Mark Dayton One strOng united vOice

fOr MinnesOta wOrkers

American Federation of State, County

and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

Surviving a Tornado – Now What?

Matt Luna is trying to piece his family’s life back together after a tornado hit their rural Freeborn County home. Luna, a member of Local 106, works for MnDOT in Albert Lea.

PAGE 8

Putting Front-Line Workers First

Yvette Schneider, Local 4001 at Northland Community and Technical College in Grand Forks, helps organize MnSCU’s annual front-line conference.

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AFSCME members rally around Council 5’s endorsed candidate for governor, Mark Dayton.

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volume 5, no. 4 July/august 2010

F O r G Ov E r N O r

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Mark Dayton values our work.

He led three state agencies and was a good boss.

He will tax the rich to save public services and AFSCME jobs.

He supports increased funding for public education.

He has strong support all across Minnesota.

With the august 10th primary election for governor just days away, i’m asking you to BelieVe. not just in a

candidate’s ability to bring real change to Minnesota, but to believe in our union’s collective power to make our state work again.

united, we can rise up for excellence in public services, dignity in the workplace, and opportunity and prosperity for every worker.

voting together, we can retire the politicians and bad bosses who have put greed ahead of public need. we can defeat the foes who threaten our pensions – and even our jobs – as they slash public budgets and try to privatize our work.

exercising our power starts at the ballot box. please mark your calendar and plan to vote for afscMe-endorsed candidates on tuesday, aug. 10 and tuesday, nov. 2.

council 5 is recommending Mark dayton for governor because he shares our values and he can win.

Mark Dayton values our work. like most aFSCMe members, Dayton has devoted his life to public service. He’s been a public school teacher and a social worker. later, as a United States senator, he helped block countless attempts to cut vital public services and privatize our work.

Mark Dayton is a good boss. He worked beside dedicated afscMe members for 9 years as the leader of three state agencies: the department of economic development (1978), the department of energy and economic development (1983-’87), and the Office of State auditor (1991-’95). that’s why he shares our contempt for recent governors who have attacked and starved the government they were supposed to lead. He can’t wait to eradicate pawlenty’s unqualified political appointees, who oppose the essential mission of the agencies they lead. unlike them, dayton shares our commitment to providing the best possible public services to the people of Minnesota.

Mark Dayton will tax the rich to save our jobs and services. He agrees with us that the principal solution to the budget crisis is to raise taxes only on

the richest Minnesotans, who are not paying their fair share today. to address an expected revenue shortfall of $6 billion, dayton would raise $5 billion in fair taxes and find $1 billion in cuts. Other candidates promise much deeper cuts to public services and afscMe jobs. for example, Margaret anderson kelliher says she would slash $5 billion and raise only $1 billion.

unlike the other candidates for governor, dayton has the experience and the solutions to lead Minnesota out of its budget crisis. By contrast, speaker kelliher

voted last session with gov. pawlenty to slash the state budget by $2.6 billion,

putting hundreds of afscMe jobs on the chopping

block. she failed to pass a fair tax increase. she proposed

even deeper cuts to education than pawlenty did.

Mark Dayton supports public education. He will make the necessary investments in

our children to prepare them for college and the workforce, and to ensure that

Minnesota kids lead the nation once again in achievement. that means funding all-day kindergarten, holding

down K–12 class sizes, and holding down college tuition increases.

Mark Dayton can win statewide. dayton is the only candidate in the field who has won statewide election. He’s done it twice. polls show he’s the strongest candidate, with high name recognition and voter approval. His running mate, state Sen. yvonne prettner Solon from Duluth, is the only candidate for lieutenant governor who is from greater Minnesota.

in our democracy, government is us. we, the people, hold in our hands the power to choose our leaders and shape our own destiny. as afscMe members, we also have the power to elect our bosses and improve public services. please vote for Mark dayton so we can work in partnership for a better Minnesota.

