Organizing for Settlement Fund
What is the Organizing for Settlement Fund?
- Education Minnesota established the Organizing for Settlement Fund to help members and local and state affiliates in collective bargaining and has been financed by a yearly dues assessment of all members.
- The Organizing for Settlement Fund is not a source of revenue for routine bargaining expenses. It is intended to be an additional financial resource to help members and affiliates when bargaining becomes difficult.
- When a local decides to present its contract bargaining for arbitration, the Organizing for Settlement Fund is available to finance all costs of the union’s portion of arbitration.
- The Organizing for Settlement Fund represents Education Minnesota’s commitment to help local and state affiliates and members during protracted bargaining and in strike situations.
- The Organizing for Settlement Fund assessment provides the local an opportunity to interact with others in addressing what the local has done to date and how the local plans to organize for settlement.
What is the purpose of the Organizing for Settlement Fund?
The Organizing for Settlement Fund can be accessed for:
- A direct loan and/or grant to an Education Minnesota local/state affiliate for unusual contract negotiation expenses.
- A direct loan and/or grant to an Education Minnesota local/state affiliate on strike.
- A loan and/or loan guarantee to Education Minnesota members who are participants in the Organizing for Settlement Fund and who are on strike.
- A direct grant and/or loan for aid to sympathetic groups honoring a strike or another local bargaining unit strike.
How does my local or affiliate access the Organizing for Settlement Fund?
- Any local or state affiliate may access the fund.
- The local or state affiliate should contact its field staff. Then, the local or state affiliate president should contact (in writing) the president of Education Minnesota, president.denise.specht@edmn.org, to request a crisis assessment.
- The local should establish a local settlement committee before the crisis assessment.
- Education Minnesota will forward documents to the local president to complete before the assessment.
- A crisis assessment meeting date will be scheduled. A crisis assessment team, including the secretary-treasurer of Education Minnesota, a field manager and the assigned field staff, will meet with the local’s leadership to conduct the assessment.
- The local will submit an application, a plan for organizing for settlement and a budget if the local decides to access a loan from the Organizing for Settlement Fund.
- The Organizing for Settlement Fund Committee will review and approve the loan. The committee considers the assets of the fund at the time of the request and the magnitude of local negotiations. The committee reviews each request on its own merits pursuant to the Organizing for Settlement Fund.
What are the Organizing for Settlement Fund guidelines?
- Organizing for Settlement Fund policies have been developed and are outlined in the Education Minnesota Organizing for Settlement Fund handbook. The handbook specifies allowable expenses and guidelines.
- A local receiving a loan returns the unused portion of the loan following settlement. In addition, the local submits a list of all loan expenses, along with original receipts, to Education Minnesota for review. Based on the fund guidelines, 80 percent of the local’s loan expenses are converted to a grant, with the local responsible for the remaining 20 percent.
- The Organizing for Settlement Fund is also available to loan the local the cost of monthly benefit premiums if a local is on strike. This is a loan to pay the cost of benefits for members and must be paid back in full to the Organizing for Settlement Fund. Pursuant to the guidelines, individual member loans or loan guarantees are available through the Organizing for Settlement Fund to members on strike.
