Welcome Back From Your Faculty Staff Union
9/5/2023
Dear Members,
Happy new academic year! The next few days are exciting as we reconnect with colleagues, meet new colleagues, and greet our students. I hope you had a relaxing, restful, and productive period of non-responsibility. And for those new to UMB, we welcome you to campus and wish you a positive and productive semester ahead.
Your union is gearing up for a busy semester. Many of our activities and actions include numerous ways for you to get involved.
Before listing our activities, I know you want to know the status of our ratified one-year contract, specifically the 4% raise due July 1st. The short answer is we are waiting for the State Legislature to come back from summer recess and vote on the supplemental budget. Once this happens, the governor signs the budget and funding is sent to state agencies. For us, that is the UMass President’s Office who then distributes the funds to each campus.
The legislature went on summer recess after adopting the state budget and did not vote on the supplemental. They are due back this week. MTA government relations staff are lobbying hard to get a vote as soon as possible for us and for our CSU (Classified Staff Union) and DCU (Department Chairs Union) colleagues. I do not expect any votes until the end of the month. Once the campus receives our funding, the FSU will share the retroactive pay processing schedule.
Just a few upcoming activities:
Impact Bargaining: The reorganization of MGS into CLA and the Gerontology Department into the Manning School of Nursing and Health Sciences requires impact bargaining because the reorganization affects contractual issues requiring both the union and administration to meet to negotiate the impact(s).
Special election: The Executive Committee has an opening for a tenured member. Watch for details.
Parking Bargaining: We are in coalition with the CSU, DCU and PSU to bargain a new agreement that was ratified in 2018. Both sides have met and exchanged proposals. Watch for future emails with more details.
The Cherish Act: This legislation dedicates funding to public higher education in four areas: Debt-free Public College, Increase Funding for Student Supports, Hire and Retain Highly Qualified Faculty and Staff to Support Students and Investments in Long-Term and Sustainable Campus Infrastructure.
On September 14th, the FSU is joining with CSU, PSU, and GEO in holding a legislator luncheon to share how Cherish can enhance UMB and urge legislators to publicly support Cherish. Use this link to learn more about Cherish and to RSVP (required) https://www.mobilize.us/massteacher/event/577948/
If you cannot join us on the14th, please consider attending the September 18th Legislative hearing at the State House. We want to pack the hearing room. There will be a bus from (and back) UMB. More details forthcoming on September 11th.
FSU Executive Committee Meetings: The FSU Executive Committee meetings are open to all FSU members. Meetings are from 2:00PM to 3:30PM. We meet this semester on the following dates/times: September 12th, 26th, October 10th, 24th, November 7th, 21st and December 5th.
Reminder: Annual Faculty Reviews are due no later than September 18th.
MTA Benefits: Your FSU membership comes with both MTA and NEA benefits. Check out the attached flyer for a few MTA benefits.
This is your union, and our ability to shape UMass Boston and public higher education policy depends on collective action and your participation. If you have not yet joined the FSU, we encourage you to do so.
Have a great semester and do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Caroline Coscia
FSU President
Senior Lecturer II
Political Science Department
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