This community event was created to celebrate
people just like you.  Free Hot Dog and Drink.  Bring the family!

11:00 am Parade Downtown Topeka
12:00 pm Rally @ Capitol Grounds

Free Parade & Rally for the entire Family. For more information or to register at no cost contact, Ginger Smoot @ IBEW, Local Union 304, gingers@ibewlocal304.com or Pamala Bonjour-Glotzbach, @ Local 49C, TFL_CF_2006@cox.net.

I want to thank you all for the help at the rally Tuesday in front of city hall. It was a remarkable event which garnered tons of media coverage in support of Topeka city workers.

Our union brothers and sisters at AFT local 6406 are fighting for their very livelihoods and under a new restructuring proposal by some city leaders many Topeka workers and union members (50-80 workers) could lose their jobs.

Tuesday night we demonstrated that we are not going to take this lying down, but instead we are going to fight for what’s right, not what’s left.

Please make sure to attend our next rally and please sign our petition to layoff Topeka City Manager Norton N. Bonaparte first, before any frontline workers get laid-off who actually make our capital city function every day!
Local 6406 Rally:
City Council Meeting Picket
June 22th, 4:30pm
Topeka City Hall
Corner of SE 8th Street and SE Quincy Street
Topeka, KS 66603
City Council meeting at 6:00pm

Petition to Layoff Topeka City Manager Norton N. Bonaparte here!

In solidarity,

Lisa Ochs, President

Once the plan is approved by the committee, we will provide additional information regarding the agreement for FY 2011.

Please join your KOSE brothers and sisters for the committee hearing on June 14th and don’t forget your KOSE t-shirts!

State Employee Pay Plan Oversight Committee
10:00 a.m. June 14th, 2010
Kansas Statehouse, Room 152-S

Officer Short is an active KOSE member, union steward, and served Kansas state employees on the Master Bargaining Team.

On behalf of all KOSE members we send our most sincere condolences to Richard and his family and wish him a speedy recovery.

Per Officer Short’s request, please send all messages, gifts, etc. to the KOSE Office: 1301 SW Topeka Blvd. Topeka, KS 66612 or to his email: rshort@koseunion.org

To read the full report from the Topeka Capital Journal please follow this link: http://cjonline.com/news/local/2010-05-26/officer_injured_breaking_up_fight

“Kansas state employees have made it over the final hurdle as the Kansas Senate concurred with the House amended Feuerborn budget which restores all past cuts, protects overtime and FTEs, has no furloughs, and does not eliminate our market adjustments. The original House budget was devastating to state services and the citizens of Kansas. The amended house version proposed by Rep. Feuerborn, not only eliminated the harsh and devastating cuts, but it ensured that state workers will receive a respectable wage and pay equity.

State employees and KOSE members applaud all Legislators who voted for this budget. We understand it wasn’t an easy task, but it will make a positive difference for many Kansas families. We thank these Legislators for standing up against proposals to balance this budget on the backs of working families, our most vulnerable, and the disabled. We’ve cut too many services, decreased too many agencies, and now we’ve all realized that a slash and burn approach to our budget could not be sustained.

We have every reason to be optimistic now that the House amended Feuerborn budget has been adopted by the Senate. State employees have been undervalued in the past, but this budget is a clear demonstration how those days are over. Legislators have realized that relying on cuts and cuts only nearly decimated our state government. Some Corrections Officers are currently paid as much as entry level cooks at McDonalds and we cannot accept that kind of race to the bottom for our state employees.

With this budget state employees can breathe a sigh of relief tonight in knowing that their hard work and commitment to this state will be rewarded and respected by this Legislature.”

###

It’s Time for Real Solutions for the Budget!

“When the House rejected the bad budget bill yesterday by a 74-45 vote margin it demonstrated that only bi-partisan compromise and real solutions can and will prevail. We are pleased that a clear majority in the House have decided that we can no longer rely on cuts to solve our budget shortfall. But instead, they are working across the isle to build a consensus budget that will contain revenue enhancements.

State employees and KOSE members know all too well the effects of the past cuts that have severely understaffed our prisons, state hospitals, and drastically shorted the services all Kansans depend on. This budget also tried to pit state employee funding against funding for crime victim assistance programs and that was unfair! There are some Legislators who voted for this bill that should have realized how they were voting against the largest job providers in their districts. They should have realized the negative effects of eliminating FTEs and overtime from our correctional facilities and state hospitals. Going forward, we can only hope that they will return to work on a budget that protects state facilities and workers in their districts.

Now the House and Senate must build consensus for a budget that will provide additional revenue to prevent further cuts to our state employees and our services. We have seen what happens when a budget is proposed that contains all cuts and no revenue – it is widely rejected. We now call upon this Legislature to put forward a budget that respects state employees and the valuable services we provide.”

KANSAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Bad Budget Bill
Motion-Recommend for Passage

YEAS – 45 NAYS – 74 PRESENT – 1 NOT VOTED – 5 FAILED

YEAS , 45

Aurand, Huebert, Merrick, Schwab, Drown, Z, Johnson, Morrison, Seiwert, Brunk, Kelley, Myers, Shultz, Carlson, Kerschen, O’Brien, Siegfreid, Craft, Kiegerl, 0′ Neal, Suellentrop, Crum, King, Olson, Tafanelli, DeGraaf, Kinzer, Patton, Whitham, Faber, Kleeb, Peck, Wolf,B., Goico, Hayzlett, Holmes, C., Holmes, M., Knox, Landwehr, Mast, McLeland, Powell, Prescott, Rhoades, Schroeder, Yoder

NAYS – 74

Ballard, Furtada, Loganbill, Schwartz, Barnes, Garcia, Lukert, Slattery, Benlon, Gatewood,D., Mah, Sloan, Bethell, Gatewood,S., Maloney, Spalding, Bonier, George, McCray-Miller, Svaty, D., Bowers, Gordon, Meier, Swanson, Brockens, Doyle, Menghini, Swenson, Brown, T., Grange, Morley, Talia, Burgess, Grant, Neighbor, Tietze, Burroughs, Henderson, Otto, Trimmer, Colloton, Henry, Palmer, Vickrey, Crow, Hermanson, Pauls, ward, Davis, Hill, Phelps, Wetta, Dilimore, Hineman, Pottorff, Williams, Donohoe, Horst, Proehl, Winn, Feuerborn, Jack, Quigley, Wolf,K., Finney, Flaharty, Frownfelter, Kuether, Lane, Light, Rardin, Roth, Ruiz, Worley

PRESENT – 1 Neufeld

NOT VOTED – 5 Carlin, Fund, Hawk, Long, Peterson

The House is now debating the budget bill and some Legislators want to eliminate all unfilled FTEs and overtime and to furlough workers! We can stop them, but ONLY if we take the initiative and call our Legislators NOW!

Call your Legislators and tell them to vote NO on this crippling budget!

Remind your Legislator that:

Already 180 FTEs are left open at KDOC and nearly 400 are left open at SRS!

The Legislature needs to stop cutting and putting vital services in jeopardy!

Calling a legislator:

Be professional: Ask for the legislator by title and be courteous.

Identify yourself: Name and address.

Get to the point: Tell the legislator what your position is on an issue and explain why.

Use your personal background: Relate your position on an issue to your background or life experience.

Stay Positive: If the legislator does not share your views or fails to be sensitive to your issue, do not get argumentative. Please stay focused on your issue and why it is important to you and if the conversation needs to end please remain courteous

Always leave room for a follow up conversation.

Call 1-800-432-3924 or follow this link to find your Legislator and their contact information: http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-legisportal/index.do

If you need further assistance in finding your Legislator and/or finding their contact information please call the KOSE Office at 866-518-8267 or email: gus@koseunion.org

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release                                                                                             April 28, 2010

Presidential Proclamation — Workers Memorial Day

A PROCLAMATION

This year marks the 40th anniversary of both the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, which promise American workers the right to a safe workplace and require employers to provide safe conditions. Yet, today, we remain too far from fulfilling that promise. On Workers Memorial Day, we remember all those who have died, been injured, or become sick on the job, and we renew our commitment to ensure the safety of American workers.

The families of the 29 coal miners who lost their lives on April 5 in an explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia are in our thoughts and prayers. We also mourn the loss of 7 workers who died in a refinery explosion in Washington State just days earlier, the 4 workers who died at a power plant in Connecticut earlier this year, and the 11 workers lost in the oil platform explosion off the coast of Louisiana just last week.

Although these large-scale tragedies are appalling, most workplace deaths result from tragedies that claim one life at a time through preventable incidents or disabling disease. Every day, 14 workers are killed in on-the-job incidents, while thousands die each year of work-related disease, and millions are injured or contract an illness. Most die far from the spotlight, unrecognized and unnoticed by all but their families, friends, and co-workers — but they are not forgotten.

The legal right to a safe workplace was won only after countless lives had been lost over decades in workplaces across America, and after a long and bitter fight waged by workers, unions, and public health advocates. Much remains to be done, and my Administration is dedicated to renewing our Nation’s commitment to achieve safe working conditions for all American workers.

Providing safer work environments will take the concerted action of government, businesses, employer associations, unions, community organizations, the scientific and public health communities, and individuals. Today, as we mourn those lost mere weeks ago in the Upper Big Branch Mine and other recent disasters, so do we honor all the men and women who have died on the job. In their memory, we rededicate ourselves to preventing such tragedies, and to securing a safer workplace for every American.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 28, 2010, as Workers Memorial Day. I call upon all Americans to participate in ceremonies and activities in memory of those who have been killed due to unsafe working conditions.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fourth.

These bills will provide for the construction of the Wichita Greyhound Park which will generate 5,000 new jobs and $40 million in additional revenue for the state in its first year of operation. Every year after, the revenue will start up at $50 million per year.

The revenue raised will go towards paying down the unfunded liabilities that currently plague KPERs. As you already know, the projected unfunded liabilities for KPERs have some Legislators looking to force us onto 401(k) plans or to increase our contribution. Some proposals include increasing our contributions up to 8% percent of our salaries! We can’t let that happen!

HB 2801 and SB 401 are the right ways to fix our current problems with KPERs and we need to see that they pass! These two bills have become a high priority for KOSE and our members.

Call Your Representatives NOW and tell them to support HB 2180 and call your Senators NOW and tell them to support SB 401!

Call 1-800-432-3924 or follow this link to find your Representative and their contact information: http://www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-legisportal/index.do