Activism

5/13/2020

Dear Colleague,

Across the UMass System, because they are facing shortfalls in the 2019-20 budget (UMass Boston is not facing shut a shortfall), campuses are asking staff at Lowell, Amherst, Dartmouth, and UMass Medical to take furloughs (unpaid days of work; some have accepted these).  UMass Lowell laid off 60 out of 130 maintenance staff.  UMass Amherst and Lowell did not provide classes for fall 2020 to adjunct faculty whom they cannot re-hire. 

5/11/2020

Dear Colleague,

We hope you are doing well. Below is the information for tomorrow’s town hall and information  on a union coalition letter we signed and sent to President Meehan.

► All-Union Meeting on the Budget Cuts: Tomorrow, Tuesday 5/12, 12-1pm.  We will be discussing what is happening on other campuses, at UMB, and will plan and organize for anticipated budget cuts.   See the attached flier. 

5/7/2020

Dear Colleague,

I hope the end of the semester is going well for you. The FSU is organizing with the other unions on campus around the university’s planned budget cuts, working with the MTA to protect adjuncts and others at the state level, and (via the MTA) asking for more aid at the federal level to prevent budget cuts. Please join these efforts below:  

3/19/2020

Dear Colleagues,

The FSU Executive Committee is committed to the physical health, mental health and financial security of all UMass Boston students, faculty, and staff, as well as that of the larger UMass community. We believe UMass can and should be a leader in ensuring these values as we work remotely.  Thus far, while UMass students, faculty and librarians have been allowed to work remotely in the interest of public health, many staff have not been offered the same freedom and assurance.  They need our support.

3/16/2020

Dear Colleague:

Our sisters and brothers in PSU, CSU, GEO and other unions on the UMass Boston campus need your immediate assistance. The University is still requiring “essential” employees to come to campus tomorrow and for the rest of the semester. The definition of essential has been left up to supervisors and in some areas it is being defined very broadly. Please circulate the following petition to FSU members so that they can demand that that Interim Chancellor Newman keep the community safe: