Our contracts must be funded. To do otherwise is unfair to our members, to our retirees, to the campuses, to the students we serve, and the collective bargaining process. We are well aware that this is a difficult fiscal time. But ignoring good faith agreements is never acceptable, and attacking higher education and the workers who make it work is extremely short-sighted. Please consider Please consider the following:

• All other state workers whose contracts were negotiated at the same time as ours have had their contracts funded and are enjoying their raises. Only Higher Education contracts were vetoed.

• Many people accepted the early retirement offer based on calculations that included the raises we negotiated.

• Many State and Community College Presidents, as well as the Chair of the Board of Higher Education have publicly called for an override. UMass President Bulger and the Board of Trustees have so far refused to do so.

• Never before has a Governor submitted a contract to the Legislature and then vetoed the funding when it was appropriated.

• Continuing to freeze salaries will drive even more good workers away from UMass and will contribute to an already-severe deterioration of services.

• It's not just raises. Our dental plan is not getting the funds needed to maintain our benefits until the contracts are funded.