Friday, September 15, 2017
Education Association of Worcester (EAW)
Grove Street, Worcester 01605
10:00am
Attending: Sherry Horeanopoulos (President/Fitchburg), Charlie Cianfarini (VP/MCLA), Jim Murphy (Treasurer), Michael Pelletier (Salem), Michael Storey (Bridgewater), Howie Larosee (Mass Art), Mark Powers (Framingham), Alan Jackson (Worcester), Edward Vacha (Mass Maritime), Katie D’Urso (MTA)
Not attending: Aaron Childs (Membership), Rich Sutter (Westfield), Kathi Bradford (Secretary),
I. Call to Order 10:14am
II. Approval of June Minutes and August Minutes
– Moved: AJackson – Seconded: Mike Storey Sherry abstained from June, all others approved, August approval unanimous.
III. President’s Report
- Discussed Vacation/Personal leave accrual reduction (480>350). If we have to accept the reduction, proposal to buy back that time in full.
- We reviewed the current APA Proposals.
- Westfield State’s faculty is not attending Open House; others are following suit in other situations. Librarians in MSCA do not have the vacation and sick accrual language in their proposals. Salary offer is not cost of living equitable. Not back on cycle with the other union affiliates.
- Mark proposed: July 1 2017 would be a retroactive 1%. Then January 1 would kick in the 3‐ year contract under the current Parameters
- i. Jan 1, 2017 – Jun 30, 2017 .5% (6‐month contract at .5%)
- ii. New Contract begins ‐ Jul 1, 2017 – .5%
- iii. Jan 1, 2018 – .5%
- iv. Jul 1, 2018 – 1%
- v. Jan 1, 2019 – 1%
- vi. Jul 1, 2019 – 1%
- vii. Jan 1, 2020 – 1%
- Charlie suggested withdrawing all the language changes regarding FMLA. Contract is really good as it stands.
- Negotiations meeting on September 25th will be in Auburn at the MTA Office at 10:00am.
IV. Treasurer’s Report/ Audit Report
- September APA expense reports due Tuesday, September 19th.
- Jim gave treasurer’s report – Board members should have received this via email during the week
- Audit went well – increase in fee of $300.00 in 2017
- Auditors will report in November at the APA Annual meeting in Salem
V. Motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report
– Mark Powers
VI. Seconded by Charlie – unanimous approval
VII. Membership and Data
(submitted by Aaron via email prior to the meeting)
- We currently have: 1381 members (decrease of 10 since August) 73 Agency Fee Members (decrease of 1)
- In working with benefits manager here at Westfield I have a proper contact (Michael Murray) at the DHE to inform them when the agency fee rates change in January.
- My July mailing to the MTA apparently got lost either in the Mail or at MTA. I’ve asked the local membership coordinators to send me a copy of the enrollment forms of the new members who were part of that mailing. 25 forms were lost.
- Katie mentioned that Aaron has done an amazing job chasing down a person at Salem State who will be becoming an Agency Fee payer
- AJ mentioned that Aaron also has been updating the APA website
VIII. Health and Welfare Report
- No report. First meeting will be next Friday. Usage is usually high in August – expects an increase for that period.
IX. Committee Reports
- n/a
X. Old/New Business
- All‐In campaign. This is MTAs campaign for improving communication and getting involved in issues that employees are concerned with across the state. Emphasizes the need for involvement in issues. Katie handed out packet for the All‐In campaign, including petitions for minimum wage and sick leave benefits.
- Deadline for getting signed petitions to Katie is the Annual Meeting date – November 17 ‐ in Salem. Janus case is pending in the Supreme Court. We should know by the Annual Meeting if the SJC will hear the case. MTA would like to build a structure where 1 leader will talk to 10 people about Union membership and hopefully one person from that group will talk to 10 more people and so on. Need to keep track of it all. – MTA would like to collect email addresses to communicate directly.
- Mark brought up that the MTA dues may be considered by some members as high. This could be a reason that people opt out of the Union.
- Katie mentioned that without Union memberships or fewer members – there is no power. This needs to be emphasized.
- There was a discussion about the benefits and other issues. Bottom line is that we need to emphasize the bargaining power we have as a group if the union is strong. Charlie commented that we really need to be “Historians” to “advertise” the facts of what unions accomplished over the years to give us the benefits we enjoy today.
- Mark made the point that without the Unions, no regular increases would be offered by the state.
- NEA is offering additional insurance for certain employees for @13.00 per month. She will forward the information to all of the Presidents to disburse to members who would be affected. CAS petition. Several positions to be filed. Katie will file Monday. The Petition will be for 6 positions.
- Tuition Remission at UMass – same amount of money that the fees used to be. Should be full reimbursement – not 50%.
- AJ discussed APA Administrators teaching during the day – at Worcester State, there has to be an Academic Department that sponsors the administrator to teach. Limit of 15% Adjuncts vs Fulltime faculty. He would like to know what other schools are doing. Athletic Trainers: Excessive hours, excessive days in a row worked. What can be done?
- MTA has reserved the Education Association of Worcester (EAW) conference room for the following APA Board meetings:
- Sept. 15, 2017
- Oct. 20, 2017
- Dec. 15, 2017 i
- Jan. 19, 2018
- April 20, 2018
- May 18, 2018
- The address is 397 Grove Street, Worcester 01605. Please park in the back parking lot of the Immaculate Conception Church.
XI. Adjournment
- Motion to adjourn – Mark
- Howie Seconded. Unanimous approval
Next Meeting: Negotiations in Auburn on September 25th and October 10 at 10:00am, then Board Meeting on Friday, October 20, 2017 ‐ 10am, Worcester (see below)