MTA Union News: Happy Thanksgiving – and Happy MTA Anniversary!

MTA Union News: Happy Thanksgiving – and Happy MTA Anniversary!


Greetings,

We want to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. It seems more important than ever to deeply enjoy a gathering of friends and family for fun and good eating, share our good fortune with those who have less, and commit to making that number smaller by next year.

And while you are celebrating the national holiday, we hope you’ll take a moment to note that Thanksgiving this year falls on the anniversary of the founding of your union, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, in 1845 – making the MTA the oldest educators’ association in the United States. Our recent successes – at the bargaining table, in the streets and at the ballot box – are part of a long legacy of the MTA demanding outstanding public education and fair workplaces for public school and college educators.

This past weekend, the MTA Board of Directors took the first steps toward claiming a “fair share of the Fair Share Amendment” by passing an agenda for the upcoming legislative session.

MTA Events

EMAC Conference: This is a reminder to register for the 43rd annual Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee Conference, which will be held at The Verve Hotel in Natick on Dec. 2 and 3. Please register today! Plenary speaker David Stovall electrified the Board meeting this past Saturday. Don’t miss out on his presentation, a series of workshops and a member-led dance troupe performance.

The Higher Ed For All campaign, led by the MTA, is dedicated to expanding access to Massachusetts public colleges and universities and to ensuring that learning and working conditions are equitably meeting the needs of all students and workers.

Solidarity Actions

There are so many local actions taking place – and so many members eager to support their union siblings – that we have created a link where you can view a regularly updated list of solidarity actions. Please add in future dates that your local plans to have actions so other MTA members can join.

Political Education

On Thanksgiving Day 1915, the body of Joe Hill, labor organizer, Wobbly, and composer and singer of some of the greatest labor songs in our history, was on view in Chicago after his murder a week before at the hands of the authorities in Utah. The day before his death, he wrote notes to some of the thousands of individuals and organizations that had called for him to be saved from an unjust firing squad. Hill’s answer has become one of the simplest and clearest of labor’s rules: “Don’t mourn. Organize.”

Read more about Joe Hill’s last days and his legacy.

In solidarity,

Max and Deb