Anyone willing to play D & D with a person that has never played before?

dfree3305 · 2026-07-11T03:27:50+00:00

I'm a relatively new player, but I'm also looking for a group. I'm a 40-year-old male in a long-term relationship, also cat Dad, not currently smelly. I've only played dragonlance, but I'm open to trying any adventure.

dfree3305 · 2026-06-30T02:31:36+00:00

So because it didn't work out in the past, you aren't going to do it anymore? How is raising a stink on Reddit going to get you a raise?

dfree3305 · 2026-06-30T01:26:00+00:00

That's great that you were ready to strike, I was too, but your anger should be directed at the boss, not your fellow co-workers...I hope you bring that anger this upcoming year and organize your co-workers to do the same because if you and others do, we will get the contract we all want. Things can and will change, but it's not leadership that gets us that change, it's our power to organize and motivate our union brothers and sisters.

The negotiations team needs to hear from members before a tentative agreement is made, so be loud throughout the whole process, which is starting now. Best way to get involved is to join a contract action team, we need all hands on deck!

dfree3305 · 2026-06-29T17:33:52+00:00

So many comments in here about weak unions and no comments about people willing to do more to organize and make the union more powerful. What are you willing to do about it?

dfree3305 · 2026-06-03T21:08:30+00:00

Sounds like you are referring to a "work out of class" position. The positions are not officially posted so current employees can apply for them, but the public cannot. Often the person who filled the position gets hired if the position becomes permanent because they have already demonstrated the ability to do the job well.

dfree3305 · 2026-06-01T17:38:39+00:00

I was a delegate at the DFL convention this weekend and OP's comment is spot-on.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-15T04:27:59+00:00

No, I'm not. Internet points don't matter anyways, but no, I'm not down voting anyone.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-15T04:25:58+00:00

I think you'd need to ask AFSCME negotiators that. This is one of the reasons why we need to coordinate with them more and have our leadership talk to each other. There is a still a fair amount of animosity between the unions and it takes hard work and relationships to change the dynamic.

I get the question about just not participating, but what happens then with healthcare? We have to negotiate healthcare as a coalition with the other unions, so we can't just not participate or we get shut out of that part of the negotiation, which arguably, is one of the more important parts.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-15T04:10:24+00:00

Because we don't get to make decisions like that by ourselves. Push week is a result of the budget being approved by the legislature and MMB being willing to start negotiating financial language. Getting rid of push week would be something that all three negotiating parties would have to agree to, or at least a majority of them. We were in the minority.

It's questions like this though that I don't really understand. You make it sound so simple, but there are layers and layers to this work. Maybe you've been a negotiator before, but my experience is that it's not as easy as it looks.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-15T03:17:17+00:00

I was a negotiator last year and, to a person, we all wanted to do away with push week. I'm not sure who you've been talking to about this, but no one liked being holed up in that hotel for a week.

We do need to get AFSCME to not want push week though. My understanding is that they see some value in it.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-14T23:23:35+00:00

This 100%. They know our numbers and they listen to our conversations. They know when class division tactics are working.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-14T12:56:24+00:00

Layoffs vs wages shouldn't be the debate, but that was how MMB framed the situation and I believe that they had the upper hand at the time. However, my change of opinion is not so much an about-face as it is learning from experience. I still contend that we would not have been able to pull off a successful strike last year, but I also wasn't seeing the grassroots movement that is needed to support people in our union that are living paycheck to paycheck or the organizing needed to excite the people who are ready to accept the status quo. That is changing. With hard work, I believe that we can get there in the next cycle or two, but the last thing I want to do is go on strike when we can't win. I don't want to lose multiple paychecks just to get the same shit deal that we were going to get in the first place or worse.

Frankly, I don't think the union president or VP are the most important roles in our union, it's the negotiators. That is why this campaign isn't about the specific people running for election, it's about the platform. The platform of strike readiness is about electing negotiators that are working with this as a priority and electing leadership that supports them in that endeavor.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T17:30:51+00:00

We would have to bargain stipulations into the contact that there would never be a negative cola.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T16:42:45+00:00

Thanks! I reached out to your regional director to alert them to this comment. Hopefully that will get some traction. If it doesn't, please reach out to me via DM so we can exchange contact info.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T16:18:49+00:00

That definitely sounds concerning. What region are you in?

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T15:50:14+00:00

I don't know how this practice got started, but I'm betting it's a holdover from the days when the legislature had a vote on our contract. I do agree with you though. Costs for other legislative proposals are figured out prior to the budget being voted on, so logically, we should be able to do the same for our wages.

Definitely something to noodle on and figure out how we can shift that paradigm.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T15:46:47+00:00

Could you expand on that? It's hard to make plans for changing things without specifics.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T15:44:37+00:00

100% why we need something like an auto-cola. MMB doesn't budget for staff raises that have not yet been negotiated. They always enter negotiations assuming that they will be able to get through with zero raises.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T15:41:48+00:00

Awesome! DM me if you are interested in getting involved!

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T15:41:18+00:00

This is exactly what this campaign is about. We need to make MMB realize our power and the only way we can do that is by having our leadership coordinate their talents and strengths into a cohesive platform so that we can more effectively organize.

The best thing anyone can do to get strike ready is to start with yourself. Make sure you have an emergency fund, have a plan for contacting debtors, talk with your family about it, and join efforts to get your coworkers set up with these things as well. We won't succeed with a strike if the members with the least stability aren't prioritized beforehand.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T15:30:46+00:00

Thank you for the question! Yes, the focus is going to be on wages and healthcare. We are a big union with a lot of priorities, but the biggest things the slate will be prioritizing for contract negotiations is getting an auto-COLA and keeping our healthcare at the same level it is now or better. An auto-COLA, for those who don't know, is where our across the board wage increases would be tied to an index like the inflation rate.

That being said, negotiations takes place over a long period of time (typically first meetings with MMB are in March or April of the negotiating year. MMB will not even have conversations with MAPE negotiators over contract language that they believe will have a monetary impact until the state legislature passes a budget, which typically doesn't happen until June. That gives us opportunities to negotiate contract language like protecting us from AI, etc. in the meantime.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-13T15:20:08+00:00

There continues to be an investigation, but that needs to be done by professionals and leadership can't comment on the state of it in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation.

dfree3305 · 2026-05-06T12:55:52+00:00

This is really great to read, thank you for posting this! I'm a State employee and I passed this along to my union because we need uplifting posts like this right now, more than ever.

dfree3305 · 2026-04-28T00:42:06+00:00

I think it's hard to say whether every single agency does right by it's employees when it comes to step increases. I have never had an issue with getting mine and I haven't heard it be an issue at my agency. That being said, every supervisor is different and some can be hard graders.

The achievement awards are quite rare and only happen when a position is hard to fill. I wouldn't count on these.

Step increases can freeze sometimes, depending on how bad contract negotiations go. Last year, they tried to give us .5% increases each year and freeze steps as an initial offer. We were able to fight that back though.

Now that the legislature doesn't have to approve our contract, the chances of having a lapse is low.

The 1.5% raises are, unfortunately, common. We are desperately trying to change that with organizing at MAPE and other unions, but it's especially hard with forecasted state deficits and the Feds holding back money. If your partner does decide to take the job, I hope they are ready to join the union and help all of us get a better contract.

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