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USM

Posted by Esther.Lee-Samia | | Wednesday 16 February 2011 11:13 AM

The USM chapter of ACSUM includes members on the Portland and Gorham campuses as well as the Lewiston-Auburn campus of USM. If you want to join ACSUM, or have questions about ACSUM and work at USM, please contact Gail Wartell at gwartell@usm.maine.edu.

For questions or problems related to USM Chapter page, please direct them to Esther Lee-Samia at elee@usm.maine.edu.

Announcement(s) Section:

Spring 2012: Photo from the 2012 Portland ACSUM Potluck

Annual Portland ACSUM Potluck

Thanks to everyone who came out for the end-of-the-year potluck and brought delicious dishes to share with the group.  What a lunch!  And the company was fantastic!  Have a great summer everyone!

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Very sad news – Rosemary Miller

Hi,
I am sorry to tell you that Rosy Miller, whom many of you knew, passed away recently. She was active in ACSUM for many years. She helped me so much when I took over as Chapter Chair a couple years ago, serving on the chapter board and as acting Grievance Rep until her retirement. She was a dedicated and compassionate woman that I admired greatly. She was kind and caring, but also persistent if there was injustice.
A celebration of Rosy’s life is planned for Sunday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m., at the Irish Heritage Center, 34 Gray St., Portland. Arrangements are by Independent Death Care, Portland. In lieu of flowers, we request that memorial donations be made to:
Mercy Hospital-Development
144 State St.
Portland, Maine 04101
The following was written by Loraine Lowell, past Chair of the chapter. (Thanks, Loraine.)
Gail Wartell
USM ACSUM Chair
Rosemary Miller:

“She retired from USM in June.  She died Friday morning, at home, with sisters surrounding her.

She was involved with the successful efforts to unionize the COLT staff in the late 1980s. So, her belief in workplace democracy for the workers through unions manifested itself from her first days as an employee here at USM.  She was, of course, a card-carrying member from the time the union was voted in.
In the early 1990s, Rosy became an active chapter member (again).  She had a wonderful touch with new employees, and educated them rather elegantly as to the importance of becoming a dues paying member of our union. She served as one of USM’s best grievance reps and (in my view), was one of the best grievance reps ACSUM had.  She resolved issues between workers and supervisors, often at the early stage.  She counseled workers, offered support and guidance, got them to stand up for themselves by asserting their contract rights.  She did this for both the Portland and Gorham COLT members for almost a decade.  And if push came to shove, grievances moved up through the process.
And . . . she still did membership outreach.  And . . . she became a board member to the statewide union, representing the USM chapter.  She was a role model for workplace justice, truly working for the greater good.  She was indefatigable.  As Greg Stowe, another union activist, wrote to me of Rosy just a few weeks ago, ’ I should have asked you to give my regards to Rosie who always treated me with respect and always had a smile for me…’  That she did.”
-Lorraine Lowell, former ACSUM Chair

 

Fall 2011 events in review:

Union Social Time, Portland, 12/1 /11 @4:30PM – Starting in December, we will have social time the first Thursday of the month. 144 Luther Bonney Hall.  Come and meet other ACSUM members – it should be fun.

Thursday, October 27, 2011 – The ACSUM USM Chapter conducted its first General Meeting of the 2011-2012 year.

Spring 2011 ACSUM Events in review:

February 11, 2011: ACSUM Building Representative Training was offered at 217 Wishcamper in Portland.  Thank you to all of the building reps for attending – attendance was great!  For the two who could not attend, please contact either Gail or Esther for the handouts. Thank you also to Tim Wooten and Gail for facilitating the meeting and offering building reps the information and resources to assist them.

February 23, 201: Urgent Reorganization Meeting for ALL Administrative Assistants of the Red, Green, and Purple Colleges.  Affected AAs received release time to attend.  Meeting conducted so ALL classified staff understands the process that will be used in the potential reassignment of administrative assistants as well as have the opportunity to ask question about this process or any other issues related to the restructuring.  Videoconference meeting rooms: 133 Wishcamper (Portland) and 301 Bailey (Gorham).

ACSUM and USM Administration have been in discussions on how best to handle the potential reassignments of some of the administrative assistants in these colleges.  We have reached agreement on how this process will work and ACSUM will be holding an informational session to explain the agreement as well as answer any questions you may have.This meeting will be open to ALL the administrative assistants impacted by these changes, not just union members, so even if you are not a union member we encourage you to attend.

March 4, 2011: Evening of Service: USM ACSUM members – Rosie Miller, Crystal , Gabe Stowe, and Esther Lee-Samia volunteered at the soup kitchen at Preble Street Resource Center on Friday evening, March 4.  It was a great event and we look forward to putting together another night of service!

April 23, 2011:  Annual Delegate Assembly – For follow up information regarding the event, please contact the USM ACSUM Chapter President Gail Wartell.

May 25, 2011:  ACSUM chapter meeting on the Portland Campus – For follow up information regarding the event, please contact the USM ACSUM Chapter President Gail Wartell.

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