Eliot Seide Executive Director

Mike Buesing, presidentEliot Seide, executive director

information and story ideas should be submitted to: Michael Kuchta, editor

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O F F i C E r S President Mike Buesing, local 1011 vice President judy Wahlberg, local 66 Treasurer Clifford poehler, local 2938 Secretary Mary Falk, local 4001

E x E C U T i v E B OA r Djeff Birttnen, local 517, County Sector

paul Bissen, local 868, District 3 South/SeDennis Blumke, local 694, State Sector

leon Bowman, local 945, District 3 South/SeCarmen Brown, local 977, District 6 West Metrojean Diederich, local 34, District 6 West Metrojody ebert, local 3937, District 6 West Metro

john ewaldt, local 8, District 5 east MetroSteve Fitze, local 1164, private/Special Sector

Karen Foreman, local 638, State SectorDennis Frazier, local 66, County SectorDuane gatzke, local 2829, State Sector

pat guernsey, local 552, District 5 east Metrojen guertin, local 2508, District 5 east Metro

Mark Hedlund, local 753, State Sectorjohn Hillyard, local 600, State Sectorjoann Holton, local 607, State Sector

Roger janzig, local 668, private/Special SectorMichael lindholt, local 2792, District 6, West Metro

Robin Madsen, local 1842, City Sectorjohn Magnuson, local 1574, District 4 Central

Molly Malecki, local 2822, County Sectorjohn Mcgovern, local 695, District 1 ne

Mike nelson, local 2829, District 6 West Metroalan netland, local 66, District 1 ne

Kevin Olson, local 701, District 2 WestCliff Robinson, local 34, County Sector

Mike Rumpee, local 9, District 5 east Metrojudy Schultz, local 151, District 5 east Metro

Monica Shockency, local 56, K-12 SectorWillie Snyder, local 707, County Sector

jane Spaude, local 753, District 4 CentralDean Steiner, local 735, State SectorDeb Strohm, local 66, City Sector

jim Ullmer, local 3142, District 6 West MetroSue Urness, local 66, District 1 ne

phyllis Walker, local 3800, U of M Sectortamera Weller, local 607, State Sector

Bryce Wickstrom, local 2792, District 5 east Metro

afscMe council 5 is a union of 43,000 workers who provide the vital services that make Minnesota

happen. we advocate for excellence in public services, dignity in the workplace, and prosperity and

opportunity for all working families.

Executive Board Members 2008–2010

(elected September 2008)

sett ing tHe Pace

Dayton + AFSCME = A Better Minnesota

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paRaDing OUR values

AFSCME members need a governor who supports them

Mark Dayton

Margaret anderson Kelliher

tom Emmer

Quote “I know where that money is. I know who has it. And I will get it.”

The Legislature’s budget bill “met the governor more than half way.”

“I will cut government by a third.”

Public Services Dayton understands and supports our work. He was a good boss at three state agencies. He has been a teacher, a social worker, and has dedicated his life to public service.

Kelliher voted with Gov. Pawlenty to slash the state budget by $2.6 billion. It means the loss of hundreds of AFSCME jobs.

Emmer would eliminate 14 state agencies and cut roughly $20 billion in vital public services.

Fair Taxes Dayton supports increasing taxes on the richest Minnesotans. He wants to close tax loopholes that wealthy snow birds and big corporations exploit.

Kelliher did not propose raising revenue until late in the 2010 legislative session. She failed to pass her own proposal.

Emmer wants to slash public services and cut AFSCME jobs in order to protect tax breaks for the rich and for big corporations.

Education By getting the rich to pay their fair share of taxes, Dayton can provide increased funding for education.

Kelliher proposed deeper cuts to K-12 education than Gov. Pawlenty, who slashed school funding by nearly $2 billion.

Emmer wants to slash K-12 spending even more than Gov. Pawlenty.

Member of Legislature? No 12 years 6 years

Lieutenant Governor State Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon has a strong record of funding public services and AFSCME jobs. She is the only running mate from Greater Minnesota.

Republican finance official John Gunyou supported cutting aid to cities and counties. He favors “means testing” for Social Security.

Annette Meeks wants to abolish the job she is running for. She is paid $20,000 a year for serving on the Metropolitan Council, which Emmer wants to abolish.

