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In the News
ISU Town Hall Mtg on Efficiency Review
| Inside Iowa State | September 25, 2014 | Eight business cases topic of Oct. 13 town hall meetingThe university community is invited to attend an Oct. 13 town hall meeting (8:30-10 a.m., Memorial Union Gallery) on the latest proposed efficiencies developed as part of the state Board of Regents' Transparent, Inclusive Efficiency Review (TIER). At the town hall, Deloitte Consulting representatives will describe eight efficiencies or "business cases" proposed for possible implementation at the three state universities and answer questions.The business cases are in the areas of information technology, human resources, finance and facilities.[see pages 40-50 of attached report for "ISU Finance Operating Model and Business Cases", which detail proposed changes at ISU] [Click on file name to view in browser. Click on blue arrow to right of file name to download file for easier navigation or printing via PDF viewer.] |
| Attachments:
FinalPhase2TIEROperatingModelandBusinessCases10012014.pdf
UNI staff, faculty ask for details on staff reductions
| Cedar Rapids Gazette | October 6 2014 | CEDAR FALLS — Less than a week after the Board of Regents discussed aspects of a sweeping efficiency review of its universities that could eliminate hundreds of jobs, University of Northern Iowa employees asked for more details during the first of three public forums. “What positions does Deloitte see being eliminated?” one person asked of representatives with Deloitte Consulting LLC, hired to conduct the regents’ efficiency study... Although Deloitte has not tallied expected
savings and staff reductions that could come from the eight
opportunities, a 138-page proposal presented to the Board of Regents
indicates they could save tens of millions of dollars and eliminate more
than 250 jobs across the three universities... According to regents documents, some of
the larger cuts were proposed in the areas of finance and human
resources — potential changes to the finance operating models could
result in a loss of 61 full-time positions at UI, 50 full-time jobs at
ISU and 14 positions at UNI. |
Iowa View: Making firings public would invade worker privacy
| Des Moines Register | April 28, 2014 | Danny Homan, president of Iowa Council 61 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Much of the current discussion about how to treat public employee personnel files has been a one-sided debate. As the representative of 40,000 public sector and private sector employees, our union wants the public to know the other side of the story. The contents of personnel files of public employees, including records related to employee discipline, may contain highly private and sensitive information about the employee and members of his or her family. |
Libraries Serving as Obamacare Information Hubs
| KAISER HEALTH NEWS | Governing. FEBRUARY 14, 2014 Elana Gordon | What can’t librarians do? Many are now becoming health insurance guides. The buzz at the American Library Association's winter meeting recently wasn't just about the annual awards (a.k.a. the book award "super bowl"); the Affordable Care Act was also on the agenda. Libraries across the country have been trying to meet a growing demand for health insurance information. |
AFSCME endorses Jack Hatch in governor’s race
| February 13, 2014 | By O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa |
The union that represents the largest share of state workers has endorsed Democrat Jack Hatch in the 2014 race for governor. Danny Homan is president of AFSCME Council 61, which represents about 40,000 workers from all levels of government in Iowa. “We believe that Senator Hatch is the best candidate for working men and women in the state of Iowa, to help move this state forward,” Homan told Radio Iowa in a telephone interview. |
The Sexist Agenda Hidden in Harris v. Quinn
| Laura Reyes Become, Secretary-Treasurer, AFSCME. | Huffington Post, 02/12/2014 11:37 am |
On its surface, the case known as Harris v. Quinn now before the Supreme Court is yet another attempt to kill off public employee unions. ..... There are now nearly 2 million home health care providers in the United States, and more than 90 percent are women. With Americans living longer and baby boomers entering their golden years, it is expected that more than 5 million providers will be needed in the next five years to assist this growing, aging population. Home care providers assist men and women with disabilities and the elderly who want to live in their own homes instead of an institution. .... I know this because I was a home care provider. That's why so many women have come together to form unions. |
Staffing Iowa's Prisons
| Iowa Public Radio | Monday July 22, 2013 | Nationally the turnover rate for correctional officers is over 15%. Working in a prison is a stressful and dangerous job, but it can also be rewarding. Today, Clay Masters speaks with a correctional officer from the Mitchellville Correctional Institute for Women joins the program to discuss what its like to work at a prison. Also, the union AFSCME claims that the Department of Corrections has insufficient staff numbers running the state’s prison and as a result correctional officers are at risk. Clay Masters looks into the validity of these claims. AFSCME Iowa Council 61 President Danny Homan is a guest. |
Is the Working Families Flexibility Act really family friendly?
| Washington Post | May 6, 2013 | Does H.R. 1406, the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013, give workers flexibility in trading overtime for comp time? Or does it further erode protections previously given to America’s workers by robbing them of overtime pay as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938? Of course the answer depends on whom you talk to... |
Fallout For States Rejecting Medicaid Expansion
| The Associated Press \ NPR | April 22, 2013 4:01 PM | Rejecting the Medicaid expansion in the federal health care law could have unexpected consequences for states where Republican lawmakers remain steadfastly opposed to what they scorn as "Obamacare." It could mean exposing businesses to Internal Revenue Service penalties and leaving low-income citizens unable to afford coverage even as legal immigrants get financial aid for their premiums. For the poorest people, it could virtually guarantee they remain uninsured and dependent on the emergency room at local hospitals that already face federal cutbacks. |
Capitol Digest
| (Mason City) Globe Gazette | April 9, 2013 | Terry Branstad expressed confidence Tuesday that eventually all state employees will pay at least 20 percent of their health insurance premiums. Noncontract state workers and members of the State Police Officers Council soon will make a 20 percent contribution to their monthly health insurance costs, but also will be able to participate in employee wellness programs whereby they can earn a $90 a month premium reduction that would trim their costs to about 5 percent, Branstad said. The governor sought a similar provision for the state’s largest employees union, but an arbitrator last month ruled in favor of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) contract language that allows many members to participate in the state health plan at no monthly premium cost. Branstad told members of the Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress board that federal employees pay 25 percent of their health insurance costs and Iowa is one of only six states where some workers pay zero. “We think two years down the road that we’re in a very strong position. We’re going to see that done. We just have to be tenacious and see that through,” he said. |
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