Representative Assembly of NEA - Philadelphia 2007 by Sylvia Snape

Attendees were Linda Fish, Pat Hardnett, Donna Johnson, Dave Litterer, Linda Merritt, and Sylvia Snape

Attending the National Education Association's Representative Assembly (RA) is always exhilarating and inspiring, no less so this year for the visits we had from eight presidential candidates, including one republican, Huckabee, from Hope Arkansas.  We heard from Clinton, Obama, Richardson, Dodd, Kucinich, Edwards, and Biden.  All were received with gusto, but Clinton and Obama received the loudest, most enthusiastic applause.  Huckabee drew a big laugh saying he wasn't sure why he was the only republican to accept the NEA's invitation, opining that maybe the others didn't think public education was important, or perhaps were afraid of the NEA.

The calendar says it is fall, but lately the weather has been more like summer. Hopefully everyone has settled into the fall semester and things are running smoothly. We have ratified a one-year contract and will soon be meeting to start the bargaining process for a successor contract. USA has many irons in the fire, and I would like to update you on where we are.

Bargaining - As I stated above, we will begin later this fall to meet and write up new proposals for the next round of negotiating which will begin after the first of the year.

       

Re-Classification Study - We have met with Vice Chancellor Joyce Hatch and made our case with her and her staff. She has spoken to other vice chancellors at our sister campuses and has advocated for this to be a system-wide procedure. Bob Whalen, our MTA consultant, has begun to get dates from representatives from other campuses, as well as the President's office, so we may meet in the near future and discuss what our next steps are. 

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Campus activists and community members will meet for a lecture by Adolph Reed Jr., followed by a discussion of the idea of free public higher education in the United States.  The lecture will be at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, October 17th in New Africa House at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  Professor Reed, an internationally renowned political scientist from the University of Pennsylvania, will lecture on the same topic at 11AM on October 17th in 309 Frost Building at Holyoke Community College.  More than one hundred faculty, staff and students are expected to attend the talk at UMass Amherst.

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Labor Management Workplace Education Program by Donna Johnson

Twenty years ago the Labor-Management Workplace Education Program (LMWEP) began here at the University with many course offerings, targeted primarily for AFSCME members, such as ESL and basic computer skills.  After a few years LMWEP was expanded, to include USA members, offering additional computer skills training in Excel, Word, and Access. From this growth in course and training opportunities, USA became a full and active participant in this proven worker education program.

       

Over the years LMWEP staff expanded these classes to include such things as organizational skills, writing and leadership classes, to name a few.  Then, a few years ago, the program took a budget hit that has affected the ability to offer some, or enough of, these courses and workshops to the USA.  In an effort to meet the needs of our members, the USA Career Ladder Committee has met with the LMWEP staff and together we have devised a plan to help meet our needs.  The Career Ladder

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June 11: Patrick brought 24 top executives of fuel cell, hydrogen, solar, ethanol, and wind power companies to the State House and urged them to quickly form a new trade association basis for a state "clean energy council". The companies represented included UPC Wind of Newton, Second Wind Inc. of Somerville, Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc. of Billerica, Lilliputian Systems Inc. of Wilmington, Acumentrics Corp. of Westwood, Konarka Technologies Inc. of Lowell, Spire Corp. of Bedford, Seahorse Power Co. of Needham, RWE Schott Solar Inc. of Billerica, Bioenergy International LLC of Norwell, World Energy Alternatives LLC of Chelsea, Mascoma Corp of Cambridge, GreenFuel Technologies Corp. of Cambridge, and Celunol Corp. of Cambridge. The Governor planned 12 solar panel installations at state colleges, sewage plants, and prisons.

June 15: Foley Hoag LLP, a Boston law firm, hosted the first meeting of the clean energy council, with additional companies Solectria Renewables LLC of Lawrence, Beacon Power Corp. of Wilmington, and Wilson TurboPower Inc. of Woburn represented.

How do we create stress-less environments within our workplace?  We don't, because there is no such thing as "stress-less". First, we must understand that stress is part of life. Within our dualistic world, we give stress good or bad classifications. We all know "bad" stress is the kind that causes us to have headaches, stomach pain, palpitations, and high blood pressure.   However, few of us realize the toll "good" stress has on us. Ever wonder why so many people on vacation get sick? Celebrating a wedding, birthday, or anniversary and even going on vacation is stress-filled.  So, what can we do?

MTA's Health and Welfare Trust Fund, which provides our dental benefits, has added a new vision care benefit through MetLife.  Members and their eligible dependants can receive discounts when they use participating providers such as Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, and Target Optical.

There are no enrollment forms to fill out and no claim forms to submit, and you can use the benefit as often as you need to.  All you need to do is contact a participating provider to schedule an appointment, identify yourself as a "Vision One Eyecare Program" member, and provide your group ID number which is 47039.  The provider will then apply your applicable discount at the time of service.

To find out more about the program and to get a list of participating providers in your area, visit www.mwtlife.com/my benefits and enter "Board of Higher Education Massachusetts Teachers Association" under "Company Name". Then click on the Vision Care icon.  More information is available at the Human Resources Department in Whitmore or you can contact our Health and Welfare representative Linda Hillenbrand at lindah@wost.umass.edu.

Why it's so important to get involved .... by Aggie Mitchkoski

By most standards, I'm a newcomer to being an activist, a political person. For most of my life I confined my struggle with right and wrong to home, family and wherever I was working. It's not that I didn't  see what was happening in the wider world, I just thought I could handle those "problems" on a local level with the people I was directly working with.

Well over 10 years ago I worked as a Physical Therapy Assistant in the area nursing home in short-term rehab units. A very profitable business then as Medicare, the primary payor, reimbursed services as they were delivered. More services provided...more money the rehab company and nursing home collected. This started a feeding frenzy. The little therapist owned company I happily worked for was sold to a small rehab company who then sold us to medium-sized company, which then was bought out by a large Texan actuarial firm. While all this buying and selling was going on, Medicare changed the way it

Donna Johnson

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”