A F S C M E ’ S E N D O r S E D C A N D i D AT E S

Endorsed by the Council 5 Executive Board

GovernorMark dayton

Secretary of StateMark ritchie

Auditorrebecca Otto

U.S. Congress6th district taryl clark

State Senator37 Mike germain42 ron case45 ann rest49 paul Meunier51 don Betzold52 Becky sickmeier54 John Marty55 chuck wiger57 katie sieben58 linda Higgins60 scott dibble62 patricia torres Ray 65 Sandy pappas66 ellen anderson

State representative32B katie rodriguez34a leann Kunze38a sandy Masin38B Mike Obermueller40a will Morgan40B ann lenczewski41a kevin staunton41B paul Rosenthal42a Maria ruud43a audrey Britton43B John Benson44a steve simon44B ryan winkler45a Sandra peterson47B Melissa Hortman49B Jerry newton50a Carolyn laine50B kate knuth51a Zak chiebek51B tom tillberry52a adam Best53a paul gardner

54a Mindy grieling54B Bev scalze55a leon lillie55B nora slawik56a Julie Bunn56B Marsha swails57a jen peterson57B David page59a Diane loeffler60a Marion greene60B frank Hornstein61a karen clark61B Jeff Hayden62a Jim davnie62B Jean wagenius63B linda Slocum64a erin Murphy64B Michael paymar65a Jeremiah ellis65B carlos Mariani66a john lesch67a tim Mahoney67B sheldon Johnson

Anoka County AttorneyBrad Johnson

Hennepin County Commissioner3 gail dorfman4 peter Mclaughlin

ramsey County Commissioner3 Janice rettman4 toni carter5 rafael Ortega6 Jim Mcdonough

ramsey County AttorneyJohn choi

ramsey County SheriffMatt Bostrom

Washington County Commissioner2 Jeff Birttnen

Please vote august 10 and November 2

Not at home on Aug. 10? Vote absenteeyou can cast an absentee ballot now if you will be on vacation or otherwise unable to get to your polling place on aug. 10. voters have two options:• Request a mail ballot and return it before the primary election• Vote in person before aug. 10 at your county auditor’s office (or, in many cases, at a municipal clerk’s office).

in order to vote absentee, you have to have a legitimate reason that will keep you from voting in your home precinct on election day. for full details on absentee voting, see the secretary of state’s

web page: www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=211

Help Mark Dayton get electedcouncil 5 is coordinating phone-banking, door-knocking and other get-out-the-vote efforts throughout Minnesota to help elect Mark dayton governor. activities take place before the primary election aug. 10.

to get involved in electing the state’s new boss, contact: Metro: Jon grebner, 651-287-0587 North: chelsa nelson, 218-726-9607 South: laura askelin, 651-238-5334

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in tHe ir footstePs

AFSCME, MnSCU team up for conference that puts

Front-Line Workers First

Jerold Mishow, Local 4001, takes part in a roundtable discussion for general maintenance workers during this year’s front-line conference. Mishow works at St. Cloud Community and Technical College.

“it is very energizing to be among your co-workers, to network, to learn,” says Grace Jones, of Local 4001. Jones is a customer service specialist and cashier at the Inver Hills Community College Bookstore. She’s attended four of the last five front-line conferences, and reports back what’s she learned. Some of her reports lead to additional staff training on campus, she says.

sure, good faculty are necessary for a good college education, says Larry Lundblad, president of Central Lakes College

in Brainerd. But it is the custodians, the engineers and the administrative support staff who really make campuses succeed, he says.

When students decide which college to attend – or whether to stay in school – the connections and impressions that front-line workers make often become the deciding factor for the students and their parents, according to admissions officials.

“Happy people have a way of communicating a friendly environment,” says Dave Cowan, facilities services director at Minnesota State University Mankato. “A well-kept lawn has a way of communicating, too. That is what the admissions people tell us: If you can take care of your lawn, then you’ll probably take care of my daughter pretty well, too.”

That’s why AFSCME locals and MnSCU administrators team up every year to hold a “front line” conference exclusively for workers whose work often is overlooked – repairmen, grounds keepers, janitors, clerks, cashiers, financial aid staff, and all their colleagues.

The first conference was a grass-roots effort that grew out of the workplace quality movement, says Cowan, a former president of AFSCME Local 638 who helped organize that 1993 conference. Organizers started by getting the approval of – and seed money

from – the chancellor. They knew individual campus presidents wouldn’t cooperate if the idea wasn’t blessed from on high.

But organizers still had to work campus by campus to get buy-in. “Every obstacle you could imagine was thrown in our way,” he says – including figuring out who would

pay travel costs. In those days, after all, staff development funds didn’t exist for rank-and-file workers.

