60th Annual Council 65 Convention
Sugar Lake Lodge - Cohasset, MN
October 13th - 14th, 2023
By action of the Council 65 Executive Board, the regular Annual Meeting of Minnesota and the Dakotas Council 65, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, will be held October 13th-14th, 2023 at Sugar Lake Lodge in Cohasset, Minnesota. Workshops will begin at 9:00 am on Friday, October 13th. Convention will call to order at 12:30 pm on Friday and will reconvene again at 9:00 am on Saturday, October 14th, 2023 and will continue until the business of the meeting is completed. Registration of delegates will be held on Thursday, October 12th from 12:00 – 4:00 pm, Friday, October 13th from 7:00 am - 1:00 pm and on Saturday, October 14th from 7:30 - 8:00 am. A banquet for Delegates, Alternates and Guests will be held Friday, October 13th starting with social hour at 5:30 pm, dinner at 6:30 pm and entertainment provided by Garage 19 from 7:30 to 11:30 pm.
DELEGATES:
The Constitution provides that each Local Union shall be entitled to one delegate for each twenty-five members or major fraction thereof. It is recommended that Locals with Chapters apportion their delegates from among their respective Chapters. It is very important that delegates elected to attend the Annual Meeting of Council 65 are elected according to Section 3A and 3C of Appendix D, elections code, of the International Constitution. Specifically, each Local must mail to each member, of all chapters, at least 15 days before the local election of convention delegates, a notice of the local meeting for nominations and elections with the date(s) they will be held. Upon request, mailing labels can be provided by Council 65. The election of the delegate(s) to this annual meeting must be by secret ballot. If your Local wishes to be represented by someone who is not a member of your Local, you must do the following, which should be reflected in your Local meeting minutes:
You shall first vote on the following question: Shall this Local elect a person who is not a member of this Local as our delegate to the annual Council 65 convention? If the majority of those voting on the question vote in the affirmative, the Local may then proceed to elect the delegate from a different AFSCME Council 65 Local who will represent them at this annual meeting.
CREDENTIAL FORMS:
Once a delegate is elected, the credential form must be filled out, signed, dated, and mailed to the Council 65 office at 3335 West St. Germain, Suite 107, St. Cloud MN 56301 in the self-addressed envelope enclosed. Please make sure all information is filled out on the form before mailing. Credential forms MUST be completed and received no later than Friday, September 22nd, 2023.
REGISTRATION FEE:
A registration fee of $50.00 per delegate/alternate who is attending must be sent with the credential form. Checks should be made out to AFSCME Council 65. The registration fee for credentials received after September 22nd, 2023 increases to $60.00. In addition, delegates whose credentials are received late will not be seated on the convention floor until those seated delegates approve the late credentials
GUESTS:
Please list any guests attending with your delegation by filling out the bottom section on the back of the credential form. This year there will not be an attendance fee for guests, however guests will have to pay a meal fee of $108.20. This fee will be collected when you book your lodging.
HOTEL ARRANGEMENTS:
Making of, and payment for, the Sugar Lake Lodge lodging reservations are the responsibility of Convention attendees. We have secured special group rates for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings. Lodging is resort style with studio room (hotel style) or two-bedroom villa options.
Book your lodging by filling out and submitting the Sugar Lake Lodge Registration form that is posted below. The hotel registration form and payment are to be submitted directly to the hotel by mail to Sugar Lake Lodge 37584 Otis Lane Cohasset, MN 55721 or email to [email protected]. Please call Brittany with Sugar Lake Lodge at 218-327-1462 with any lodging questions. Reservations should be made as soon as possible. The lodging registration deadline is Friday, September 1st, 2023.
Click to open and download this form:
Sugar Lake Lodge Lodging Registration Form 2023
MEALS:
Because this is a resort style meeting location, the following meals will be included FOR DELEGATES ONLY: Friday lunch, Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast and Saturday AM snack. As stated above, guest meals will need to be paid for at the time of lodging registration. The closest restaurants are in Grand Rapids, a 12-mile drive.
