Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Officers Present: Officers Excused:
President – Stephen P. Knestaut Steward – A. Morgan
Vice President – Raymond Cappy Steward – S. Rollins
Secretary-Treasurer – John Campanella
Delegate – Joseph Romeo
Delegate – Frank Olive
Delegate – Gabe Sullivan
Steward – Jean Castor
Steward – Deletha Carstarphen
Steward – Sidney Fussell
Steward – Jami Lyles
Steward – Joseph Marks
Steward – Deonne Moore
Steward – Anthony Morgan
Steward – Stanley Peplowski
Steward – Conrad Reynolds
Steward – Felix Rogers
Steward – Steve Rollins
Steward – Marvin Taylor
Steward – Chris Walton
Corrected Copy-List of officers incorrect on previous minutes posted
Call to Order: President Knestaut opened the meeting at 7:31 p.m. and asked for a moment of silence for: Brother Thomas Quigley, a pensioner who passed away; Brother Fred Seymour, a pensioner who passed away; Brother Charles Bundy, a pensioner who passed away; Brother Frank Robinson, whose father passed away; Sister Tiffany Hill, whose grandmother passed away; Sister Cheryl Drake, whose grandmother passed away; Sister Jessica Franklin, whose grandfather passed away; Brother Andre Coleman, whose mother passed away; Brother Alphons Williams, whose brother passed away; our sick members; our soldiers.
Minutes: President Knestaut said the minutes were posted in all locations and asked for questions. There were none. A motion to accept the minutes was made by Brother Gabe Sullivan and seconded by Brother Thomas Burns. Motion passed.
Financial Report: Secretary-Treasurer John Campanella asked members if they would like to continue to provide food for the pensioners’ meetings and the general membership meetings. A motion was made by Brother Conrad Reynolds and seconded by Sister Jami Lyles to continue providing food for these meetings. Motion passed.
Brother Campanella told members that a previous motion was made to add an extra $500 per month to our Building Fund. Since our Building Fund has now doubled, Brother Campanella said he would like to stop adding money to this fund and begin adding an extra $500 per month to the Defense Fund because of arbitrations and upcoming contract negotiations. A motion was made by Sister Jami Lyles and seconded by Sister Deletha Carstarphen to stop the additional funding of our Building Fund and to begin the additional funding of our Defense Fund. Motion passed.
Brother Campanella read the financial report, election expense report and Santa’s visit expense report, which were also posted on the bulletin board, and asked for questions. There were none. A motion to accept these reports was made by Sister Deletha Carstarphen and seconded by Sister Jami Lyles. Motion passed.
New Business: President Knestaut told members that there will dates coming for contract negotiations.
President Knestaut told members that the union requested that the company approve wool hats for our bus operators to use because of the cold weather. The company approved the request and it should take about sixty days for the uniform company to have them in stock.
President Knestaut told members that Channel 10 is doing a follow up story on how the exact fare buses are working out in the Washington Twp. garage. President Knestaut asked members from Washington Twp. if the exact fare is working. Some members said that is working out very well. President Knestaut said he will relay this information to Channel 10 News.
President Knestaut opened the floor for questions.
A member said that he heard that the bus fares are going up. Sister Deletha Carstarphen said that the fare increase she heard about was for the Metro North Rail and not our buses in South Jersey.
A member asked, what is the union doing about notifying the members about the new cell phone policy in place? President Knestaut asked Brother Frank Olive to explain. Brother Olive said that the State Council did not approve the policy because of a last minute change added by the company. Brother Gabe Sullivan said that the State Council voted unanimously to reject the policy with the new change. President Knestaut said the policy is not in effect yet. Brother Joe Romeo added that people thought it would go into effect in January because VP & GM Jim Gigantino was retiring.
Sister Jami Lyles asked, what is the status of the situation at the WRTC? President Knestaut said that he believes that on the April change, all buses going to Philadelphia will drop off and pick up in front of the WRTC, as long as there is no construction out front. Brother John Campanella said that if the changes at the WRTC go into effect, Brother Corey Gallman deserves some of the credit for this because it was Brother Gallman who started the petition to bring about change at the WRTC. Brother Gallman gave the petition to former President Sullivan. President Sullivan forwarded it to the company, who asked him for suggestions. It was President Sullivan who suggested that the Philadelphia buses be re-routed outside the WRTC. If the changes do happen, it started with Brother Gallman and the operators who signed the petition. President Knestaut said that changes need to be made for safety, because with so much traffic inside the WRTC, it is an accident waiting to happen.
A member said that he was unloading a passenger inside the WRTC and another bus operator backed into his bus. This member said there is no set policy on how to load and unload wheelchair passengers. This member would like a procedure put in place to deal with wheelchairs. Buses are being blocked from leaving the WRTC because another bus operator is loading a wheelchair. This issue was discussed further which included input from President Knestaut, a starter who works at the WRTC, Vice President Ray Cappy and some other members.
Brother Conrad Reynolds said that he has heard that there are problems getting prescription refills from Medco. President Knestaut said that he has not heard of any problems. Brother Campanella said that the only problem that he heard is that Medco will not refill a prescription while there is an outstanding balance owed. This issue was discussed further.
Secretary-Treasurer John Campanella told members that he has been talking with his wife about making this his last term in office and retiring. According to the International Constitution officers are permitted to retire and finish out their term. Brother Campanella said that he truly appreciates everyone allowing him to be their treasurer for the last nine years; it has been an honor. A member asked Brother Campanella if he will still be here for three more years. Brother Campanella said yes. President Knestaut said that he and Vice President Ray Cappy will work together to help in the transition when Brother Campanella’s term is over.
Adjourn: A motion to adjourn was made by Sister Jami Lyles and seconded by Brother William Martynek. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 7:55 p.m.
Sincerely,
John Campanella
Secretary-Treasurer
Note: The next general membership meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Hope to see you there.