“Deans weren’t hearing about it, department chairmen were pleading ignorance, and managers weren’t giving their people the time off,” he says. “Apparently, our folks were so integral to the life of the institution

that they couldn’t let them go.”

So, AFSCME members turned the tables. They pressured the chain of command from the bottom up, seeking permission to attend, Cowan says. It worked. “One by one, we got it.”

You can’t keep a good idea downAbout 250 people attended the first conference, held at Mankato. Workers stayed in dorms, had a barbecue and, by all accounts, learned a lot.

“They were treated with respect and they were actually – for the first time, to my knowledge anyway – sitting together in a room sharing ideas,” Cowan says. “The conference presenters were having a great time. Some of these things were supposed to last 60 minutes, they spilled over to 90 minutes because it was so refreshing.”

The front-line conference originally was only for AFSCME members at the seven state university campuses. It was a collaboration between AFSCME and what is now MnSCU, but took place outside the formal collective bargaining structure. It missed some years but, more often than not, was an annual event.

Expanding on success

Since those early days, the front-line conference has expanded. It now includes all 52 MnSCU campuses. It now includes not just AFSCME workers, but staff represented by MAPE and MMA. It is now an official part of training expectations in union contracts. The conference moves around the state, with campuses bidding to host it.

But the original goals and structure remain, says Local 638’s Karen Foreman, who now co-chairs the conference. Union members still do most of the planning. The chancellor still cooperates and always makes an official appearance.

The event runs from noon one day till noon the next day, giving people time to drive in, then get home the next day without piling up huge hotel or travel bills. The conference focuses on practical information, Foreman says, but also includes motivational speakers, a huge dinner, other social events, vendors – and lots of door prizes.

Bigger – but true to the original vision

This year’s conference, at Central Lakes College, sold out, says Local 4001’s Yvette Schneider, a senior account clerk at Northland Community and Technical College in Grand Forks.

Schneider is a member of the conference’s programming

committee. This year’s agenda included breakout sessions on two dozen topics, including finances and benefits, technical training, physical and mental fitness, and improving work environments and relationships.”We try to offer a whole bunch of different things for every department within MnSCU,” she says.

Cowan dropped in with a huge contingent from Mankato State. What he saw looked very similar to the original vision.

“The worker bees were able to get away from their campuses,” he says, “share ideas, find out customer service techniques that work, find out why it’s important for a grounds person to mow a law and tidy up and pull a weed. Why it’s so important to admissions people to see clean campuses. How that helps enrollment and why enrollment helps bring money to the coffers and pays people’s salaries and how it all feeds one another.” n

Lucy Peterson, of Local 4001, attended her first front-line conference this year and says she wishes there were even more breakout sessions. She works in the continuing education office at Century College.

Dave Cowan: “it’s turned into a tradition, now.

Hard times, easy times,

we’re able to slug it out,

make it work.”

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all summer, Council 5 staff members are holding “listen ing sessions” at AFSCME job sites and in communities across

Minnesota. In May and June, staff visited more than 70 locations.

The sessions got discussions going about state contract negotiations, which begin this winter. Members weighed in with their preferences and priorities. They talked about juggling areas such as health insurance, wages, steps and furloughs – and how different decisions affect different groups of workers, now and long-term.

Members also raised questions and suggestions

on a wide range of topics, including basic benefits such as sick leave, vacation and severance; out-of-

date job descriptions; layoffs, job security and early retirement; progressive

dues; and expanding the use of college credits and tuition

reimbursement.

Site visits are continuing through July and August.

For the most up-to- date list, visit

www.afscmemn.org; click on “Bargaining

Updates,” then “State of Minnesota.” On that same web page, members can also download forms to suggest their own state contract proposals.

Kevin Doucette, Local 744, Minnesota veterans Cemetery, Camp ripley.

Above: roderick Mrozek, Local 588, Baxter DOT maintenance shop. right: Becky Grausam and Patti Murphy, Local 4001, Central Lakes College, Brainerd.

