UPDATE: UNION CLAIMS KLOBUCHAR TAKING CREDIT FOR HER STAFF'S WORK
This is the letter Klobuchar's campaign doesn't want you to see.
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February 8, 2006
AFSCME
Attn.: Michael Buseing
300 Hardman Ave. S. Suite #1
South St. Paul, MN 55075-2468
RE: Request for ASFCME endorsement by Amy Klobuchar
Dear Mr. Buseing:
The strong feelings of our membership compel the Executive Board of Local 2938 to write you regarding AFSCME’s contemplated endorsement of a candidate for the United States Senate. Our local represents the attorneys and legal professionals in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office who have worked under candidate Amy Klobuchar for seven years. Thus we are in the unique position of providing you with the most comprehensive information necessary to judge Ms. Klobuchar’s performance on the issues germane to our organization. Four years ago, this local asked Council 14 to withhold the endorsement from Amy Klobuchar. This request was ignored. We do not want that to happen again. The purpose of this letter is to tell you why Ms. Klobuchar continues to be wholly undeserving of AFSCME’s endorsement.
Throughout her tenure as Hennepin County Attorney, Amy Klobuchar has demonstrated her disdain for the very employees that have placed her in the position to run for the office she now seeks. She has denigrated these lawyers both publicly and privately. She has refused to support their efforts to obtain a fair wage adjustment. She has taken credit for the hard work of her employees. She has severely damaged the morale of the office.
As County Attorney, Amy Klobuchar has created a hostile work environment. This has resulted in increased grievances from employees as well as informal disciplinary matters in which the union was asked to intervene on the employee’s behalf. Ms. Klobuchar’s hiring practices have further evidenced disdain for her own employees. Qualified personnel from her own and other public offices have been rejected because her priority has been to choose candidates who support her ambitions. In a dispute with county investigators, Ms. Klobuchar made no effort to keep these qualified team members in the office. She has even succeeded in diminishing the union ranks by promoting retirement among a group of employees, and then rehiring them as independent contractors.
In short, Amy Klobuchar is exactly the kind of candidate that AFSCME should oppose.
As you are aware, Hennepin County attorneys were seeking a market increase during the last contract negotiation so their wages would be representative of the work they do, and competitive with the wages of attorneys in neighboring jurisdictions. Local 2938 sought Ms. Klobuchar’s assistance. For months, Ms. Klobuchar refused to support these efforts. Last October Ms. Klobuchar attended a fund raiser for Senate District 19. A former AFSCME member, Lori Schmidt, asked for her position on the market increase. Ms. Klobuchar did not offer any words of support. Instead, she ridiculed the request and characterized it as unreasonable and unfair.
Around this time, Ms. Klobuchar met with AFSCME leaders in an attempt to obtain AFSCME’s early support. They, too, questioned Ms. Klobuchar’s support for the attorneys’ wage adjustment, pointing out that new associates from her former law firm were receiving starting salaries greater than the non-supervisory attorneys in her office that were at the top of the pay scale. Ms. Klobuchar responded that such a comparison was irrelevant since none of the attorneys in her office were competent enough to work in her former firm. AFSCME correctly withheld an early endorsement.
Ms. Klobuchar was finally forced to meet with our local 2938’s bargaining team in mid-November. She said she would support a “fair increase” but refused to define what she meant by a “fair increase.” She promised to assist us, but refused to do so publicly. She promised to support us “behind the scenes” by advocating for a fair market adjustment with county board members prior to our scheduled mediation. We understood Ms. Klobuchar’s comments as a promise that she would actively lobby the county board on our behalf. We do not believe Ms. Klobuchar kept her promise to AFSCME. In the end, her “behind the scenes” assistance was so tardy, weak and grudgingly given that only one member of the County Board clearly recalled having any contact from either her or her management team. Any perception that Ms. Klobuchar sincerely helped our members on this issue is incorrect. We fear that AFSCME will support Ms. Klobuchar based on her unfulfilled promise of assistance.
The fact that Ms. Klobuchar holds so little regard for her employees has not stopped her from taking credit for their work. She has used the publicity from the many successfully prosecuted criminal cases to give the public the false impression that she was actively involved in those cases. She was not. She presents herself as a dedicated public servant acutely concerned with the public’s safety when her only dedication is to her own self-promotion.
AFSCME represents thousands of working men and women that have dedicated themselves to fairness in the workplace. Council 5’s slogan is: “One strong unified voice for Minnesota workers.” Amy Klobuchar assumes she will receive AFSCME’s endorsement. She believes that AFSCME’s fear that a Republican will be elected will preclude any fair review of her labor record. This must not happen. AFSCME must hold Amy Klobuchar responsible for her shameful treatment of her employees. We, the members of Local 2938, demand that you deny Amy Klobuchar endorsement for the United States Senate.
Sincerely,
James Appleby
President, Local 2938 on behalf of the Executive Board of Local 2938
Source: AFSCME, February 19, 2006
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February 8, 2006
AFSCME
Attn.: Michael Buseing
300 Hardman Ave. S. Suite #1
South St. Paul, MN 55075-2468
RE: Request for ASFCME endorsement by Amy Klobuchar
Dear Mr. Buseing:
The strong feelings of our membership compel the Executive Board of Local 2938 to write you regarding AFSCME’s contemplated endorsement of a candidate for the United States Senate. Our local represents the attorneys and legal professionals in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office who have worked under candidate Amy Klobuchar for seven years. Thus we are in the unique position of providing you with the most comprehensive information necessary to judge Ms. Klobuchar’s performance on the issues germane to our organization. Four years ago, this local asked Council 14 to withhold the endorsement from Amy Klobuchar. This request was ignored. We do not want that to happen again. The purpose of this letter is to tell you why Ms. Klobuchar continues to be wholly undeserving of AFSCME’s endorsement.
