MTA Union News: Powerful case made for MTA priorities
MTA Union News: Powerful case made for MTA priorities
Greetings,
It has been a busy week of events, actions, victories and media. Here’s a quick rundown, as you hopefully begin to power down and get some well-deserved rest over the break.
At our Dec. 8 legislative hearing and press conference, MTA members argued powerfully about the need for high-quality, debt-free public higher education; further investments in prek-12 public schools (including for more counselors, as Springfield Education Association President Tracy Little-Sasanecki is doing in the accompanying photograph); an end to the high-stakes testing regime; a return of the legal right to strike; and fair Cost of Living Adjustments — COLAs — for our Retired members.
Congratulations to our members in Medford, who won a stronger contract after persistent solidarity actions. All power to our Melrose Education Association members, who voted down a tentative agreement they felt failed to honor their contributions and the working conditions they need to best serve students.
Congratulations to University of California workers, who led the largest strike in higher education in U.S. history, winning historic gains for some of the lowest-paid employees on campus.
Check out this article by Max in Labor Notes, describing how our members helped bring us to victory in the Fair Share Amendment campaign.
Finally, here’s our statement about the new Massachusetts Secretary of Education, named by Governor-elect Maura Healey. Patrick Tutwiler is a longtime educator and principal and the former superintendent of the Lynn Public Schools. He has earned much praise from our union siblings in the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts.
Compared to the Pioneer Institute’s Jim Peyser, who is in his final two weeks as Governor Charlie Baker’s secretary of education, Tutwiler promises to be a leader rooted not in the business-led education reform movement, but in the real public education community.
Will he and Governor Healey invest in “PreK-16” public education? Will they join us in winning debt-free public higher education and fair wages for staff and faculty? Will they have the courage to follow our lead and call for an end to the destructive, high-stakes testing regime? The proof will be in the policies.
Solidarity Actions
An ongoing list of solidarity actions: A regular feature of our weekly email is this list, where you can view upcoming actions. Please add your own with this form. The more we show up for one another, the greater the power we generate for local and statewide campaigns.
Today (Tuesday), at 3:30 p.m., the Melrose Education Association will gather again at City Hall to offer some “gifts” to the mayor and to tell him and the school committee to get back to the table and negotiate a fair contract.
On Wednesday, Dec. 21, at 3:15 p.m., at 34 Coddington St. in Quincy, the Quincy Education Association will hold a rally to maintain pressure on a school committee and mayor who refuse to negotiate a fair contract with Quincy educators.
Higher education members are gathering signatures on this petition in support of fair pay increases. Our higher education members don’t negotiate directly on salaries with their employers, which are the Board of Higher Education for community college and state university employees and the UMass Board of Trustees for UMass employees. Instead, they rely on the governor to issue salary “parameters” – effectively describing what pay raises will be offered in upcoming negotiations.
We are asking Governor-elect Healey to show her support for workers by putting forward pay parameters that help our higher ed members recover from below-inflation pay raises that have left them about 12 percent behind where they should have been over the past eight years, and to make further investments that bring a greater degree of equity to underpaid classified staff.
The petition is just the first step. Further actions will follow. Higher ed members will be looking to preK-12 union siblings to support them.
MTA Events
2023 Licensure Workshops
The MTA will be offering another installment of Licensure Workshops in January. Basics for Provisional and Initial Licensure is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 12. It will cover the first steps toward licensure, making it appropriate for aspiring educators, Education Support Professionals and early career educators. Acquiring and Renewing Your Professional License is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 26, and will focus on moving from an Initial to a Professional license and the Professional License Renewal process. This workshop is meant for educators with three-plus years of employment. Both workshops will run from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Please register here!
Also, The Policy Minute, published by our Center for Education Policy and Practice, is an incredible resource that can assist with your questions involving licensure. All you need is an email address to subscribe and receive updates from CEPP.
2023 Union Skills Winter Conference
Please join us for MTA’s Union Skills Winter Conference on Saturday, Feb. 4, in Boston. The conference will include a variety of 75-minute workshops related to the core activities of local unions. Offerings center on the MTA’s NEW Bargaining Certificate Program, grievance handling, organizing against MCAS, communications, leadership development, contract campaigns, and more! There will also be an opportunity to learn about the MTA’s legislative goals and how members can get involved to win Higher Ed for All, the end to MCAS, and the right to strike. Space is limited; Click here to register!
2023 Winter PDPs
Attention MTA members who are looking to earn professional development points for license renewal: You can choose from seven online courses focusing on English as a Second Language, Sheltered English Immersion or Special Education this winter. All courses are FREE to MTA members.
Registration for these courses will open at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Space is limited. Please set a reminder to improve your chance at securing a seat in the program of your choice. For more information, please visit our “Learn with the MTA” webpage.
Winning Our Statewide Campaigns
In a series of workshops for member activists, we will introduce our statewide campaigns to our membership in early winter 2023. These regional Constituent Power Building Workshops will train members on our initiatives as well as how to be effective advocates. The series will follow this schedule:
January 10: Quincy, at 4 p.m.
January 17: Worcester, at 4 p.m.
January 19: Holyoke, at 4 p.m.
January 24: Lynnfield, at 4 p.m.
January 31: Raynham, at 4 p.m.
February 4: Boston, at 9 a.m. (Winter Skills Conference)
The workshops will culminate at the Winter Skills Conference, on Feb. 4 in Boston. We will partner with Act on Mass for this work.
Political Education
We recommend that you read this long but compelling and widely discussed essay by Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, about the roots of the struggles left-wing organizations face within, and how we must move forward to achieve our common good goals.
And here’s your Graph of the Week from the Economic Policy Institute.
As productivity increases, pay should increase. That was a fairly reliable rule prior to 1980. After 1980, the productivity of American workers continued to grow but their pay leveled off. The EPI graph and article explain why.
In solidarity, and wishing you a happy New Year,
Max and Deb