Above: ray Ellis, Local 588, Baxter DOT maintenance shop. Left: Pierre Tanoe and Sandra Berrian, Local 744, Minneapolis veterans Home.

oct. 8: deadline for submitting contract proposals to council 5

oct. 30: Deadline for locals to elect delegates to negotiations assembly

Nov. 5: Deadline for locals to submit names of elected delegates to council 5

Nov. 19–20: negotiations assembly, Bloomington

s tat e c o N t r ac t N e g ot i at i o N s t i m e ta b l e

Maintenance workers tell it like it isOne of the biggest goals of the annual front-line conference is for workers to get a chance to share ideas with each other. Mission accomplished – at least during a roundtable discussion among general maintenance workers.

in 90 minutes of back and forth, workers from a half-dozen Mnscu campuses grumbled about supervisors. they weighed the advantages and disadvantages of towel dispensers vs. electric hand driers, and of using radios vs. cell phones to communicate. they shared notes on the impact different cleaning chemicals and equipment seem to have on their own health. they joked about how college athletes can’t seem to hit the waste basket with paper towels.

But they also talked earnestly about policies that affect their jobs, including how their campuses responded to the H1n1 flu outbreak.

H1n1 – in which maintenance workers often were first responders in disinfecting classrooms, rest rooms and other campus facilities – was nothing but frustrating. “when H1n1 came around, every campus had their own idea how to handle it, and to this day nobody really knows what the correct method is,” said Jerold Mishow, of local 4001, who works at St. Cloud community and technical college. He recommended that Mnscu develop a systemwide standard.

Meanwhile, Bruce ripley, floyd “skip” palmer and other local 4001 members from anoka ramsey community college shared detailed advice on how well various “green” cleaning products really work. some of them, they’ve discovered, work even better than traditional chemical-based cleaners.

that information, to Mishow, was worth the price of admission. “to find there’s other campuses that are way ahead of us – that’s going to save us time and money,” he said. “they did the experimenting, now we can take the good stuff. so it’s a short cut for us.”

Floyd “Skip” Palmer, of Local 4001 at Anoka ramsey Community College, shared advice during the roundtable among campus maintenance workers.

We’ve got something

to say

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we dO tHe Work

Minneapolis inspectors preserve property, the city’s tax base – and lives

being a housing inspector in Minneapolis is not getting easier – not in a city where more than 8,000 homes were foreclosed

in the last three years.

Inspectors are the ones who keep abandoned properties from becoming a bigger blight. They make sure houses are secure, that squatters don’t move in, that drug dealers and other criminals don’t take over, and that the properties don’t become dumps for junk cars or junk, period.

Maintaining public health and public safety is the core of what inspectors do, says Local 9’s Sarah Maxwell, a housing inspector for 16 years. By preventing houses from becoming dilapidated, the city’s two dozen inspectors preserve the city’s livability, preserve its tax base and preserve home values overall.

“I grew up here,” says Robin Utto, a senior inspector who has been with the city 30 years. “I don’t want it to fall apart. To me, I still feel like I’m making a difference.”

Making that difference is not without its challenges. When inspectors crack down on violations, not everyone sees it their way.

“If we have to issue an order, there’s a reason for it,” Utto says. “People don’t really want to hear the reason; they just believe we’re picking on them. We’re the government and we’re here just to pick on them. That’s really how people feel. And they don’t want to hear what we’re saying.”

“We deal with a lot of unhappy people,” Maxwell says.

Evictions, ‘garbage houses’ make the job tougher

Dealing with disgruntled property owners is routine. Dealing with “garbage houses” isn’t as easy. “There’s houses cops won’t even go into that we end up going into,” Maxwell says.

“We do things that other people can’t even fathom,” Utto says. “The garbage houses take a lot of time. The TV show ‘Hoarders’ – that’s how they are. You have to deal with the person or the people living there and kind of deal with the issues going on there, besides trying to get the house cleaned up.”

Mice and roaches are common in garbage houses. That’s a problem that can spread quickly to neighbors’ houses, Utto says, “so we try to prevent that.”

Similarly, condemning a house and putting a tenant on the street is never easy, Maxwell says.

But the alternative is worse. “It’s not because I hate you that I’m putting you out. It’s because I don’t want you to die in the house,” she says. “I couldn’t look myself in the mirror if I found out I didn’t have the backbone to kick them out, and something happened, and they died in there.”“If you usually get to talk to them after the fact, then they will come back and tell us, ‘I’m glad you did it. I’m in a much better place now’,” Utto says. “Then you feel like it was worth it. But at the time, we’re not their best friend.”

Plymouth inspector Erik Noraas (front) and city engineer Dave Taylor look for a way to reroute sump pump discharge in a condominium complex. “We try to educate and work with people and make sure it gets done the right way the first time,” Noraas says.

