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Date Posted	Submitted By	Announcement
8 December 2003	T. Morrissey	Retiree Health Plan Meeting Another meeting has been scheduled for pre-2003 retirees: Holiday Inn 601 Dingens Thursday, December 11, 2003 10:00 a.m. Blue Cross/Blue Shield representatives will be on hand to assist in signing up for new retiree health insurance. A presentation will also be given. Enrollment deadline has been extended.
8 December 2003	C. Van Ness at the request at G. Luba	New Dues Rates New dues rates have been posted at our Documents page
8 December 2003	T. Morrissey	Health Care for pre-2003 Retirees I have just returned from a meeting of the Labor-Management Health Care Coalition Trustees meeting. A major topic of conversation was the sign up process of pre-2003 retirees. There has been major confusion as to the timing & nature of this process. The contract agreement that was signed on September 30, 2003 concerns active librarians and those librarians retiring in 2003. The County timetable for signing up individuals for the new Erie County Health Care Plan targeted signing up active employees first, 2003 retirees next and then offering pre-2003 retirees the option of joining in the new County Health Care Plan. When the existing health care providers, such as Univera, were notified than active employees would be covered by the new plan, they withdrew their health care products for the pre-2003 retirees. This was unanticipated by the County and set in motion the current push to have pre-2003 retirees sign on to the Erie County Health Care Plan. It imperative that pre-2003 retirees understand that their health care coverage is being terminated by the HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS, not by the unions, the County, or the Administration. Secondly, if they do not sign up with the new plan they will be without health care coverage. There is no automatic "rollover". There are informational retiree meetings scheduled December 4th & 5th @ McKinley's Hotel/Conference/Banquet Facility located at S3950 McKinley Pkwy in Blasdell. It is important that all pre-2003 retirees who haven't signed up for the new County Plan attend one of these meetings & sign up. I will be at both Thursday meetings & the Friday afternoon meeting. There will be a number of people there to explain the plan, answer questions and provide assistance in filling out the paper work. There is talk of extending the deadline, but as yet no definite plans to do so. PLEASE, if anyone knows any pre-2003 retirees who haven't signed up urge them to attend one of these meetings.
23 November 2003	C. Van Ness at the request of T. Morrissey	Dues Be advised that dues deductions have been adjusted to NYSUT dues rates. If you have any questions please contact Glenn Luba.
23 November 2003	C. Van Ness at the request of T. Morrissey	Retirement Planning Meetings From: Nancy Tucker, ntucker@niagarainsurance.com On behalf of the implementation team, I would like to ask your help with respect the upcoming retiree process. If you were in attendance at yesterday's meeting, you received a schedule of the upcoming retiree meetings. If not, that information is listed below. Here is an overview of what has transpired with respect to the retirees: A postcard was mailed to all local retirees 11/19-11/20, detailing that their coverage is changing and providing meeting times & locations. Any retiree who does not attend the 11/24 or 11/25 meeting will be mailed a packet of information on Wednesday, 11/26. Those attending the meetings 11/24 & 11/25 will receive the same materials at the meeting. Packets for all retirees located outside of the WNY area are being mailed on Saturday, 11/22. BCBS will have staff at all of the meetings (11/24 & 11/25 at the Hearthstone Manor, 12/1 & 12/2 at the Marriott in Amherst, and 12/4 & 12/5 at the McKinley Park Inn/McKinley's Hotel) to review a presentation of the various benefit options for Pre and Post 65 retirees, answer their questions, and most importantly, to enroll them, via the paper applications, on the spot. The enrollment is the most important part, and staff will be available to help them in the process. What you can do: If you are contacted by retirees, please do not refer them to BCBS at this time. Instead, suggest that they attend the meetings noted above and in their postcards, advise them that if they do not or cannot attend the 11/24 or 11/25 meetings that a package of information will be mailed to them on 11/26. Suggest that they attend a later meeting, or follow the instruction & information in their packets for completing the enrollment process. BCBS contact phone numbers will be in the packets for their calls after they receive their enrollment packets. In addition, a blast press release indicating the change of retiree coverage, and information has been sent out by the County. As I'm sure you can imagine, this is a huge undertaking, and we thank you for your help in allowing us all to provide the most accurate and timely communication to this large group of retirees.
15 November 2003	C. Van Ness at the request of T. Singer-Blumberg	New payroll system Human Resources is going to be implementing a new payroll system. Mary Jean says there's a good possibility that there will be some payroll glitches. Be sure to watch your checks closely till the end of the year.
