Monday, April 4: Union Solidarity at Pratt

Monday, April 4:  Union Solidarity at Pratt
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WORKERS’ RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS!

National Day of Union Solidarity on the Pratt Campus

Please Join Us For A Lunchtime Roundtable Discussion

Monday, April 4, 12:30-2pm, in the Alumni Reading Room, 3rd floor of the Library.

All members of the Pratt community are welcome.

On April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated while in Memphis supporting the collective bargaining rights of sanitation workers.  Since February 11, 2011, thousands of people have protested in Wisconsin supporting the collective bargaining rights of state public employees.

What connects these two struggles?

How might we claim the vitality of the historic fight for labor rights and Dr. King’s anti-poverty campaigns for the current fight to strengthen American unions? What do the attempts to take away rights from organized labor mean on a global and national scale—and how does it affect our daily lives here on the Pratt campus?

What is your experience and connection to labor and unions? What connections do we in the Pratt community have to the struggle for collective bargaining and worker rights in NYC and beyond?

In commemoration of Dr. King’s work, April 4, 2011, has been declared a National Day of Union Solidarity—a chance for people across the country to gather and show support for Unions and current labor struggles.  Here on the Pratt campus, we’re marking this day by providing a forum for students, faculty, and employees alike to learn about and discuss Dr. King’s legacy and current labor struggles.  Please join us!

Hosted by Emily Beall, Moderated by Tracie Morris

(for the Ad Hoc Health Care for Pratt Working Group: http://healthcareforpratt.blogspot.com/ ).

Please contact Emily with any questions, or for more information:  emilybeall@gmail.com

Comments Off | By trotsky | March 31st, 2011

Part-Time Health Benefits Initiative

A group of union members has initiated a much-needed awareness campaign to draw attention to the following:

  • 75-80% of Pratt faculty are currently deemed ineligible for any form of health insurance benefits through the Institute
  • Of Pratt’s yearly operating budget of 170 million, less than 20% is spent on faculty (that’s including all part-time and full-time faculty benefits).
  • The Pratt administration has agreed to provide healthcare benefits for part-timers in the past 2 contracts, but has yet to honor these agreements in practice.
  • Every other college of Pratt’s prestige and caliber in NYC provides healthcare benefits to both full and part-time faculty (including The New School, Cooper Union, School of Visual Arts, CUNY, NYU, and Columbia).
  • UFCT’s current demand is that Pratt grant all part-timers (who teach a 50% workload for at least two semesters) access to healthcare benefits with a 25% contribution by the employee.
  • This is just the beginning of  a multi-pronged campaign.  Check out the website, or download the Healthcare FactSheet to find out how to support this endeavor.
Comments Off | By trotsky | March 30th, 2011

Preparation for Negotiations, Update 3/27

Dear UFCT Member:

The Union has thus far, conducted no less than fourteen discussion/preparation meetings with an eye on our spring-summer negotiations w/the Pratt Administration.

There are just two such sessions remaining, both this coming week: (1) Monday, 3/28th from 5:00 to 6:30, and (2) Wednesday, 3/30th from 5:00 to 6:30 (both meetings will be held in the UFCT conference room: 123 North Hall). Originally, Wednesday’s meeting was to be held during the 12:30 to 2PM time-slot, and was to be, the “final” or “send-off” faculty meeting. This has changed. Therefore, please stay tuned, as the “final” or send-off meeting has not been scheduled as yet, but will take place within the first two weeks of April.

Lastly, we are finalizing the UFCT’s “slate of demands” which we hope to have completed, and sent to all union members on email by week’s end.

In Solidarity,

-Kye

Comments Off | By trotsky | March 27th, 2011

NYC Rally to Support Wisconsin Unions 2/22

Here are the details.

Comments Off | By trotsky | February 21st, 2011

Negotiation Preparation Meetings

Dear UFCT Member:

The current 2007-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is due to expire on August 31, 2011. It is imperative that we build on the accomplishments of the last two Contracts (2003-2007 & 2007-2011)…

Any and all dues paying union members (agency fee payers are strictly prohibited from participating in collective bargaining) are free to attend and participate in all discussion meetings leading up to negotiations.

Schedule (I have alternated weekly TUES-THURS meetings w/MON-WED meetings to accommodate as many varying schedules as is possible; sorry, no Friday meetings…):

  1. Tuesday, February 15
  2. Thursday, February 17
  3. Monday, February 21
  4. Wednesday, February 23
  5. Tuesday, March 1
  6. Thursday, March 3
  7. Monday, March 7
  8. Wednesday, March 9
  9. Tuesday, March 15
  10. Thursday, March 17
  11. Monday, March 21
  12. Wednesday, March 23
  13. Monday, March 28
  14. Wednesday, March 30
  • All meeting times are from 5:00 to 6:30 PM…
  • All meetings will take place in the UFCT conference room located next door to the UFCT office: 123 North Hall, except our March 30th meeting which will be a ‘General Membership Meeting’ where we will ratify the slate of demands; location TBA…
  • Lastly, the UFCT will gladly attend and make itself available for other faculty group meeting(s) if this is the wish of members in your department/area…

In Solidarity,

-Kye

Comments Off | By trotsky | February 15th, 2011