Livonia Secretarial Association Update

Livonia Secretarial Association Update Executive Board Members  Annette Linn, President  Sharon Belcher, Vice-President  Cathy Siedlik, Secretary  Ginny Barker, Treasurer  Donna Crosier, Central Office Rep  Cindy Gessler, High School Rep  Kathy Paparelli, Satellite Rep  Cathy Rais, Middle School Rep  Corinne Wichmann, Elementary Rep  Mike Baumann, Uniserv Director Bob Kowalczyk, Interim Uniserv Director

Here’s a brief update from the May 3rd Executive Board Meeting:

1. Bargaining/Negotiating: The LSA has not started to bargain at this time. This process will not begin until more factors are known regarding the budget.

2. Retirement Information: If you are looking into retiring and not sure where to begin…check out the ORS website which is a link on our LSA website. Please keep in mind that John Rennels is not a private consultant but works mostly with disability retirements. At this time we have 3 unofficial retirements. A big “Thank You” and our best wishes go out to: Janie Brisky, Annette Linn, and Pat Whitworth. Congratulations to all of you and all those years of service!!

3. MEA Spring RA: Annette attended the Spring RA on May 3rd, which began at 7:45 AM on Friday and ran till 7:00 PM on Saturday, which made for a very long 2 days. She did manage to get a glimpse of Kate in her beautiful wedding gown before she headed to Lansing! The major event she would like to report is after much debate and discussion about raising the amount of dues with several voting sessions, the final vote was that the dues will remain the same.

4. LSA Website: http://www.iammea.org/livoniao/ CHECK IT OUT!! Cindy is working on uploading 2 documents written by Annette. “MEA SPRING RA Report, May 3, 2011” and “LSA PRESIDENT’S REPORT, May 3, 2011”. It may take her a couple of days, so keep checking and stay informed!!

5. Professional Development Provisions: This is a reminder regarding an annual payment of ($400.00) or ($800.00) the District will provide to the LSA employee who has five (5) or more years of LSA bargaining unit seniority and has completed 30 or 60 credit hours toward a degree or certificate that relates to their job. If you are eligible you should write a letter, attach your transcript and send it to Human Resources at Central Office by the end of this month (May). The calculations are done annually and if you miss the deadline, you will have to wait a year longer to receive payment. This only needs to be submitted once. You will then receive the payment annually. This information is explained on page 42 of the LSA Contract.

6. Social Committee Update: The Fashion Show presented by our LCTC students will take place on May 11th. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Cathy or Corinne and you can send a $25.00 check made payable to “Livonia Career Technical Center” to Corinne Wichmann at Kennedy.

The LSA Banquet will take place on June 8th at Mama Mia Restaurant on Plymouth Road. It will be a buffet menu and more information will follow. This is a great opportunity to mingle with the secretaries you have just a phone relationship with and find out how all the “happy retirees” are doing!! A fun social evening can be had by all!!

Reminders….

TEAM: This free service offers confidential counseling, coaching (personal and professional), and community resources assistance to LPS employees, spouses and dependent children. All buildings should have a binder with additional information. You can contact TEAM at 1-800-448-TEAM (8326) from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST; however, they have a therapist available 24/7 for crisis situations. Or, visit their website: www.team-eap.com.

LSA Website: Bookmark the LSA website so you know what’s going on! http://www.iammea.org/livoniao/

Concerns or Questions for your Union? Please keep in mind the “chain of command” to notify your representative first. If your representative cannot answer your question/s, then your rep will contact whoever she needs to for the answer, and then your rep or her contact will get back to you.