There's a new issue of PSU Strong: Powering UMass Amherst and UMass Boston. We publish four times a year, offering news, in-depth focus on issues, informative statistics, and celebrations of our members.
PSU Strong: Newsletter, June 2019 (PDF)
PSU Strong Editorial Committee: Judith Cameron, Iris Jenkins, Dan LaBonte, Jennifer Page, Liz Smith, Peter Tattlebaum, and Ferd Wulkan
PSU Amherst and Boston members, serving as delegates to the Massachusetts Teachers Association Annual Meeting, gathered May 3 in front of the Fund Our Future booth to show support for the campaign to increase funding for public education, from pre-k to higher education by $1.5 billion a year.
Some 50 PSU Amherst members gathered in February to brainstorm ways to make our union stronger. Six major themes emerged: contract enforcement, equity, identity/pride, communication with members, communication with administration, and preparations for next contract negotiations. The chapter board will decide next steps.
By Peter Tattlebaum, PSU member
The battle over parking fees at UMass Boston is over (for the time being) and the outcome tells us much about the new administration’s attitude towards its employees and students.
By Judith B. Cameron, PSU Member
In the fall, PSU will celebrate its 30th anniversary of representing and organizing the professional staff at UMass Amherst and UMass Boston. We want YOU to help us celebrate this milestone. And there is much to celebrate: contracts that provide raises, job protections, and benefits such as paid sick leave. PSU is also a force for improving campus climate and vociferously challenging administrators intent on adopting harmful policies for students, staff and faculty.
The Performance Management Program (PMP) provides a formal means for professional employees to plan, discuss, and evaluate performance goals with their supervisors in an annual cycle. PMPs have been used in Amherst and Boston since 2001 for Unit A members with a different process for members in unit B. Before the PMP was negotiated, the review process can only be described as ineffective.
Risa Silverman, outreach director for the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, was elected in March to fill a vacant co-chair position for PSU Amherst.
My Dream for PSU is to build connections and power among all of us in PSU as well as strengthen connections to the other unions at UMass and in the region. This is a really important time for unions to work together.
First Goal: To get to know more PSU members by listening and learning from you. I love that PSU raises up and unites the staff on our campus.
By Iris Jenkins, PSU Member
PSU worked with the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) in January on “PSU is You!,” a video project aimed at encouraging both new and current members to think of the union as “our union” rather than “the union” and to become more involved in union activities. The project created nine short videos featuring individual PSU members. The videos will have many purposes, including:
• serving as part of the new employee orientation
By Ferd Wulkan, PSU staff
“Unit erosion” isn’t about soil or water. It’s when union jobs, either filled or vacant, are converted to non-unit positions. It’s a problem PSU is investigating and we look to our members for help in identifying when union jobs are taken out of the bargaining unit. There are two reasons why a professional position can legitimately be excluded from the PSU bargaining unit – i.e. not covered by the union contract.
By Liz Smith, PSU member