28 October 2003	C. Van Ness at the request of T. Morrissey & K. Galvin	New additions to our website Board minutes are now online at our Documents page, and a new Existing and Proposed Committee page is online at our Contact Us page. Here are the direct links: Board Minutes Proposed Committees
1 October 2003	T. Morrissey	Health Care Enrollment glitch When people hired after January 1, 1995 try to enroll in the new health care plan there's a glitch in the software. Mary Jean is going to send a TOLALL of the following message which I composed. [Message is forthcoming]
30 September 2003	J. Rosenfeld	What's Up... Update 1 from the Negotiating Team, 10/1/2003 How the Team Was Formed The union called for Negotiating Team volunteers through posted notices, the web page, email and at meetings. The Board wanted a team that represented the full membership: librarians from Central, City Branches and contracting libraries; full and part time staff; new people and those thinking about retirement. Gathering Input and Reviewing the Contract Our first job was to prepare a survey to learn what contract issues were important to the members. Surveys went out in early September and more than 80 were returned to Meg Cheman. The response to the survey was excellent and we appreciate so many people taking the time to answer the survey. We met to tabulate the survey and form a list of issues of major concern to members. We carefully reviewed the text of the current contract looking for confusing language or articles in need of clarification. Next Steps At the next meeting we'll work on clarifying and improving contract language. Next we'll select proposals based on member feedback and team input and begin writing proposals. Time spent in meetings so far: 5 hours
19 September 2003	C. Van Ness with the approval of T. Morrissey	Health Care Plan Ratified At this evening's meeting on the proposed health care plans, 69 voting members attended. One nonmember attended. After a discussion period, 68 voted in favor of ratifying the proposal, 1 opposed. A second vote was taken and 65 voted in favor of accepting the 0% plan. Four voted in favor of accepting the 1% plan. More details are forthcoming as to enrollment periods, finalized benefits, and other issues.
7 September 2003	C. Van Ness at the request of T. Morrissey	Health Care Plan Proposals Please familiarize yourself with these health care proposals. There will be an emergency meeting on Friday, Sept. 19 to discuss them, location TBA. The first three are Word documents and the final one is an Excel spreadsheet. Cover Letter Zero Percent Plan One Percent Plan Comparison Spreadsheet
5 September 2003	J. Rosenfeld	Negotiating Team The Librarians Association Negotiating Team is preparing a survey for distribution the week of September 8th. Please watch for your copy in the delivery. Return the survey in a sealed envelope to Meg Cheman, HSS Central by September 22. You can also contact any member of the Team to discuss concerns. A new page for our website listing the team members is under construction.
3 September 2003	P. Forsberg	Revised Instructions for NYSUT membership form Local Name is B&ECPL Librarians Association. Building Code is whatever library you work in. On the membership card, 1/4 down from the top, there is a thin stripe with "Dues codes" listed. If you are a full time librarian, you will check the box for Active Code 1 (full dues). However, if you are not a full-time librarian, please turn the membership card over and, using your base annual salary, determine which dues code you should check. Dues are calculated on your base annual salary. Effective Mo./Yr is when you are filling out the form. You become a member as soon as the Membership Chair receives the form. You must remain a member for at least one year after joining. Please list a personal non-work email if you have one. If not list your work email. Work Environment is "Other" - Public Library Check the box under "Higher Education" - "Professional" - "Librarian J" List your Public Librarian license under "Please list any and all professional licenses and/or certificates you hold." After you fill out and sign your card, take page B for your records. Send the card to Pat Forsberg at Orchard Park or Suzanne Colligan at HSS. By filling out the membership form you are insuring that you maintain your membership in good standing in the Association. Just as in the past, in order to be a member you must fill out the membership form. Any librarian may join the Librarians Association at any time, as always. If there are any further questions please feel free to contact any Librarians Association Board member.
3 September 2003	T. Morrissey	Letter to Carol Batt Posted with Carol's permission at http://bfn.org/~labecpl/batt.html
21 July 2003	P. Forsberg	Membership Forms, Addendum Information on filling out Librarian Association membership form. Local Name is B&ECPL Librarians Association. Building Code is whatever library you work in. On the membership card, 1/4 down from the top, there is a thin stripe with "Dues codes" listed. If you are a full time librarian, you will check the box for Active Code 1 (full dues). However, if you are not a full-time librarian, please turn the membership card over and, using your base annual salary, determine which dues code you should check. Dues are calculated on your base annual salary. Work Environment is "Other" - Public Library Check the box under "Higher Education" - "Professional" - "Librarian J" List your Public Librarian license under "Please list any and all professional licenses and/or certificates you hold." After you fill out and sign your card, take page B for your records. Send the card to Pat Forsberg at Orchard Park or Suzanne Colligan at HSS. By filling out the membership form you are insuring that you maintain your membership in good standing in the Association. Just as in the past, in order to be a member you must fill out the membership form. Any librarian may join the Librarians Association at any time, as always. If there are any further questions please feel free to contact any Librarians Association Board member.
