May 2025 Minutes

APLE General Membership Meeting

    May 16, 2025, 6:30 p.m.

Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86846932317

Agenda

1. Officer Roll Call 6:33

• Teresa Alvarado x

• Steve Nichols x

• Carlye Seybold x

• Sally Sherman-Weckerlin x

• Amy Hartman X

• David Lutz

• Juliette Hebert X

• Morgan Rinckey X

• Renee Sarra X

2. Officer Reports

   1. Chairs

      1. Steve: Admin is not into the idea of a merchandising feedback form, but would consider a collection assistance Jotform. 

      2. Sally: Claire’s Night: 10th anniversary of the merger of Claire’s Day and Read for Literacy. It was a nice event. APLE Members were seated with an author/illustrator from Detroit, and they got to speak with the keynote speaker afterward. 3 tables total from our Local 5242 were filled at this fundraiser.

   2. Treasurer: $284.49

1. Our current petty cash system is challenging, so in the near future, TAAP will eliminate our petty cash fund and all reimbursement requests will go to the TAAP treasurer. Reimbursement checks would be mailed to your home address or your work location, depending on your preference. 

2. For the time being, please send in receipts for APLE mentor lunches to Renée Sarra.

3. Trustees/Negotiators

3. Old Business 

   1. Safety

      1. Two recent unrelated incidents at West Tol, including a fight and a handgun found left in the bathroom, during Connecting Kids time. The gun was legally registered to its owner and was loaded. (Even legally concealed carry weapons are not allowed on Library premises). We will seek clarification on the appropriate procedure to deal with this.

      2. If there are any safety issues that need to be addressed, bring them to Steve and Teresa’s attention and they will bring the issues up at the monthly safety meeting. 

      3. ACTION ITEM A child accessed and printed inappropriate pictures of chocolate body parts from our computers. Is there a procedure for dealing with this, when content like this gets around the filter?

      4. Reminder: do not disclose anyone’s schedule or location to the public. 

      5. ACTION ITEM People are shooting orbeez guns at staff and patrons. The offenders are banned, but are shooting from off the library property. How should we deal with this?

4. New Business

   1. Budget

      1. No updates from admin

      2. Any talk about reducing to part time has not been brought before the union yet. This is something that should be negotiated through the union. Union leadership will meet with Jason about this soon. 

      3. Clarification about health care costs: for a part-time employee to qualify for health care coverage at the full-time rate, the average for the year must meet the full-time threshold (still unclear if this is at 30 hours or above 30 hours). Healthcare coverage for part time is something that can be negotiated, but don’t accept admin’s offer on your own. 

   2. Tardiness notations

      1. May see changes in Kronos. Managers can put in a tardiness code; they are being directed to do so now. This is how managers can track patterns in tardiness. This is going in some monthly schedules as well, where everyone can see it.

      2. If you are let out late, document in Kronos and elsewhere (e.g. a personal spreadsheet). If you are let out 8 minutes or more late, you would get return time, but even if it less than 8 minutes late, it should be documented. If it is a habitual problem, let Steve or Teresa know so it can be addressed with Public Services.

   3. Sick Leave Usages

      1. It is unclear whether HR is using a calendar year or a rolling year when tracking for their sick leave policy. They seem to be looking back to January of this year, which is before the policy went into effect. If it comes to corrective action, we will grieve it. 

5. Open Floor

   1. Has HR had any indication when we might start negotiating? No. However, they seem to be inquiring among managers for contract wishlist items. 

   2. Do we know whether Ryan Snodgrass was cut or left? He found a better job.

   3. A concern was brought up about managers having sensitive conversations on the floor where they could be overheard, or on shared computers. If this is something you notice happening, you can bring it to your regional manager or directly to HR.

   4. There have been some preemptive budget cuts. Do we know what happens next on the list?

   5. Do you expect the town hall on the 27th will inform us about next steps in cuts?

   6. Pet photos- send in your photos of pets (or gardens) to Renée to be featured in APLE Matters.

   7. We don’t always have confidence in Admin, but we have confidence in us.

6. Adjourn 7:

   1. Motion by Stefani, seconded by Regina