4 October 2002
OCTOBER INITIATIVES
After one of the busiest months in MSP history—three major events and four smaller ones plus countless letters and other communications—we are planning a similar but different October.
Action I: Legislators’ Strategy. Continuing our efforts to get Speaker Finneran to allow a vote to override Governor Swift’s veto of our contract funding, we are asking every Representative in the state to sign a petition requesting the Speaker to convene a special session of the House to permit such an override vote. The letters went out October 4, with a deadline of November 1 for responses.
On October 16 and 17, we will mount a massive statewide phone-in campaign to Reps who have not yet signed onto the petition. We hope MSP members will help make calls in the Western Massachusetts region as needed; we will let you know where to call.
Over the next two weeks, we will send letters, faxes, and emails to holdouts. Our goal is to get over a hundred names on the petition.
Action II: Bulger Strategy. Continuing our efforts to get the President to support contract funding (as many state and community college Presidents have), we are circulating a petition throughout the entire UMass system calling upon the President to urge Speaker Finneran to recall the House to override the Swift veto. Members of the MSP Board and MSP department representatives will collect names on the petition. Other unions on every UMass campus will do the same. Any employee should sign. Students may sign, too. Faculty can collect signatures from students and staff, and vice versa. Our goal is several thousand signatures.
We will submit this petition with its thousands of signatures at the board of Trustees meeting on this campus the morning of November 6th, where we will greet Trustees and university officials, including the President, with a lengthy poster gauntlet. Plan to attend this Trustee meeting and hold a poster. Arrive at the Mullins main entrance by 8:30. IMPORTANT: WEAR ACADEMIC REGALIA IF YOU HAVE IT.
Action III: Department/Building Meetings. We will help organize interunion (faculty, professional, clerical, custodial, graduate workers) meetings by department and/or building during the month of October to share ideas about future steps. These are unprecedented for this campus. Please attend them if at all possible.
We will also help organize brief meetings of interested parties on October 16 and 17 to facilitate phone calls to legislators, petition signing, postcard signing and other important busywork. Drop by one of these for a few minutes. It will be quick but valuable work.
Action IV: Gubernatorial Strategy. The MSP Board has overwhelmingly endorsed the candidacy of Shannon O’Brien for Governor. O’Brien has said more than once that our contract should be funded, and we believe our best chances to secure funding is to elect her.
We urge you to communicate with her campaign to let her know about your support – and that we do care deeply about our pending contracts. We are also supplying postcards with that same message for employees to send.
Ron Story, President
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Please Vote "NO" on Question 2
At its meeting on September 25th, the MSP Executive Board voted unanimously to endorse a "NO" vote on Question 2. Our statewide affiliate, MTA, has taken a stand against this measure, which would greatly restrict education choices of teachers and students if it were approved. The students most affected would be immigrant and bilingual students, a population already at risk in our education system. Question 2 would set a bad precedent for all educators because it not only challenges teacher professionalism and academic freedom, but would make it legal for teachers to be sued should they follow the proven pedagogical methods of bilingual education.
MTA has also urged a "NO" vote on Question 1, which would repeal the state income tax. Things are already bad enough in public higher ed, so we are confident that you will know what to do on this one!
Sick Leave Bank Enrollment Now Open
Just a reminder that the sick leave bank open enrollment period is October. If you haven’t joined yet, please do it this month. You need donate only one day, in exchange for which you get up to 90 days from the bank at full pay if you run out of your personal sick leave. It’s a DEAL!
Additional Information on the Web
At the request of one of our department reps, we are posting on our web site a brief summary of the salient features of our new contract.
We are sending out this Bulletin via email, along with additional information on contract-funding activities to date and a set of informational talking points about the issue. Please look for it if you haven’t seen it already.
