Issue # 20: November 29, 2022
Update from the President
Frankie Cocanour (2021-2022 Term)
Membership Officer:
I would like to introduce Skye Nguyen as our new Membership Officer. She gladly volunteered for this position and I’m personally very excited to work with her.
We still have the Chief Labor Delegate position available and for our part-time members who would like to have a say on the executive council the Member at Large position. Both of these positions are very important positions. With us going into bargaining the contract this year, it would be good to have a part-time employee’s voice in the EC.
Dues update:
This is a reminder to our members, when you reach your annual maximum of $900, you will no longer see the union dues deduction on your paychecks. Your dues deduction will restart with the 1/10/2023 paycheck. If you have any questions please reach out with an email to LCCEF@lanecc.edu.
Section 125 Reminder:
As sent out by HR. Please don’t forget to get this done today if you have not done so already.
Open enrollment for calendar year 2023 Section 125 contributions began (November 1, 2022) and will continue through November 29, 2022 until 9:00 p.m. Participation is optional and available to benefits-eligible classified, management, faculty and part-time faculty employees.
Employees who wish to contribute pre-tax dollars to a Health Care Expense Account (for costs related to healthcare costs) and/or a Dependent Care Expense Account (for daycare related costs) should complete the online enrollment process. If you are enrolled for calendar year 2022, enrollment for calendar year 2023 is not automatic.
To designate your 2023 annual election(s), use your iSolved Online Account. If your temporary password has expired, please contact iSolved Benefit Services at (866) 370-3040 or via email to fbamail@isolvedhcm.com. Human Resources does not have access to the password reset function.
More information is also available on the Section 125 website.
If you have specific questions please contact your Benefits Analyst.
- Kali Phillips (last names A-L, except part-time faculty)
- Heidi Morales (last names M-Z, except part-time faculty)
- Emily Madden (all part-time faculty)
Employee Contribution Amounts
| Annual Minimum | Annual Maximum | |
| Healthcare FSA | $240 | $3050 |
| Dependent Care (daycare) FSA | no minimum | $5000 for single or married filing jointly; $2500 for married filing separately |
LCC Contribution Update
The College has been notified by our Section 125 provider that a change in employer contribution is required, based on IRS rules and regulations. To summarize, an employer contribution exceeding $500 requires an employee contribution equal to or greater than the employer contribution. This means that for those employees whose LCC contribution would normally exceed $500, LCC can only “match” the employee contribution for amounts above $500, still subject to the regular maximum College contribution. See below for more details.
Classified Employees
| EMPLOYEE ONLY(on medical insurance) | |
| Employee Contribution | Employer Contribution |
| $240 – $500 | $500 |
| $501 – $670 | $501 – $670 (will match the employee contribution) |
| $671 – $3050 | $670 |
| EMPLOYEE + SPOUSE/PARTNER(on medical insurance) | |
| Employee Contribution | Employer Contribution |
| $240 – $500 | $500 |
| $501 – $1340 | $501 – $1340 (will match the employee contribution) |
| $1341 – $3050 | $1340 |
| EMPLOYEE + CHILD(REN) / FULL FAMILY(on medical insurance) | |
| Employee Contribution | Employer Contribution |
| $240 – $500 | $500 |
| $501 – $1715 | $501 – $1715 (will match the employee contribution) |
| $1716 – $3050 | $1715 |
Announcements and Reminders
DON’T FORGET TO WEAR RED ON WEDNESDAYS!
Section 125 Bargaining Meeting
Today LCCEF is meeting with the College to bargain the Section 125 adjustments made due to IRS rules and requirements.
Today at 2:00 pm you can join us, make sure you are meeting the standards to attend by being on personal time or listening while working if that meets the standards for your department.
Attendees will need to remain muted and should not make comments in the chat.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://lanecc.zoom.us/j/91290443058
If you would like to participate in a chat facilitated by our CAT, please send an email to Colin at colinlccef@gmail.com for an invite to the Google Chat.
Winter Break Newsletter Notice
We will be taking a break and not sending a newsletter December 20th, December 27th, and January 3rd. If there is news to share, we will send out specific notifications to keep you updated, but as many members will be on vacations during this time, we will not have the formal newsletter.
Newsletter Feedback
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Vice President of Labor Relations
Buck Potter (2022-2023 Term)
PM. I also want to remind you to fill out the Section 125 Survey, and bring your ideas and thoughts on an equitable way for this to be resolved in benefit of as much of the membership as possible.
A good one I heard last week was to have the College match dollar for dollar what we choose to put into a 403b or 457b retirement account, which LCC does support. Meaning, if I put in $40 per paycheck in my OSGP account, the College will match it dollar for dollar, up to $1000 per year. If you have other thoughts on this, please share them in either the survey or at the General Membership Meeting and make your voice heard.
I have been still hearing as I walk through campus from my fellow classified members how they are being sent emails or getting contacted by their managers concerning problems and feeling like they are being disciplined, remember your rights that are listed below:
Here’s some links concerning your rights as well:
Weingarten Rights | National Labor Relations Board – Nat’l Labor Relations Board
Weingarten Rights | Beaverton Chapter 48– Beaverton OSEA Chapter – Exact language to use should you be in a meeting that is potentially going disciplinary
Have a Fantastic week, and a wonderful Holiday Weekend!
