Beacon Hill Delivers Wins on Key MTA Priorities
Beacon Hill Delivers Wins on Key MTA Priorities
Greetings, MTA members,
Last Thursday, a day after the MTA Summer Conference ended, was busy at the State House, bringing some victories, or steps on the way to victories.
Our higher ed campuses are facing hundreds of layoffs due to the Trump Administration cancelling National Institute of Health and National Science Foundation grants. The governor, to her credit, took our recommendation and is proposing that $200 million from the Fair Share Amendment funds that were above and beyond what was budgeted be dedicated to protecting all the jobs on our campuses related to research.
Across the building, the Senate voted for a “bell-to-bell” ban on cellphones in our public schools. After hearing from so many of you that cellphones are interfering with learning and causing fights, we have voiced our support for the bill. We hope the House will pass it soon.
Back over in the House of Representatives, the House unanimously passed our RetirementPlus fix, which allows thousands of veteran educators to retire with dignity. So many had been denied access to the valuable program through no fault of their own. This one-time fix is an act of simple justice.
We are often frustrated with the slow pace of work on our priorities in the state Legislature. It was good to see the machinery of Beacon Hill turning in the right direction as legislators head off for a break before returning in September.
MTA Events, Opportunities and Solidarity Actions
Save the Date – Labor Day Solidarity Parade
When: Sept. 1, 9:30 a.m.
Where: Boston
Just as all of you and millions across the country showed up for rallies and marches for May Day and No Kings Day, we need to do so again. Protests alone won’t stop rising authoritarianism, but they are necessary to demonstrate that we will defend our democracy. There’s a simple calculation that researchers say has held true around the world – if we can get 3.5 percent of the population to participate – that's about 12 million people.
All Presidents Meeting
When: Sept. 20, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Sheraton Framingham Hotel and Conference Center
Save the date, please! Earlier today, we sent a registration link for all of our local presidents (and their invited members) to join us on Sept. 20. At this meeting we will celebrate the many victories of the past year, share the Board of Directors’ ratified priorities for our union for the coming year, strategize together about how to fight back to protect our public schools and colleges from federal attacks, learn about the resources for having you win the school committee and city council elected officials you deserve, and many other priorities. This is primarily for local leaders, but we urge them to bring a small team of other local leaders and member activists. If you are interested, please contact your local president.
Update on Higher Ed Contracts
A supplemental budget bill including all of our ratified higher ed contracts has passed. The bill includes contracts for the Massachusetts Society of Professors at UMass Amherst and UMass Lowell; the Faculty Staff Union at UMass Boston; the Association of Professional Administrators at the state universities; the University Staff Association at UMass Amherst; the Classified Staff Union at UMass Boston; and the Professional Staff Union at UMass Amherst. A ton of credit to all of you for moving ratifications along very quickly once the contracts were settled, and to MTA Government Relations’ Sean King for doing a remarkable job shepherding these contracts through. The last contract – the MSP contract at UMass Lowell – was ratified on Tuesday, and Sean worked to get it into the “supp” on Wednesday, before the Legislature passed it on Thursday. A big thank you to Senator Jo Comerford and her staff for making sure that every contract made it into the supplemental budget bill.
Political Education
I promised I would share some writings by our remarkable plenary speakers from our summer conference. Last week, I shared some of the works of Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor.
The final morning was spent with Maurice Mitchell, national director of the Working Families Party, which has been building a powerful third voice in state politics, and is bringing their progressive, working-class political agenda to Massachusetts.
It’s worth taking a look at what the WFP stands for, as the MTA Board of Directors made a priority to explore supporting and working with alternative political voices in Massachusetts. WFP is a possible partner. You might also find this article about Building Resilient Organizations valuable for your own local or other organizations you are a part of. Absolutely worth a read.
In solidarity,
Max and Deb