Ø Wed. April 19, Grade-In: Sit in for Solidarity on the 2nd floor of Welch Hall, 9am-1pm

Ø Fri. April 21, Regents Meeting: Members are encouraged to attend in support of a Fair contract for Lecturers. Meet outside of Welch Hall by the Cesar Chavez statue at 10 am and wear red.

Ø Thursday, April 20, 9am-2pm, Bargaining, 217 Halle

Ø Sat. April 22, Commencement: Members are invited to hand out Fair Contract flyers at graduation. Contact Matt (cooper492@yahoo.com), or Tim (emuftorganizer@gmail.com, (734) 487-5448) to sign up or for more info.

The Eastern Michigan University administration has proposed a 25% pay cut for new lecturers, and a pay freeze for current lecturers. New lecturers would have to teach for 5+ years before they would earn the amount that lecturers make today.

The administration’s proposal also eliminates promotions and the small amount of job security this provides, and demotes lecturers who have already been promoted. Part-time lecturers would earn less than half of what full-time lecturers earn per credit.

"The Detroit Board of Education today voted to appoint Dr. Nikolai Vitti superintendent of the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD.)

On Saturday 4/8 the bargaining team presented nine articles and TA'd three: Academic Freedom, Membership Dues, and Strikes and Lockouts. There were no changes to Academic Freedom. Membership Dues was updated to comply with Right to Work legislation. The original Strikes language stated that the union would not call a strike; the new language also stipulates that the university will not lockout lecturers. 

Spring 2017 Spearhead Newsletter

In the aftermath of the House’s stunning failure to pass a budget (due to Republican intra-party feuding), the Senate becomes the focal point of attention, as it works to develop a budget proposal.  Using Governor Sununu’s budget proposal as a starting point, the Senate will craft a budget and attach it as an amendment to a House bill.  That amended bill will then be sent back to the House, which will of course reject the bill, forcing a committee of conference to hammer out the final details of the State’s 2017-18 biennial budget.  So, much remains to be done, but much of it will occur behind the scenes, in negotiations between the Senate, the Governor, and the House.  Stay tuned-this will not be finished until June 2017.

The 2017 Maryland Legislative session has ended and the Governor’s budget did not include a COLA or funding for step increments. Still, the legislature did move forward on some bills that benefit state employees

The locals of AFT-Maryland came together for a financial services workshop that was attended by many of the treasurers and leadership of the various locals of the state federation. The workshop was led by Kay Neipert, CPA, CFE, CICA from the AFT.