Vice President of Organizing
Colin Vurek (2021-2022 Term)
Today LCCEF is meeting with the College to bargain the Section 125 adjustments made due to IRS rules and requirements and I will be hosting a member chat to collect questions and comments for the Bargaining Team.
Today at 2:00 pm you can join us, make sure you are meeting the standards to attend by being on personal time or listening while working if that meets the standards for your department.
Attendees will need to remain muted and should not make comments in the chat.
Join Zoom Meeting: https://lanecc.zoom.us/j/91290443058
If you would like to participate in a chat facilitated by our CAT, please send an email to me at colinlccef@gmail.com for an invite to the Google Chat.
To get your T-shirt email me at: colinlccef@gmail.com
T-shirt sizes and count
- Small – 9
- Medium – 33
- Large – 32
- Extra Large – 6
I also have window clings and stickers for you to flaunt your support for your union! See below!
DON’T FORGET TO WEAR RED ON WEDNESDAYS!
UNION STRONG!
Grievance Officer
Dawn Rupp (2021-2022 Term)
Currently we are preparing to file a grievance for violation of article 12.7.2 in correlation with encouraging individuals to file internal LCC complaints.
https://inside.lanecc.edu/copps/documents/harassment-and-discrimination-complaint-process
https://www.lanecc.edu/administration/report-concern/discrimination-complaint-process
If you are in need of help please feel free to reach out to any of your Executive Council members.
We are working on pay equality with the college and hope to have some answers soon.
Please reach out to your EC team when you know of someone on the classified team that is struggling with illness or loss of someone in their family. We would like to make sure we are here to support all during hard times.
Quote(s) this week! ?
“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.” Henry Ford (a little humor for today)
“Those who say it can not be done, should not interrupt those doing it.” Chinese Proverb
Linda Reling (2022-2023 Term)
I am so excited that Tracy and Skye are joining our team! 2023 will be a busy year and it will be great to have so many of our positions filled.
Records Officer
VACANT (2021-2022 Term)
This position is currently vacant but will be filled January 1st by Tracy Weimer.
Communications Officer
Marleena Pearson (2022-2023 Term)
Anyone else counting down the days until winter break? Lots to do before then with Section 125 Bargaining and preparing for full contract bargaining in 2023. But feeling that draw to some more time off to reset the brain.
We will not be producing a newsletter on December 20th, December 27th, and January 3rd… but myself and CAT/Colin will continue to provide updates for topics as needed, including updates on Section 125 Bargaining.
Thank you for the newsletter feedback so far, we will continue to put effort into improving it. Help us make this newsletter work for you! Newsletter Feedback Survey Google Form
Membership Officer
VACANT (2022-2023 Term)
As of today, this position will be filled by Skye Nguyen.
Welcome Skye!!!! She will update this portion of the newsletter as she gets to learn her position. I hope that our membership will thank her for volunteering to take on this role.
Chief Labor Delegate
VACANT (2022-2023 Term)
Enjoy meeting with fellow unions in the county? Learning about what events, organizing, and partnerships are being offered throughout Lane County? Anyone appointed to this position would continue to serve the remaining one year of term in 2023.
COPE Officer
Fiora Starchild-Wolf (2022-2023 Term)
Given all the “election season” activity of the past few months, it’s nice to see democracy has worked again! People voted, ballots were counted, winners were announced and those who didn’t win conceded gracefully, at least in Oregon. However, this year, there were a number of candidates for office around the country who refused to say whether they would accept the results of their election if they lost. The elections officials–and the many volunteers who put in countless hours confirming authenticity of ballots and ensuring they are correctly counted–are really our heroes, as they serve us all. These people should never feel threatened for doing this important job, though they would be the first to welcome anyone who wishes to observe the process. Whether you personally were happy with the outcomes of various races, win or lose, I think we all won this election, because we saw nearly every race peacefully concluded with the winning candidate showing their gratitude and the losing candidate conceding.
If you voted, thank you! Your participation is what makes this all happen.
Just to show you a little “slice” of the power of our own union and our political work–this coming January, a new “Paid Leave Act” for Oregon begins to be carried out. The funding for this will come from payroll deductions. Two years ago, LCCEF endorsed a candidate for the Board of Education, Austin Folnagy, when he ran to fill the seat vacated by Matt Keating.
Austin has been very much oriented towards Labor, and supported your EC by encouraging us to bargain for the College to pick up the entire employee contribution towards Oregon Paid Leave. We successfully bargained that MOA this Fall, ahead of many AFT locals, who are now beginning to consider this. Elections matter, and maintaining relationships with our elected officials also matters! Thank you for your participation!
Officer At Large
VACANT
This is another vacant position that is up for election this fall, anyone appointed would serve through the end of the year, so its a great way to try out the role! Are you a part- time timesheet employee who is looking to be more involved and help LCCEF build part-time power to increase benefits and working conditions for fellow part-timers?
Stay connected to LCCEF
Website: https://lccef.org/
Subscribe to Calendar: LCCEF Union Google Calendar
Email address: lccef@lanecc.edu