Sisters and Brothers:<\/p>\n
My apologies for not addressing you in a message for a few months.\u00a0 As you may have imagined, trial schedules and union activity have been a sponge on my time.\u00a0 Alas, a few days respite from a scheduled trial has provided me with enough time to tell you the following few tidbits of information:<\/p>\n
International Convention Report<\/span><\/p>\n I am proud to tell you that our entire executive board<\/a> attended the AFSCME biennial International Convention in Boston<\/a> last month.\u00a0 At the convention, a new international vice-president of AFSCME, Lee Saunders, was elected in a hotly contested\u00a0race.\u00a0 Of the three candidates, he won by a razor thin margin.\u00a0 The Illinois delegation supported one of the other candidates<\/a> who garnered a sizeable, 48.8% of the ballots cast.\u00a0 I along with Amy Thompson and Joe Gump worked as election observers <\/a>and I was present for the tabulation by the American Arbitration Association of the nearly 1.3 million votes<\/a> that were cast by the delegates on behalf of their members.\u00a0 In sum,\u00a0our local continued to make its presence known not only among the Illinios delegation, but to AFSCME delegates from around the country, including Puerto Rico!<\/p>\n Golf Outing and Summer Bash<\/span><\/p>\n The golf outing<\/a> was a succes thanks not only to the great weather this year but also to the hard work of people like David Figura<\/strong>, Amy Thompson<\/strong>, Cindy Brown <\/strong>and Dan Nolan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The next summer event is our Summer Bash at Navy Pier on August 18th.\u00a0 Please make sure you read all the fine print and get your checks in before the deadline.\u00a0 The information can be found by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Labor\/Management Meeting<\/span><\/p>\n Tomorrow, July 16, 2010, the executive board\u00a0will be meeting with the Public Defender and his senior management team for our regularly schedule labor\/management meeting.\u00a0 We always welcome suggestions for topics from the members and will be discussing issues that have been brought to our attention by many of you.<\/p>\n PD Softball Challenge<\/span><\/p>\n We are on the verge of announcing the date, time and location of our first ever PD Softball Challenge<\/a>.\u00a0 Please stay tuned.<\/p>\n Jack Carey Memorial Scholarship Fundraiser<\/span><\/p>\n At the time of this writing, I can count on one hand the number of\u00a0 tickets left for the August 20, 2010 Braves\/Cubs game with three hour after party at Rockit Bar and Grill.\u00a0 Please contact me if you still need a ticket or want to purchase a wrist bands for the Rockit after party(of which we can purchase at least 50 more).\u00a0 Click here <\/a>for details.<\/p>\n Contract Negotiations<\/span><\/p>\n Another negotiation session is scheduled for 7\/19\/2010 and\u00a0progress remains slow because of 1) the lame duck status of\u00a0President Stroger and 2) the uncertainty of future budget\u00a0figures and revenue.\u00a0 \u00a0At the moment, there are several police locals that are in interest arbitration which is scheduled to be completed in a few more weeks.\u00a0 That award MAY set the tone for our next contract.\u00a0 Please read my previous message for a fuller explanation of the interest arbitration process.<\/p>\n