FROM YOUR EDITOR

By now….all of our members should have their ballots on the proposed Health Benefit Plan that was “ironed out” with the state administration. Those ballots must be received at the post office by June 15th. Please review that ballot and VOTE!!  It is an important issue.

There are two events planned for the month of July for our Anchorage Chapter members:

Saturday, July 11th will see the Alaska State Employees Golf Tournament held here in Anchorage. The tournament will start at noon. Entry deadline is July 1st to register. Any interested Anchorage Chapter members can contact Jim Culbertson/ ph# 269-8525 for details.

Saturday, July 18th will see our Anchorage Chapter ASEA Summer Picnic held at the Moose Lodge (on Arctic Avenue) from noon to “whenever”. Attendance at this event is FREE to all of our chapter members and their families. Food, drink, and music entertainment will be provided. Planned for that afternoon is a baseball game and horseshoe contest. Thanks go to member Mario Ayerdis and his committee for organizing the event. Come on over and enjoy a Saturday afternoon…..

Other Announcements.  Anchorage Chapter members are reminded that no chapter membership meetings will be held for the months of June and August. Our July 18th Summer picnic will double up as our July membership meeting.

Mario Ayerdis is our newest Board member in the Anchorage Chapter. Mario has volunteered to fill the empty board seat.

There still remains two positions needing to be filled on our Chapter Board. The recent retirement of member Genie Smith has resulted in a vacancy for the position of Secretary. The Board is looking for a volunteer.

And of course…we’re still looking for that key person to fill the President’s slot.

I want to remind Anchorage Chapter stewards that all steward positions become open in December. Start putting in your nominating petitions for these positions if you intend to continue as a steward. Anchorage Chapter members can also submit nominating petitions for the position of steward.

No steward meetings are planned for the months of June, July, and August. Enjoy the summer.

(Editor’s Note: OOPS!! I made a mistake in last month’s Chapter newsletter (the May newsletter) when I stated that June 24th was a Stewards meeting date. Sorry on that……

FINALLY…here are some interesting tidbits of information for you:

RESTRAINING ORDERS COVERED by Larry Rabideau

It is a violent world. There is little enough we can do about it but try to protect ourselves and our loved ones. In furtherance of that thought, I asked the Legal Services Trust Plan through Skip Barber on the ASEA Executive Board if our members were covered for the issuance of Restraining Orders.

We are covered.

Under advice of counsel, the Legal Trust says, “while domestic violence is a crime, the process by which one individual seeks a protective order against another is civil in nature, and therefore covered for both the victim and the alleged perpetrator. However, if the alleged perpetrator violates a domestic violence protective order, it is a crime and the Plan does not cover the legal costs of the alleged perpetrator.”

The bottom line is- you can get a Restraining Order under the Legal Plan.

You cannot violate a Restraining Order and use the Legal Plan for your defense. The plan does not cover criminal matters.

One of labor’s most powerful tools, the boycott, gained its name in Ireland. In the nineteenth century, a potato blight struck Ireland. The farmers depended heavily on the potato crop, since potatoes were the dietary staple for the working class Irish. The blight brought a time of terrible hardship, during which many Irish immigrated to America, seeking more favorable conditions. Much of the land in Ireland was owned by English landlords who seldom if ever visited Ireland.

These absentee landlords employed agents to manage their holdings. Lord Erne’s agent was Captain Charles C. Boycott. Boycott became known for his harsh treatment of tenants, evicting families and burning their cottages when impoverished farmers couldn’t pay the rent. In 1879, the people devised a new tactic.

After 40 years of starvation and dispossession, they had learned the futility of violent resistance and retaliation against the English landlords and their army of rent collectors. The people of the county ostracized Capt. Boycott: no one, not even his servants, would speak to him or his family. Farmers refused to work for Capt. Boycott or any landlord who employed him.

Within a year, Capt. Boycott was gone. His name remains as a noun and verb, describing a campaign of nonparticipation and nonpatronage, or participation in such a campaign. This nonviolent tactic has been used not by unions alone, but by many social action groups including churches. The most famous recent boycott have been conducted by the United Farm Workers against table grapes and lettuce……Written by Phil Helms, Michigan AFSCME Council 25.

   

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