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

Here are the details. #WisconsinNYCRally #WisconsinRallyFebruary22

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-TH

UPDATE, February 17: Massive Protest of Wisconsin Workers, Government Grinds to a Halt What used to be the land of Russ Feingold is now the home of the most virulent anti-union governor in the US in decades. Speaking of Feingold, he just founded a new organization to fight corporate control of government. #wisconsin

February 1, 2011 UPDATE: It has been announced on Democracy Now that Brooklyn College has reversed its decision and rehired the professor. Good sense and academic freedom prevails! An adjunct professor at Brooklyn College was fired for his “pro-Palestinian” views. Academic Freedom watchdog group FIRE protests the president on his behalf. Here’s the link to the Brooklyn College case. The Pratt collective bargaining agreement between the administration and faculty contains a

At least fifty faculty attended the November 22 meeting. Kye Carbone reported that 210 petitions were delivered to the administration in support of obtaining a 50% buy-in for adjuncts’ health benefits, in addition to explaining the history of this issue (the joint union-administration committee on the Visiting status), and the gradual shrinking of the number of Visiting faculty vis a vis the Adjunct/Full-time status. Pratt’s faculty is currently composed of 130 FT, 325 Adju

Dear UFCT Member: I am pleased to announce that the UFCT has scheduled two General Membership Meetings for the fall 2010 semester. These meetings are open to all dues paying union members. [Agency fee payers are not permitted to attend!] Both meetings will be open forums dedicated to discussing our upcoming spring 2011 negotiations. The current 2007-2011 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is due to expire on August 31, 2011. We would like to call for negotiation

UFCT_Status_Report_[fall_’10]

Link to ARPT Forum Packet Fall 2010

Dear UFCT Member: Please find attached the ARPT packet that was distributed at the September 10th: ‘ARPT Forum.’ Fifty-two members attended representing sixteen of some twenty-one Pratt department/area(s). It was a great success! [The packet is posted underthe category ” ARPT Criteria and Documents,” at right]. For those who could not attend though, we discussed the tenets and provisions comprising Article XVI [CBA]: Appointment, Reappointments, Promotions and Tenure (which

The second annual ARPT (Committees on Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure) forum will be held on September 10, 2010 from 10-2 at Anima, an Italian restaurant located at 458 Myrtle Avenue, between Waverly and Washington (on the south side of Myrtle). Please RSVP to Kye Carbone if you are planning to attend (the restaurant can hold approximately 75 people) at kyecarbone@gmail.com. We will discuss how the ARPT process has played itself out in the past in various d

ARPT: Committees on Appointment, Reappointment, Promotion, and Tenure (see Article XVI of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, available on this website). Last year the UFCT sponsored such a forum for the first time, which was – as based on the many responses we received – a rousing success [over fifty-plus in attendance representing some sixteen Pratt department/areas!] At the close of last year’s event, we agreed that such a forum should become a perennial affair! As

2 days after our petition was sent, the two parties had reached a 3-year agreement. Here is the news release from AETNA. The petition may not have directly done any good, but I still think it is worthwhile for consumers to speak up and protest when corporations decide they can charge the same amount for a much-degraded commodity (and unfortunately, health care is primarily seen by both Democrats and Republicans as a profit-generating commodity in the USA). –Suzanne Verderbe

The following was sent to 39 parties (see the “CC” list at bottom). We can only keep our fingers crossed that speaking up ultimately does some good. Ronald A. Williams Chairman and Chief Executive, Aetna Inc. Hartford, CT 06156 July 23, 2010 Dear Mr. Williams, We the undersigned are faculty members and administrators at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. The Pratt administration has chosen to subscribe to Aetna for health coverage, a situation over which we have minimal

Dear Pratt colleagues, The UFCT would like to submit the following letter, inclusive of all faculty and administrators covered by AETNA, to AETNA expressing our displeasure at their failed negotiations with Continuum. If you would like to have your name added to the letter, please reply with your full name and title to Suzanne Verderber, UFCT 1460 Vice President, at sverderb@pratt.edu, by July 14, 2010. Sincerely, The UFCT 1460 Executive Committee and Grievance Team. Ronald

He says he will get tougher on unions, giving lower wage increases and asking for changes in health benefits and pensions. June 3, 2010 UPDATE: Bloomberg says he will freeze raises to save 4,400 jobs, but unions say he does not have the right to make this move unilaterally; Bloomberg says he does because both teachers’ and principals’ unions are working under expired contracts. Here is the NY Times article. #Bloomberg #layoffs #publiceducation #recession

Criminal probe opened to find whether mine inspectors received bribes in West Virginia. Criminal probe opened to find whether Goldman Sachs committed fraud in shorting the mortgage market while encouraging their clients to buy long. New offshore drilling projects halted after massive disaster in the Gulf. UPDATE: If pipe collapses, there will be no way of containing it; it is a gusher, not a “spill”: likely to enter the Gulf Stream and head up the East Coast. UPDATE: Hallibut

Here’s the link, for a rally sponsored by the NYC Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

I thought this was a useful article from the WSJ about Hr departments and their inherent non-neutrality within companies….Here is the link. #HumanResources

Employers are asking for a 4-5 year “recession” contract while doormen are claiming we are moving out of the recession and want to look ahead. The New York Times has a piece on it. #doormen #recession #strike