA: A cost of living increase should be non-debatable in any contract negotiation. This is possible by tying COLA to agreed-upon inflationary indexes.
The Ballpark Tax: As Hennepin County moves to pay off the bonds for Target Field, with a booming economy, the days of the tax that keeps libraries open for longer hours dwindle. We need to know if the county is setting up the reserve required to fund libraries until 2036.
Please vote. It shows our union leaders and management we care.
There are others who are running for 2822 positions that deserve your vote:
Vice-President: Dirk Schot
At Large:
- Tucker Spynczynatyk
- Emma Riese
- Dan Ferguson
Cordially,
Brian Madigan