Throughout her tenure as Hennepin County Attorney, Amy Klobuchar has demonstrated her disdain for the very employees that have placed her in the position to run for the office she now seeks. She has denigrated these lawyers both publicly and privately. She has refused to support their efforts to obtain a fair wage adjustment. She has taken credit for the hard work of her employees. She has severely damaged the morale of the office.
As County Attorney, Amy Klobuchar has created a hostile work environment. This has resulted in increased grievances from employees as well as informal disciplinary matters in which the union was asked to intervene on the employee’s behalf. Ms. Klobuchar’s hiring practices have further evidenced disdain for her own employees. Qualified personnel from her own and other public offices have been rejected because her priority has been to choose candidates who support her ambitions. In a dispute with county investigators, Ms. Klobuchar made no effort to keep these qualified team members in the office. She has even succeeded in diminishing the union ranks by promoting retirement among a group of employees, and then rehiring them as independent contractors.
In short, Amy Klobuchar is exactly the kind of candidate that AFSCME should oppose.
As you are aware, Hennepin County attorneys were seeking a market increase during the last contract negotiation so their wages would be representative of the work they do, and competitive with the wages of attorneys in neighboring jurisdictions. Local 2938 sought Ms. Klobuchar’s assistance. For months, Ms. Klobuchar refused to support these efforts. Last October Ms. Klobuchar attended a fund raiser for Senate District 19. A former AFSCME member, Lori Schmidt, asked for her position on the market increase. Ms. Klobuchar did not offer any words of support. Instead, she ridiculed the request and characterized it as unreasonable and unfair.
Around this time, Ms. Klobuchar met with AFSCME leaders in an attempt to obtain AFSCME’s early support. They, too, questioned Ms. Klobuchar’s support for the attorneys’ wage adjustment, pointing out that new associates from her former law firm were receiving starting salaries greater than the non-supervisory attorneys in her office that were at the top of the pay scale. Ms. Klobuchar responded that such a comparison was irrelevant since none of the attorneys in her office were competent enough to work in her former firm. AFSCME correctly withheld an early endorsement.
Ms. Klobuchar was finally forced to meet with our local 2938’s bargaining team in mid-November. She said she would support a “fair increase” but refused to define what she meant by a “fair increase.” She promised to assist us, but refused to do so publicly. She promised to support us “behind the scenes” by advocating for a fair market adjustment with county board members prior to our scheduled mediation. We understood Ms. Klobuchar’s comments as a promise that she would actively lobby the county board on our behalf. We do not believe Ms. Klobuchar kept her promise to AFSCME. In the end, her “behind the scenes” assistance was so tardy, weak and grudgingly given that only one member of the County Board clearly recalled having any contact from either her or her management team. Any perception that Ms. Klobuchar sincerely helped our members on this issue is incorrect. We fear that AFSCME will support Ms. Klobuchar based on her unfulfilled promise of assistance.
The fact that Ms. Klobuchar holds so little regard for her employees has not stopped her from taking credit for their work. She has used the publicity from the many successfully prosecuted criminal cases to give the public the false impression that she was actively involved in those cases. She was not. She presents herself as a dedicated public servant acutely concerned with the public’s safety when her only dedication is to her own self-promotion.
AFSCME represents thousands of working men and women that have dedicated themselves to fairness in the workplace. Council 5’s slogan is: “One strong unified voice for Minnesota workers.” Amy Klobuchar assumes she will receive AFSCME’s endorsement. She believes that AFSCME’s fear that a Republican will be elected will preclude any fair review of her labor record. This must not happen. AFSCME must hold Amy Klobuchar responsible for her shameful treatment of her employees. We, the members of Local 2938, demand that you deny Amy Klobuchar endorsement for the United States Senate.
Sincerely,
James Appleby
President, Local 2938 on behalf of the Executive Board of Local 2938
Source: AFSCME, February 19, 2006
3 Comments:
It seems to me that if these issues were really that serious that Klobuchar wouldn't have won AFSCME's endorsement today. I'd be willing to bet that this is nothing more than an axe to grind from a small group of individuals that wanted a 22% raise and only got a 15% raise. This seems to play directly in to the hands of republicans in Washington. They couldn't find any real knock on Amy so they simply started trying to manufacture something. The letter offers no real examples in which Klobuchar created a "hostile work environment." Also, there seems to be no inordinate amount of grievances or complaints outside of this letter. For people that so desperately want to see debate and a campaign about the issues, the right wing sure seems to be trying pretty hard to distract us all from it.
It confirms the old saying that the only thing worse than a sore loser is a sore winner. I, for one, would be very happy to get a 10-15% raise.
The elected head of every agency takes the credit for the good work and blame for the mistakes of that department/office/agency. Some GOP examples would be:
Does Pat Awada give credit to the investigators that find the headline making waste in government or does she take it? Name one of the invesitgators.
Does mary Kiffmeyer point to the SoS attorneys that continue to loose her projected fraud protection efforts in court? No, she takes the blame- kind of.
Did Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher blame the deputy that let the prisoner walk out last month? No. He didn't take responsibility either. Another GOP tactic.
Anyway, the people hold the one who is directly accountable to them for the responsibility of running public offices. Amy Klobuchar is the one who's name is on the ballot, so she gets the credit and blame.
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