16 July 2003	S. Colligan	Union Representative Training All members of the Librarians Association are cordially invited to attend Union Representative Training. The Librarians Association needs members who are willing to be Union Representatives. The main duty of a Union Representative is to assist with grievances. This training opportunity is open to Librarians Association members. The Association is especially interested in attendance from members who work in the Contract and City branch libraries. If you're uncertain about the grievance process or if you just want to learn more, please attend!! NYSUT Labor Relations Specialist Tara Singer-Blumberg will provide the training. Date: Thursday, August 14th, 2003 Time: 6:30-8:30 Location: NYSUT Buffalo Office, 270 Essjay Rd., Amherst, NY Food will be provided. Please RSVP via e-mail to Suzanne Colligan by 8/7/03. A second session of this same program will be held on Monday September 8, 2003 from 6:30-8:30. If you would prefer to attend this session, please RSVP to the e-mail address provided above by 9/2/03. You need only to attend one session, not two. Hope to see you there! P.S. Flyers will be made and distributed to all work locations.
13 July 2003	C. Van Ness at the request of T. Morrissey	General Meeting The Association plans to hold a General Meeting in the fall, details to be announced.
13 July 2003	C. Van Ness at the request of T. Morrissey	Refund of Political Contributions If you elect not to join NYSUT, you may apply for a refund of the political contributions that NYSUT makes on behalf of members. However, once you receive the reimbursement, you are barred from joining the union and voting in union elections for a one-year period. For more information on applying for this refund, contact Treasurer Glen Luba.
9 July 2003	T. Morrissey	Response to Ann Kling Click here to see the full text of the letter
8 July 2003	Pat Hilliker Forsberg	Membership Forms A memo to clarify some questions raised about the NYSUT membership forms. On the membership card, 1/4 down from the top, there is a thin section with "Dues codes" listed. If you are a full time librarian, you will check the box for Active Code 1 (full dues). However, if you are not a full-time librarian, please turn the membership card over and, using your base annual salary, determine which dues code you should check. Dues are calculated on your base annual salary. Check the box under "Higher Education" - "Professional" - "Librarian J" List your Public Librarian license under "Please list any and all professional licenses and/or certificates you hold." After you fill out and sign your card, take page B for your records. Send the card to Pat Forsberg at Orchard Park or Suzanne Colligan at HSS. By filling out the membership form you are insuring that you maintain your membership in good standing in the Association. Just as in the past, in order to be a member you must fill out the membership form. Any librarian may join the Librarians Association at any time, as always. But we ask that you return the forms by July 17, 2003 so we can process the majority of them at that time. If there are any further questions please feel free to contact any Librarians Association Board member. Scroll up for the link.
5 July 2003	C. Van Ness with the approval of T. Morrissey	New Presidents Training Tom Morrissey will be offline for a few days as he attends training for new union presidents. He'll be at NYSUT headquarters in Albany from July 14-17.
2 July 2003	C. Van Ness with the approval of T. Morrissey	Grievance The Librarians Association is joining the other county employee unions in a grievance about the open enrollment period for health care plans. Our contracts all require that an open enrollment period be offered and this year, it was not.
2 July 2003	C. Van Ness with the approval of T. Morrissey	Health Care Initiative Tom Morrissey reports that on June 27th, he and other county union presidents participated in a county-sponsored program called the Erie County Health Care Initiative. Union presidents heard presentations from the finalists bidding to provide health insurance for county employees. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for July 8.
28 June 2003	C. Van Ness at the request of T. Morrissey	Prescription Co-Pays If you are paying more than $5 for your prescriptions from this day forward, please save your receipts and contact a board member. Our contract specifies a maximum of $5 co-pays for prescriptions and we understand some members are paying more.
22 June 2003	TOLALL message	Negotiating Team The Librarians Association of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library is asking for volunteers to participate on the Negotiating Team for upcoming contract negotiations. If you signed up on the list that was made available at an Association meeting earlier this year, that list was inadvertently lost. Please respond to Tom Morrissey (Central, HSS) via e-mail at morrisseyt@buffalolib.org by July 3, 2003. The Negotiating Team will be selected from the list of respondents and appointed by the Executive Board.
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Last updated 10 December 2003