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AFSCME 2428 Members,
Welcome to the 2nd edition of “AFSCME 2428 President’s Summary of Things Going On”, a bi-weekly newsletter that is exactly as the title suggests!
Hot updates and topics of interest:
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New Constitution process complete
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Telework Organizing Update
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Temp and Seasonal Implementation: Holiday Pay
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Fire Department Consultant Report
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Meetings Coming Up!
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Erwin Lynch, Boots on the Ground
NEW CONSTITUTION PROCESS COMPLETE
After a public reading and receiving feedback, two rounds of voting and being approved by AFSCME International, we now have a new constitution. I’m attaching a PDF to this message. The following highlighted text are the 3 biggest changes:
The addition of 3 new positions on the Executive Board:
- A second Vice-President
- 2 additional Executive Board Members-at-Large.
- The Executive Board has not grown at the same pace as the membership body. By increasing the number of folks on the Eboard it will allow for the workload to be spread out more and also expose a larger percentage of the membership to being involved in the union.
These positions will be filled by the Executive Board, since we are not in the middle of an election cycle. The appointments will be made at this month's Executive Board meeting. If you are interested in being more involved with our Local, please send an e-mail to Eboard@AFSCME2428.org and include which of the positions you are interested in and a little bio. If you have questions about what it entails, send those as well!
If you are on the fence… send us an e-mail. Though it sounds intimidating, and it is a time commitment, it offers a chance to get more involved in community building and discover new interests. When Ross and Meadow asked me to be a Recording Secretary I thought I was just going to be taking notes for a night, then became incredibly confused when I had to read an oath. Four years later I now spend my spare time reading the nuance of California labor law, which I’ve realized I find to be fascinating, and helping people I care about solve problems.
One of the big reasons for the new constitution was to create a tiered dues system, since the temps and seasonals were joining our local. This is a direct quote from the constitution:
“… the monthly membership dues of the local shall be $94.12 per member for full-time employees, $71.22 per member for part-time employees and $51.18 per member for less than part-time employees, defined as seasonal and temporary employees.”
The President and Chief Steward had their stipend increased to 12 hours of top step AFSCME pay and the Treasurer to 16 hours. Why? Well, the positions are time-consuming, involve taking on responsibility (and with that liability) and, at least for the President and Chief Steward, no one wants to do it. For those that missed the gripping 2024 election cycle for AFSCME 2428 leadership, no one self-nominated for President and only one person was nominated.
TELEWORK ORGANIZING UPDATE
Alex and Atalia have been working to organize members to speak to the Board of Directors regarding Telework. Below is their message that was posted on Basecamp:
“Update on our plan for approaching the EBRPD Board about telework.
Our first speaking event is the EBRPD Board meeting on Tuesday, September 16. We will continue to speak at every subsequent EBRPD Board meeting throughout the rest of the year, if enough speakers volunteer to share.
We aim for six different speakers per meeting. Speakers must use personal time to attend EBRPD Board meetings. Estimate up to two hours per meeting, but speakers can attend via Zoom to minimize travel time.
We will convene speakers prior to each EBRPD Board meeting to discuss speaker order, messaging, etiquette, and other logistics. Our first check-in will be Thursday, September 11 at 7:30pm*. We will send meeting information to the first round of speakers, once identified.
We will share another update with all membership at the upcoming Union meeting on Wednesday September 10th*, with a subsequent summary via Basecamp. Until then, contact Atalie ataliebrown0@gmail.com and Alex awcasb@gmail.com with questions or if you would like to speak.”
*The membership meeting date is in bold, because I edited the message to express the actual date, since September our schedule is altered because of Labor Day.
I’d like to thank Atalie and Alex, again, for doing so much ground work for this.
If there is anyone that works in the field and would like to speak in support of our members that are more directly affected by this, please e-mail them. During the meeting on the 11th I will be present to answer questions and give tips on speaking to the Board.
TEMP & SEASONAL IMPLEMENTATION: HOLIDAY PAY
One of the wins for our temps and seasonals, which I think we can all agree on, is holiday pay. This morning an e-mail was sent out explaining how to input the holiday pay in your timecard. If you are a temp and seasonal with any questions, ask your supervisor or drop us an e-mail, and we will help. It is based off an equation that takes into account the amount of hours you worked the pay period before.
FIRE DEPARTMENT CONSULTANT REPORT
Your Fire Department has been having an interesting year. Last week we received a copy of a consultant's report that was commissioned in November of 2024 and was just concluded. The report has recommendations, none of which have been implemented, and we have been ensured that no changes will be occurring until there is a new fire chief. If you would like a copy of the report, send me an e-mail at president@afsmce2428.org. The first ten pages are a summary of the next fifty and are all you need to read to get the jist.
MEETINGS COMING UP
Next week we have our membership meeting on September 10th @ 7pm, which will be on Zoom. At the membership meeting we will be giving updates regarding the Temp/Seasonal Implementations and an update on OCF pensions, which are occurring earlier in the week. On September 11th there is the meeting for those speaking at the Board of Directors meeting.
We know that not everyone can attend the membership meeting, so keep your eyes peeled for the 3rd edition of “AFSCME 2428 President’s Summary of Things Going On!”, where I will try to include anything gleaned from the meetings.
ERWIN LYNCH, BOOTS ON THE GROUND
Erwin Lynch, formerly of AFSCME 2428 was awarded the Boots on the Ground Award at the Alameda Labor Council Dinner! Erwin’s accomplishments and his organizing to make life better for the worker, both as a leader in AFSCME 2428 and in his community as a whole, earned him this award. We bought two tables at the dinner to join in celebrating one of our own getting the recognition they deserve.
He sent the following e-mail to us:
To all,
I would like to extend my sincere appreciation and support for going all out and purchasing two tables for the Unionist of the Year Dinner on Friday August 22, 2025. It was well attended by current Afscme 2428 employees as well by Afscme 2428 retirees. It was in short, a family reunion of the union which has protected me inside and out for my 37 years in Afscme 2428. it was well attended and sold-out event. I will always support this union, my union.
With gratitude, Erwin Lynch
Would we all be so lucky as to fight the good fight for 37 years.
That, my friends, is all.
I hope you had a great Labor Day, and if you managed to read this whole thing, then you have earned a high five.
Until next time,
William
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