Big Wins for YES on 2: Endorsements & Canvassing Boost
Big Wins for YES on 2: Endorsements & Canvassing Boost
Greetings,
We hope you are enjoying the last week of summer as you prepare for your return to your beloved classrooms.
If you can, please try to watch some of the Democratic National Convention, which opened on Monday and continues through Thursday, when Vice President Kamala Harris will speak after accepting the nomination as the Democratic candidate for president. Already, the convention has had plenty of highlights featuring the power of the labor movement. UAW President Shawn Fain, who spoke Monday, reminded us that Harris stood alongside striking union workers and working Americans: “Donald Trump is all talk and Kamala Harris walks the walk.” Fain, who received the MTA’s Friend of Labor Award, is shown speaking in some excerpts here.
Our YES on 2 campaign to end the use of the MCAS as a graduation requirement is off to a remarkable start with over 120,000 doors knocked and 170,000 calls made, and a big boost coming from a half dozen canvasses across the state this past Saturday. Endorsements are coming in regularly, including one this week from the Massachusetts Nurses Association.
We need every single one of you, our members, to talk to your family and friends, talk to your coworkers, and take at least one shift walking your neighborhood or making calls to voters in your region. Please sign up now on the YES on 2 website.
MTA Events, Opportunities and Solidarity Actions
NEA and NEASO Reach Tentative Agreement
We are glad to report that the NEA and its staff union, NEASO, have reached a tentative agreement. Read more from the NEASO and NEA’s joint statement.
Help Promote Survey for LGBTQIA2S+ Youth NEA’s longtime partner, GLSEN, is conducting its annual National School Climate Survey, and needs your help to reach respondents! This survey is a premier study of the school experiences of LGBTQIA2S+ youth, including the challenges they face and the resources that support their well-being. Data from this survey is used by NEA and its affiliates to inform work with educators and policy advocacy at the federal, state and local levels.
Please share information about this survey with your colleagues and students! Resources are available here. If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Hilario Benzon at hbenzon@nea.org.
Registration Open for ESP Leadership Weekends
The MTA ESP Leadership Weekends program is a four-weekend course focused on leadership and communication strategies, strengthening interpersonal skills and supporting emerging ESP leaders. This is a great way for Education Support Professionals to gain crucial skills and connect with others in the field. Sign up by Sept. 30.
2024-2025 Funding Requests for Attending National Conferences
The MTA is accepting applications for members to request funding to attend national conferences during this academic year. This is a great opportunity for members to immerse themselves in union and job-specific education while engaging with members across the country. National conferences provide an opportunity to learn from renowned leaders, share stories with other members, and learn from one other. Limited funding from both the MTA and NEA is provided for these conferences. Space is also limited. To apply for funding, please fill out this form.
The Destructive Profiteering of Steward Health Care
The MTA and its members stand with health care workers in opposing the closure of Carney Hospital in Dorchester and Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer. Families need access to high-quality hospitals just as they need access to high-quality public schools. The corporate greed of Steward Health Care is responsible for these hospital closings, and state officials’ lack of leadership in protecting the hospitals and communities they serve is unacceptable. We are pleased that the Healey administration has now acted to save four of six hospitals that were threatened with closure. It must now do whatever it takes to save Carney and Nashoba Valley – and workers and families must always be ready to fight together for what their communities need and deserve.
Political Education
Cornell University workers have just gone on strike. UNITE HERE Local 26, in Boston and Rhode Island, has taken a strike vote and may go out next week. The UAW is preparing for a possible strike to make Stellantis honor the contract the company just signed. If you think strikes are on the upswing, you are right. Check out the Economic Policy Institute’s paper on the rise of strikes, which also notes efforts to limit the right to strike, and how the federal government should act to protect this basic human right.
In solidarity,
Max and Deb