Housing values

“You get that one person that appreciates what you did or is glad you helped them, it makes it worth it.” says robin Utto, senior housing inspector for the City of Minneapolis.

Health-care costs (not taxes) stymie new jobs, businesses saysome politicians can’t wait to give tax breaks to businesses. they claim that, if we want to create jobs, we have to cut business taxes.

funny thing is, when you ask actual businesses what they need in order to expand, a tax cut isn’t at the top of their list.

according to a new survey of Minnesota and western wisconsin businesses, here are the real top obstacles that private-sector businesses face when they want to add jobs:

• affordable health care (21 percent)• Regulations (12 percent)• the economy (11 percent)

• investment funding (9 percent)• taxes (7 percent)• lack of demand (6 percent)• global competition (5 percent)

the survey was conducted for Healthpartners. you can find more details at www.healthpartners.com/

portal/931.html

Rule adds democracy to union votesa dramatic rule change that took effect July 1 gives airline, rail and other transportation workers real democracy when they try to form a union.

the first big impact could make it easier for more workers to unionize at delta airlines, which completed its takeover this year of Minnesota-based northwest airlines. flight attendants and ground workers at northwest are unionized;

co-workers at the much-larger delta are not.

under the new rule, union elections now will abide by the same principle that governs nearly every other democratic election in america: if you win the majority of the votes, you win.

for decades, union elections in the transportation industry didn’t follow that principle. instead, workers who didn’t vote were counted as “no” votes. for union supporters, the old rule meant they could win a majority of votes, but still lose.

Stop by, say ‘hi’ at the State Faircouncil 5 members will be out in force at the State Fair, staffing an aFSCMe kiosk at the Minnesota aFl-CiO’S labor pavilion.

volunteers will be on duty from 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m. from aug. 26 through labor Day. Find us at the intersection of Dan patch ave. and Cooper St.BriEFS

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we dO tHe Work

Plymouth inspectors head off problems before they start

it’s May. With the frost out of the ground and graduation parties a few weeks away, homeowners all around Plymouth suddenly

decide they need a new deck.

Before they can dig their first post hole, however, they need Jessica Archer’s stamp of approval. It’s up to her to examine and make sure all residential construction plans meet code, are structurally sound, comply with energy requirements where appropriate, and are free of safety issues.

Her goal is to catch and resolve issues before construction begins. “Once you get in the field,” she says, “if we find an error or discrepancy, it can cost everybody a lot of time and money.”

Department pays for itself

Archer, of Local 3839, is on the front end of Plymouth’s effort to safeguard property and lives. Other inspectors in the field check projects under construction. Co-workers keep tabs on rental units and code problems in existing properties.

Inspectors do it all without adding a penny to the city’s property tax. “It’s all run off permit fees, plan review fees and inspection fees,” says Local 3839’s Erik Noraas. “The fees cover the inspections, the inspectors, the office space, the electricity, the fuel we use in our vehicles and the vehicles.”

Plymouth is Minnesota’s sixth-largest city. Population has more than doubled in the last 20 years, passing 71,000 and still growing. But the housing recession hit the building department hard; the city laid off 15 percent of its housing inspectors in 2009.

Getting it right the first time

Noraas, a field inspector for most of his 11 years with the city, now inspects rental properties, whether they are apartments, townhomes or single-family rentals. His primary focus is life safety. That means checking smoke detectors, circuit breakers, screens and windows, plumbing, fire doors, corridors and stairways.

In multi-family developments, he typically checks 10 to 15 percent of units. He’ll inspect more if he spots problems. “The managers, a lot of them are really good about keeping the buildings up. They work very well with us,” he says.

But enforcing code with builders or homeowners who dispute what’s required isn’t always that easy. “You can’t be adversarial, because then you’ve lost,” Noraas says. “If you’re just butting

Job qualifications

plymouth building inspectors jessica archer and erik noraas both have two-year technical degrees and a state license. in order to keep their licenses, they must keep up with continuing education requirements each year. that means attending classes and seminars to stay up to speed on ever-changing code and building standards.

“it’s not like you have to know it all,” noraas says. “But you have to know where to look it up, where to find it and how to interpret it.”