ELECTIONS NOTICE:
Included in the business to come before the Convention will be the election of Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer, each for a two-year term, a vacant At-Large Executive Board position, 1 year term remaining, and one Trustee position for a three-year term. Also included in the business to come before the Convention will be the election of fifteen (15) people who will be elected to receive a delegate stipend to attend the 2024 International Convention in Los Angeles, CA August 12th-16th, 2024. Those persons elected to receive the International Convention allowance must become a properly elected delegate to the International Convention from their own local to receive the allowance. Nominations shall take place on Friday, October 13th with voting, if needed, to be conducted from 8:15 - 9:15 am Saturday, October 14th.
RESOLUTIONS:
Do you or your local have a specific issue you would like AFSCME Council 65 to take a position on? This is how your union knows what matters to our members. If any member or your local would like to submit a resolution it must be submitted at least 20 days (September 23rd, 2023) prior to the convention, see the pink form from the Convention Call packet. Please mail via US Postal service all resolutions to AFSCME Council 65, 3335 West St. Germain St, Suite 107, St. Cloud, MN 56301.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS:
Any proposed amendment to the Council 65 Constitution must be submitted 45 days (on or before August 29th, 2023) prior to the convention, see the yellow form from the Convention Call packet. Please mail via US postal service all constitutional amendments to AFSCME Council 65, 3335 West St. Germain St, Suite 107, St. Cloud, MN 56301. The Council Constitution is available on our website or you may request a copy from our office by calling 888-474-3242 or emailing [email protected].
WORKSHOPS:
We have several exciting workshops planned this year! Topics include Steward Training, New Employee Orientation, and Labor History. We are excited to have MN PERA in attendance again this year to conduct the From Hire to Retire program to do an overview on Minnesota Public Employee Pensions. See the enclosed workshop flyer for a full schedule with training descriptions. Please pre-register at the link below to ensure there is room for you in the workshops. We hope you will join us for these training opportunities!
Register for individual workshops HERE.
MEMBER AWARDS:
Every year we recognize a union member who has shown outstanding leadership in the last year (one in Minnesota and one in South Dakota). We also recognize an outstanding Secretary-Treasurer of the year. Lastly, we honor a union member for Lifetime Achievement as a union leader. If you know someone deserving of any of these awards, please submit a nomination form electronically on our website here. You can also download the below form and mail to our office. Please share with your members and encourage them to nominate someone. Nominations are due by Friday, September 1st, 2023.
Member Award Nomination Form 2023
DOOR PRIZE DONATIONS:
Please consider donating an item or money to be given away as a door prize for attendees during Convention. Donations should be submitted to our office no later than Friday, September 29th, 2023. Please notify us if you plan to provide a door prize by contacting Sue Kunkel ([email protected]). You can also bring a door prize to Convention to be added to the giveaways, but we ask that you notify us ahead of time so we can plan for it.
AL CHURCH SCHOLARSHIP:
We will be fundraising at convention for our Al Church Scholarship Fund. The only way we can continue to provide scholarships to the families of our members is through generous donations to this fund. This past year we were able to give out $5,000 in scholarships thanks to donors like you and your locals. Please plan on contributing at Convention! You can also send a donation to our office. Please identify your donation is for the Al Church Scholarship Fund. Remember, those who donate will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of three $250.00 prizes. Each $25.00 donation equals one drawing entry. Donations of $100.00 or more equal five drawing entries!
PEOPLE:
Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality (PEOPLE) is our voluntary Political Action Committee (PAC) fund. This PAC fund is how we are able to actively engage on issues that matter to our members or support labor friendly candidates. You can contribute to this voluntary PAC while at the Convention. If you are already a member you can make an additional contribution or change your contribution.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT:
To help the local community we are visiting, we will be collecting donations for Foster Love. They are currently collecting the following items:
- Diapers (sizes 5 and up)
- Pull - ups
- Baby wipes
- Baby food & cereal
- Formula
- Toiletries for teens (toothpaste, deodorant, menstrual supplies, shampoo, conditioner, body wash)
- Brushes/combs
- Kids underwear & socks (all sizes)
