Dear Statewide Members,

I hope you were all able to find time to rest and enjoy the company of family and friends during the holidays and are as ready as you can be for our Spring Semester that is underway for many, if not all, of our campuses.

I am excited and humbled as I start my term as APA State-wide President.  I am glad that Susan McNeil of Mass Art has taken up the Vice Presidency – I have never met anyone as passionate about union rights and power than her; I am looking forward to working with her and the rest of the Executive Board. We have a great team of leaders from all our campuses on the Executive APA Board that always find a way to work together for all our members despite our diverse views.  I know we have big shoes to fill from Sherry and Charlie, but I know our passion, experience, and willingness to fight for our rights and benefits will continue unabated.

As we met on Friday, January 21^st, we discussed the question on many members’ minds – when will our contract be funded?  We will be issuing a letter to the Governor to demand that he submit his Supplemental Budget request along with his 2023 Budget.  We are also working to get support from the other unions that have ratified their contracts and are also awaiting funding.  And to round this out, we are reaching out to the MTA Government Relations Team to get their support.

The APA is continuing to watch and monitor the changing recommendations around vaccines and masks, and we are prepared to negotiate should new requests be made.   The APA will continue to advocate for the health and wellbeing of our members and a healthy working environment.

I hope you all have a productive start to the semester, and I wish you all good health.

Seth Bean
APA President