This question is a straight-forward, basic question, a seeming simple no-brainer. The State contract, the AFSCME Employment Agreement, exists primarily for one reason: the parties that signed their intent is to follow that agreement differ widely, in fact have nearly always had workplace subjects, rights and obligations they can barely agree to, practically everything covered in those nearly 700 pages. Yet there it is, somehow agreement gets reached with everything properly put in writing.
Up to now, State of Minnesota's AFSCME contracts have never fully reimbursed for job-required protective safety boots or clothing and personal protective equipment, cannot give salaried-worker per diems to AFSCME waged workers because they are eligible for overtime, rarely (if ever) contain pay raises greater than 2.5% per year, are not likely ever to match exactly what Teamsters or 49ers have, such as guaranteed ongoing offers of training for licensing and certifications or market-appropriate sign-on bonuses.
Questions about such things put to the employer include in the answer protection by the employer for the employer's point of views and interests. When the same person, member or otherwise, questions the union Council or Local as their legal right, and asks the exact same question, the answer is, well, quite a bit less reflective of the employer's interests.
Local 695 contacts and trained stewards are spread across the about ten thousand square mile area of MnDOT District 1A in Northeastern Minnesota. At times only one authorized staff person from Council 5 is available for Field Representative covering all of Northern Minnesota.
Members are advised to find, meet and personally know face-to-face who currently serves as their genuine, Local-approved and AFSCME-trained steward as well as nearest area contacts. Volunteer contact persons and current elected officials are listed on Local 695’s shingle posted on worksite Union bulletin boards. Voice-call or SMS (texting) contact info (for daytime working hours) is on record (accessed via member account login) at https://members.afscmemn.org/
Council 5 call desk:
SSP-C5-MAC 651-450-4990, (1-800-652-9791)
Hermantown-C5-NE: 218-722-0577 (forwards to SSP-C5-MAC)
Local E-Board officers have business mailboxes within 695’s paid private domain:
PRESIDENT at AFSCMELOCAL695.ORG
VICEPRES at AFSCMELOCAL695.ORG
SECRETARY at AFSCMELOCAL695.ORG
TREASURER at AFSCMELOCAL695.ORG
Can union questions, union business, or any sensitive personal calls occur safely, privately on state devices and state networks?
By the most recently revised official IT policy directives, all MnDOT employees must annually take mandatory training, then acknowledge by hardcopy, hand signature, or electronically by Docusign or eSign, that after their IT policy training they've understood there is zero expectation any employee has any personal privacy with any kind of electronic communication using any State of Minnesota network or device. Once an employee uses any personal device of their own for any State of MN business, photo, file or app, the employee surrenders any expectation of privacy with that personal device, and if discovery ensues pursuant to investigating for discipline or prosecuting a court case, all information and data on all places that device has been within that legally expropriate device's network area become forfeit under this policy.