Minneapolis inspectors enforce their own code, so they don’t need state licenses. still, the city typically requires a two-year degree in building technology. Robin Utto received her training through a now-defunct city program. sarah Maxwell actually has a degree from the university of Minnesota.

“we have to know a little about a lot,” Maxwell says. “we have to be able to look at a system and say ‘something’s wrong here’. We might not be able to say exactly how to fix it, but we need to be able to see whether it’s dangerous or not.”

Plymouth building inspector Jessica Archer: “We’re known as the bad guy sometimes, but it’s not like that. The hard part of an enforcement job is sometimes you have to say ‘no’.”

In the field, behind a desk

in Minneapolis, housing inspectors don’t deal directly with construction permits or mechanical codes. day in, day out, they focus on the basic upkeep of residential properties. that means:

Environmental issues: garbage, overgrown lawns, junk cars, abandoned refrigerators, or the impact of someone running an illegal auto repair business in the alley.

Basic property upkeep: peeling paint, rotting overhangs, sagging fences and other exterior issues.

Life-threatening issues, especially in rental housing: missing smoke alarms or carbon monoxide detectors; missing railings; holes in walls; plumbing, heating or electrical problems.

inspectors spend about half their day in the field – driving through their territories, giving the once-over to home exteriors, or responding to specific complaints.

paperwork and legalities eat up the other half of the day. it’s a nonstop parade: issuing orders, writing letters, making court appearances, and simply dealing with the voice mails and questions from landlords and homeowners.

when the city does area-wide sweeps, each inspector can easily issue more than 3,000 orders. “so you’re going to get a lot of phone calls,” sarah Maxwell says.

due to budget cuts, inspectors lost clerical support this year, meaning they’re now doing more of the desk work themselves. “there’s just so much paperwork, i couldn’t tell you,” robin utto says.

“One dilapidated house can bring down what all the properties around it are worth,”says Sarah Maxwell, housing inspector for the City of Minneapolis.

heads, you’re not getting anywhere…. So you stay calm and cool, and maybe give them a day or two to cool off, and come back to it. And you explain to them, ‘This is how it is.’

“A lot of it is just education, explaining how it’s

supposed to be done and why it’s supposed to be done this certain way. And once you take some time to talk with them reasonably and respectfully, it’s no problem. They understand.

“They may not like it, but they understand.” n

More than 400 people enjoyed root beer floats, popsicles and solidarity,

thanks to a “know your neighbor” lunch break co-sponsored by AFSCME and MAPE locals. Festivities took place June 16 outside the DNR building, in the Lafayette Park state office complex in St. Paul.

A sweet timeAbove: Lynn Mahnke, of St. Paul Clerical Local 2508, pours the root beer. Right: Debbie Rolfing, of Labor and industry Local 2672, hands out popsicles. Far right: DHS co-workers Peter Filkins, of MAPE, and Sallie Sheppheard, of AFSCME Local 2181.

8 • S t e p p i n g U p • j U ly – a U g U S t 2 0 1 0 • www.afscmemn.org

tornado warnings lit up the TV weather map. Matt Luna and his 19-year-old son, Nick, stepped outside. They stared at the

dark clouds in the southern sky. It was about 7:20 on June 17, a Thursday night. There was still daylight.

They were home – the home Luna grew up in, the home his four children grew up in. Home was at the “T” intersection of two gravel roads in rural Freeborn County, about two miles north of Hollandale. Hollandale, according to the TV reports, was in the path of a tornado.

For about 90 seconds, they saw nothing. Then, Nick spotted the funnel. More accurately, he saw what the funnel was doing: Sucking up a neighbor’s house, sheds and more. The tornado was a quarter-mile away, barely on the other side of the road.

The men ran back into the house. “I hollered at the kids: ‘Get down in the basement – now’,” Luna says. His teenage daughters, Amy and Sarah Jo, and one of their friends were inside.

“Within seconds, we heard stuff hitting the house and the glass busting,” Luna says. “The girls were screaming. All of a sudden, there was daylight, Nick looked up and said, ‘Dad, the roof!’ I said, ‘Keep your heads down. Hang tight.’

“Fifteen seconds later, it was over.”

Wreckage everywhereThey climbed out of the basement. The roof over their kitchen was gone. Their attached garage was gone. Trees and debris were piled everywhere. Their three storage sheds were gone. One car was crushed; a car and a truck were badly damaged. A neighbor’s duck boat was wedged into one of the trees that remained standing.

