Questions put to any State MMB-HR staff, about any workplace related matter, are professionally, accurately and confidentially answered. HR professionals are designated as 'confidental employees' as HR careers can be ended if confidences are betrayed. For this reason, to be in the know but forbidden to tell, positions in HR are difficult to keep filled!
If HR is consulted to advise, asked about hypothetical safe 'what ifs' -- no harm is done. If during 'just talking' an issue or concern requires specific doing and has to be addressed, put on the record, if an employee signs a waiver, if reaction gets triggered at HR because somebody or something needs official attention, hello! At HR, employer's interests are first and foremost.
The exact same questions, by either members or non-members, put to sworn Local union or Council officers after-HR in the order of asking, reduces the number of viable options to fully uphold employee interests. This is one mistake that cannot be undone.
AFSCME's State contract states if disciplinary wrongs are put in play, if there are matters of issue, complaint, violation or dispute put onto an employee, and if for some reason this stays in an invisible undocumented limbo, if some secret shame remains unfiled formally for more than 21 days because no call gets made to the AFSCME council, a field rep or an officer then by day 22, according to contract, the right an employee has for their union rep to fight against the power, to make wrongs right at an investigative grievance evaporates. Poof. Another mistake that cannot be undone.
Local 695 contacts and trained stewards are spread thinly across a 10,000 square mile area of MnDOT District 1A in Northeastern Minnesota. At contract and other hectic times, only one authorized staff person from Council 5 Field Representative covers all of Northern Minnesota. Covering this large a territory poses just as much challenge to the Council and Local 695 as it does HR in hiring, orienting, training and deploying qualified workers in far away assignments.
As most applicants would rather not commute a great distance from home, long distances to attend union member meetings also daunt and vex members, at some point distance can become an excuse to sever membership. The Local fully understands the hardship and those members who do show at meetings are eligible for generous attendance awards and travel reimbursement rates that Local policy constantly adjusts.
Members are advised to seek, find, meet and personally know face-to-face who currently can serve as their genuine, Local-approved and AFSCME-trained steward, as well as area or shop contacts. Faces may be the same does that previously tested and reliable steward still serve with AFSCME? Volunteer contact persons and current elected officials are listed on Local 695’s shingle posted on worksite Union bulletin boards. Voice-call or SMS (texting) contact info (for daytime working hours) is on record (accessed via member account login) at https://members.afscmemn.org/
Council 5 call desk:
SSP-C5-MAC 651-450-4990, (1-800-652-9791)
Hermantown-C5-NE: 218-722-0577 (forwards to SSP-C5-MAC)
The State Electronic Device policy 1438 makes abundantly clear anyone who does a contact with personal devices on state networks, or on any state device, must agree they understand doing so they totally forfeit of any expectation of privacy.