9.06.24
Dear members:
Thanks for joining us once again! I am Katie DiPierro of the CTE Faulty Association wishing you a good year and have some good news to share.
FACULTY ASSOCIATION GIVING BACK!
I am happy to announce that we have new scholarships available for our members! We have added three veteran teacher scholarships to help teachers with five years or more experience complete coursework. We’ve awarded 2 out of 3 at this time: 1 to a TA who’s completing her certification and another to a CTE teacher who’s working on their certification.
We also awarded a new teacher scholarship to a teaching assistant who’s working on completing her teaching grade. It’s also great news that we have brought back the scholarship for children of Faculty Association members!
And finally, I am proud to announce that we passed an MOA that makes it easier for retired, teaching assistants to return to work to support classrooms!
SAFETY CONCERNS:
Safety these days is a huge concern and we have had some wins recently in this category. Last year, we supported a group of teaching staff with a challenging hostile work environment. We also have worked with administration to push for increased workplace safety, and have added a workplace safety member of the executive board to remain focused on this initiative.NEGOTIATION YEAR:
This is a negotiation year, and we know that they have a lot of valuable information to share and that we will be sending out a survey and holding meetings to hear their ideas and input. This means we will have a negotiation collection INPUT MEETING. We will also have a DEBRIEFING MEETING after negotiations.
As far as some information we have already considered a priority, I can speak to these points: we know we need to raise salaries across the board to be competitive. We also know that Tier 6 is still a concern and will try to factor this into our negotiations. We want to know more about what is important to you!
We want to stress that your voice is important and participating in meetings and other forms of communication this year is crucial. We will first compile all the negotiation talking points in a survey and then we will meet with you in the negotiation special INPUT MEETING. That meeting will be just for negotiation concerns. (Stay tuned for the actual date!)
We hope you all have a good year!
In Sincere Gratitude and Solidarity,
Katie DiPierro, President, CRB Faculty Association
Dipierrokatie@gmail.com (518) 881-6379
—
9.05.23
Dear members:
Welcome back and we look forward to a happy, healthy and safe new 2023-2024 school year.
It is the mission of the Association this year to even more stay engaged with our Administration at all levels on an ongoing basis to secure safe and fair working conditions, compensation, and benefits packages for all of our members.
*The Executive Board has a shared goal of increasing involvement within the Association. Communication with our members is essential, and we want to hear from you. Therefore, please always so not hesitate to reach out!
As far as emails for communication is concerened, we do like to use personal emails whenever possible. We do, however, have NERIC email groups for each of the three units set up to notify you all of upcoming meetings, to request participation in CRBFA contract/election voting initiatives, or to direct you to your private email for important information items that may need your attention. A reminder to all members, you must check your work email on a daily basis. Once again, please make sure that you are using your private emails for all union related matters or concerns.
MEMBERSHIP INFO – Some Talk On Membership:
- If you have not done so recently, make sure to visit the NYSUT website to access all of your member benefits. Member benefits information, your member number, and any other pertinent NYSUT information can be accessed on the NYSUT website.
- Create your account by clicking on the “LOGIN” link on the upper right-hand corner of https://www.nysut.org/ and scrolling down to the “create an account” link. Be sure to include your private/home email address.
Once again, there are some new employees who need to know that there are many benefits of being a union member:
- Vote on contract, elect officers, and vote in meetings
- The following benefits were negotiated for our members through our collective bargaining agreement : health and safety, work year and contact hours, dental/health insurance, retiree benefits, sick and personal leave, child rearing leave, and negotiated salary increase …just to name a few!
- NYSUT members have available: insurance coverages, legal and financial services, Free college credits and CTLE courses, dining and shopping discounts, discounted car rentals and travel packages, health and safety services
BUILDING REPS NEEDED – We are looking for Building Representatives:
We NEED Reps that want to work with the Executive team to represent and communicate with members:
*We need all of our Reps attending Rep Council meetings to share their ideas, input, and concerns. By attending meeting reps are able to vote on policies that impact our members and to protect our contract.
What does it mean to be a Union Rep/what is the role a Rep:
- Advocating for our members
- Communicating with our members
- Sharing and answering questions related to our contract, district and building policies, federal and state laws related to labor and education, and member benefits.
Union Representatives are where members should go first for guidance, advice, and communication. The Chapter VPs will work with the union representatives to help develop these relationships. We want to hear from our members on how things are going and how we can be a support. Please reach out to your chapter VP with any questions or input.
ANTI-UNION PROPOGANDA: Our response to some of the anti-union/anti-NYSUT post cards you may have received/seen:
In the past weeks, the anti-union organization, the Freedom Foundation, has engaged in a significant and coordinated drop campaign targeting our members. While this latest round of mailers and emails is concerning, it’s nothing new. These are the same ultra-wealthy, anti-education bad actors who have been at it for years. We have come together to push back on this kind of attack before and we can do it again.
As you talk to your members throughout the summer and in the lead-up to the new school year, please make them aware of these anti-union activities. To help, here is some important background information:
Who is the Freedom Foundation?
They’re a private think tank and dark money group dedicated to diminishing the power of unions and crushing public schools. They are fueled by millions of dollars from notoriously anti-education billionaires like the DeVos, Mercer and Walton families. (More about the Freedom Foundation here.)
What do they want?
They are trying to get our members to drop the union to increase their own power. They use language about “freedom” and “choice” to entice members to do this. But don’t be fooled. What they really want is more power and money for themselves. By contrast, NYSUT is committed to the well-being of all our members, a robust and vibrant middle class, and the importance of our public schools to our communities.
The bottom line: strong unions like ours stand in the way of the Freedom Foundation achieving their objectives, so they are trying to destroy us, one dropped member at a time.
What do we suggest members do if they get a mailer or email?
• Know it to be a cynical ploy from billionaires to take away their voice and power.
• Be Proactive – Have one-to-one conversations with your members about the union’s value. We know this is the single best way to ensure our members aren’t susceptible to anti-union messaging.
• Contact your LRS if you or your members have been targeted by these efforts. Opt-out solicitations sent to members’ school email addresses likely violate district IT policies and collective bargaining provisions.
• Throw out any mailing you get, like they would any other junk mail.
• For emails, they should unsubscribe or send to junk; do not reply.
• In the event of any direct outreach from anti-union forces such as phone calls or door-knockers, members should reply strongly and simply: “No thanks. I’m sticking with my union.” Then end the conversation.
• DON’T forward along any emails or publicly post any content from mailers. We don’t want to help the Freedom Foundation spread its anti-union messages.
We want to hear from our members on how things are going and how we can be a support. Please reach out to your chapter VP with any questions or input. Call me if you need me!
In Sincere Gratitude and Solidarity,
Katie DiPierro, President, CRB Faculty Association
Dipierrokatie@gmail.com (518) 881-6379