“It was like a war zone,” says Luna, a member of Local 106 who is a maintenance worker at MnDOT’s Albert Lea shop.

Luna quickly checked that everyone was all

right. He called his wife, Randie, who was in nearby Clark’s Grove, baby sitting their granddaughter.

“We lost just about everything we owned,” Luna says, “but we made it. The girls say, ‘Dad, you saved our lives.’ I tell them, ‘Well, it’s the first time you ever listened when Dad said get in the basement. You just listened that day. I’m just happy you kids listened’.”

For the time being, everyone is bunking with Luna’s oldest daughter and a sister-in-law in Clark’s Grove. Luna is not sure what comes next.

Little can be salvagedMost of the possessions the family salvaged are damaged beyond repair. Or, like their clothing and a freezer full of meat, what’s left is so embedded with glass and dirt, it can’t be used.

Some possessions – like decoys and blinds that Nick used for hunting, or the cap and gown that Sarah Jo wore at high school graduation two weeks earlier – just vanished. The family found one pet goose, but not the other one.

“All the stuff you worked for, to see it all going in the dumpster, it’s hard,” Luna says. “The kids lost a lot of their memorabilia. It’s gone.”

Insurance will replace their personal belongings,

he says, but the house is a different story. The building was still in his mother’s name. He didn’t hold the title, so he couldn’t get homeowner’s insurance.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do, or how we’re going to do it, or anything,” he says. “I’d like to rebuild here. This is the house that built us. This is our roots. I don’t know if we’re going to start over or what.”

Local 106 officers are planning a fund-raiser, probably in Albert Lea or Owatonna, to help the Luna family recover. About a dozen co-workers already have helped clean up after the storm.

The tornado that hit Luna’s home was one of 18 that struck Minnesota that night. The most damaging twisters hit in and near Wadena, a city about 45 minutes west of Brainerd.

One severely damaged the Wadena campus of Minnesota State Community and Technical College, where 27 AFSCME members work. However, the college intends to make repairs in time to offer a full class schedule in fall, says Joanne Bokinskie, a Local 4001 steward on campus. All staff are back at work, she says. n

WalkiNg OUR talK

In 15 seconds, tornado rips family’s life into shreds

Childhood toys came out just as wrecked as everything else at the Lunas’ house.

“Every one of my kids grew up here, just like me,” Matt Luna says. “it’s hard to leave it.”

Website will keep you up to date on early retirement incentive

state agencies are expected to wait until August before announcing which employees

are eligible for the new early retirement incentive.

As those decisions become final, Council 5’s website will post up-to-date information, including lists of eligible job classifications. Go to

www.afscmemn.org: Click “Bargaining Updates,” then click on “State of Minnesota.”

This year’s Legislature created an early retirement incentive for state and MnSCU employees. However, each agency and campus decides whether to participate, how many

retirements it can afford, and which employees are eligible. Some agencies are surveying workers to find out who might be interested in taking the retirement option. All agency decisions then must be approved by the office of Management and Budget.

The early retirement incentive is

intended to reduce the need for layoffs. The incentive pays the equivalent of two years’ worth of health-insurance premiums.

To be eligible, employees must have at least 15 years of qualifying service and must retire by June 30, 2011. They must decide by Dec. 31, 2010, whether to take the incentive.

Nominations are now open for Council 5’s annual Achievement Awards. The 2010 awards – for activism in 2009 – will be presented during Council 5’s annual convention in September in Bloomington.

Rick Scott Political Activism Award:

Given to an individual member for outstanding work in

electoral politics on behalf of our union’s members.

Jerry Wurf Organizing Award: Given

to an individual member, a local union, or a group of individuals or locals who have worked tirelessly in organizing new members.

Local Union Development Award: Given to an individual member, a local union, or a group of individuals or locals who have

contributed significantly to internal mobilization.

For details on award guidelines, how to submit nominations,

and more, go to www.afscmemn.org. Click on “Resources” then click on “Achievement Awards.”

Know anyone who deserves some recognition?NOMINATION DeADLINe IS AUgUST 20

Looking to help?afscMe locals will take the lead in efforts to assist members affected by June’s storms. Specifics on how to help will be posted on the council 5 website, www.afscmemn.org. click on the “resources” section.