Colleagues,
On behalf of the NTU Executive Board and Staff, we want to wish you all a restful Winter Recess. It has already been a difficult year in many ways, and as always, our members wen above and beyond to meet those challenges. Just a few quick updates:
It was brought to our attention that Aetna has increased our health insurance premiums by 17.85%. We are meeting with NPS and the other union heads tomorrow to discuss this untimely increase further. It is important to note that this it wasn't a negotiated or negotiable change. In fact, we warned the then state-operated school board and Superintendent about Aetna in 2016 (see below emails). Short term savings were promised, but as we said at the time, "we hesitate to trust any claim [being] made by the district [about this change]."
Happy Holidays! Here is our latest newsletter.
http://sabea.ny.aft.org/sites/default/files/article_pdf_files/2018-12/sabea_nwsltr_dec18.pdf
December 10, 2018 — The membership of United Faculty and Academic Staff voted to endorse an open and public letter to Regent President John Behling expressing grave concerns about UW System's draft program productivity monitoring policy. The letter calls on the Board of Regents to reject the proposed policy in its present form. Please click on the hyperlink to read the letter in its entirety.
Milwaukee, WI--“Thanks to Chairman Theodore Lipscomb and the entire County Board for realizing the need to end the relationship with these for-profit corporations that care more about profit than the health of the community. It is members of our community that reside in the correctional system and they deserve quality healthcare services--in fact it is their human right,” said Candice Owley, President of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals.
As the holidays draw closer, everyone is getting in the spirit. That includes Baltimore County Federation of Public Employees (BCFPE) President John Ripley. President Ripley brought some cheer to our Metro Baltimore AFL-CIO neighbors in Harford County joining with the Fallston Volunteer Fire and Ambulance and the Marine Corps Reserve for their Toys for Tots program.
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In this issue:
1) Another huge legal victory!
2) NTU Coat and Toy Drive
3) Scholarship opportunities
and much more
Your Union had to delete the Constitution and By-Laws because additions had been made without the approval of the Executive Board. These changes will be reviewed by the board during our January meeting. We hope to be prepared to vote on the Constitution and By-Laws during our February meeting.
Teachers and support staff at New Foundations Charter School in Philadelphia ratified their first union contract unanimously after 11 months of negotiations. The faculty and staff voted to join the Alliance of Charter School Employees, Local 6056 of the American Federation of Teachers, AFT Pennsylvania, in 2017.
Celebrating one of our own! The new Baltimore County executive John Olszewski Jr. has named BCFPE President and AFT-Maryland Vice President John Ripley to his transition team. Ripley has been assigned to the public safety workgroup.
