4 April 2002
APRIL 25 STATE HOUSE RALLY
As a follow-up to the wonderfully successful Teach-In days of early March, the Save UMass Coalition is helping organize a State House Rally on April 25. The Rally will include students, faculty, staff, and supporters from all four undergraduate UMass campuses.
We will go in buses from here, leaving by 9:00. The Rally will commence between 11:30 and noon, followed by meetings with legislators. Later there will be a general meeting in Gardner Auditorium at the State House for remarks by business and labor leaders, legislative supporters, and possibly President Bulger. The buses should be back by 6 or 6:30.
We’ll have a simple, clear, united, thoughtful, considerate, firm message about the importance of the University and public higher education generally in the Commonwealth, which we can talk about with students and among ourselves on the buses headed in. We’re going to TAKE FLOWERS WITH US this year!
People will need to sign up, or otherwise notify Save UMass (or the MSP) that they want to go. Everyone will pay $5 to help defray the costs of the buses.
You can help in three ways:
- encourage students to make this trip if they can.
- arrange to go yourself if you can.
- make a small contribution to help subsidize the cost of the buses and posters and flowers, etc. (MSP is subsidizing the costs of the rally modestly, and Save UMass has asked MTA for funds as well. But we will still be short a little. So give a little extra if you can – checks payable to "Ad Hoc Teach-In Committee", to be sent to Prof. Arlene Avakian, Women’s Studies, Bartlett).
THE CONTRACT
The MTA-supported postcard campaign in support of funding the contract went off well, and has generated considerable good response among legislators. Thanks to everyone who returned their cards.
I joined nearly 20 state labor leaders and local chapter officials in a meeting with Speaker Thomas Finneran about funding the pending contracts. There was a useful exchange of views during which we pointed out that (1) the State has never not funded state labor contracts forwarded from the Governor; (2) campus personnel would be working above and beyond the call of duty next year and needed support; (3) this money would immediately be plowed back into the state’s economy as an anti-recession boost; (4) the contracts would help keep employees from leaving and permit the hiring of new employees; (5) all other pending contracts have been funded, and so should these as a matter of fairness; (6) the costs are more than covered by the savings from the state’s early retirement plan; and (7) the contracts are needed to keep UMass from falling farther behind UConn, UNH, and other New England competitors.
Campus faculty and staff carried a similar message to Representative Nancy Flavin’s district office, and MSP officers spoke to key legislators at the State House in a similar vein in late March.
THE BUDGET
We have supported the efforts of the Save UMass Coalition to the extent possible, and are continuing to do so in planning for the April 25 Rally.
We helped arrange meetings with Representative Flavin and other legislators on the UMass budget itself, underscoring the urgency of protecting the Commonwealth’s investment here and rebuilding the programs and the faculty. Other faculty are headed to Boston with students from Commonwealth College with a similar message.
We have met with State Relations staff to coordinate advocacy efforts; have offered to meet with the Board of the Alumni Association on closer coordination of advocacy work; and have purchased space in UMass Magazine to publicize campus budget efforts and let alumni know how to help.
With the campus Labor Council, we are hosting a meeting here with gubernatorial candidate Tom Birmingham and have invited Republican Mitt Romney to meet with us as well.
We are considering some action at the Democratic Convention around both the budget and the contract, and are contemplating what we might do in a positive way to bring campus concerns to the attention of those who are attending Commencement.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The MSP General Assembly will be Tuesday, April 23rd at 4 p.m. in Campus Center 803. We will complete nominations of officer and board vacancies, adopt next year’s budget, and consider any new business you may bring. Please attend. Elections will be held in the MSP office on Tuesday, April 30th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Keep the faith.
Ron Story, President
