Members of the East Baton Rouge Federation of Teachers and School Employees attended the 2011 Louisiana Federation of Teachers Union Leadership Institute on June 29 at the Plumbers Union Hall in Baton Rouge.

Link to important information at the Department of Education

This recent week in review provides a summary of numerous current issues.

Tired of business people who never spent a day in a classroom, yet think they know how to reform education? Here's a famous story about an "eye-opening" experience one of them had, told by Jamie Vollmer, maker of the "best ice cream in America" and the man who had his mind changed.

www.youtube.com/watch

Text at www.jamievollmer.com/blueberries.html

The recipients for the 2011-2012 Cheryl Anderson Awards were recently named. (click for more)

We have just learned that the proponents of SB 5, those advocating for a yes vote on Issue 2, have bought TV air time in the following media markets in Ohio:  Cleveland, Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, Toledo and southern Ohio and their ads will begin tomorrow.

All Arc of Monmouth staff in Bargaining Unit positions begin paying dues after 30 days of employment and are then entitled to an AFT membership card.  The information on our membership is transmitted to AFT when our Local 3782 Treasurer sends in monthly dues money transferred to us from Arc's Accounting Department.
 
If you have not received a membership card from national AFT after we have included you in our dues report to AFT, you can request one by calling AFT Membership Services at 1-888-238-5646.  Although the official name for our local is Federation of NJARC Staff, national AFT has us listed as Monarch Federation of Staff.  Our Local number is 3782.
 
You can also request a card online at http://www.aft.org/members/index.cfm.  To register for the "members only" section of the AFT website you will need your membership number and local number.  If you do not have the membership number, you can request it by clicking on a "needs help" icon or any link to AFT membership services to request help.  You will need to fill out an online help request form.  Membership services will email the membership number to you, and you can then register on the website and request a membership card or a replacement membership card.  You can also print out a temporary membership card pending receipt of the permanent plastic card.

Several Local 3782 members have reported how pleased they are with using their AFT cards for AFT Plus merchandise and entertainment discounts.

Dear Members,

As Chair of the Negotiating Committee, I have two goals.  One is to negotiate a contract that will benefit our members, and the other is to complete the process in a civil and timely manner.  I truly believe this process can unite or divide the college, and I think we can all agree that we need to come together and work together as a community so that we can all rebuild and recapture the spirit that made us strong.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to the bargaining survey.  I have compiled the results and want to assure you that your voices will be heard at the bargaining table.

In order to expedite the process, Lynne Cottelli and I have met with our state rep, Joanna McAvoy, to get our contracts in line with each other.  We are attempting to use similar language throughout  on many or most of the articles we have in common.  Unfortunately, in order to accomplish that, we must compare the language word by word and make adjustments as needed.  As you can imagine, that takes a lot of time.

It is our expectation that we will begin to meet with administration sometime next month with the goal of being finished before the contract expires in June.  The college has not yet announced who will be on their bargaining team, but the fact that Dr. Mazur was not only a union president but also a union lobbyist gives me all kinds of hope that we won’t encounter the union-busting mentality that seemed to consume the last administration’s bargaining team.

I will do my best to post updates on this website, and you can reach me at jones0101@gmail.com.

In Solidarity,

Jan