I was disappointed in the format of the meeting. For such an important meeting–which included an election of officers, and an in-depth,and only, discussion of the MOU, there should have been a printed agenda, and a focused question and answer discussion. There was and still is quite a bit of concern about the possibilities of not ratifying this contract, and that complete information was not properly offered. It seems that t only one forseeable possibility was described, wh

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Dear members (and non-members), Here is a short summary of what happened at the Union meeting that took place yesterday from 12:30-2 in 110 Engineering. 1. WHO IS A MEMBER? There was some confusion at the beginning of the meeting over whether faculty members who are not members of the union were permitted to be present at the meeting. A "member" is defined as someone who pays union dues and has filled out the paperwork. This is a confusing situation because even though ma

In the midst of our own efforts to wade through our Memorandum of Understanding, it's inspiring to see what other Unions are doing to try to have an impact on global events. California dockworkers struck on May Day to protest the Iraq War . –Suzanne Verderber

Dear members, Several items of note: 1. Ratification of the Collective Bargaining Agreement/Elections As you probably know by now, on April 17th the Union and the Administration signed the Memorandum of Understanding (often referred to as the "MOU"), a document that lists the changes to the contract brought about through the collective bargaining process. These changes will be presented to Union members and discussed at a meeting to be held on May 1, from 12:30-2:00, in 110

In a recent speech , Cary Nelson, the President of the AAUP, called for faculty unions to look beyond the basic necessities (benefits, salaries) and rather become leaders in seeking social justice. The comments that follow are largely hostile, one person claiming to be sick of the term "social justice," another castigating union leaderships in general for being power hungry and shutting out discussion and participation by the membership. This piece was forwarded to the Pra

Dear UFCT Member: At this late mid-spring semester date, it would be perfectly logical that you might be wondering aloud, or are contemplating accosting me personally to demand: “where the hell is the contract?” As you’ll recall, I sent an email message to all UFCT members in late November 2007 announcing that the UFCT’s negotiating team had reached an “agreement” with the Pratt Administration. What was to follow shortly thereafter was: (1) an agreement letter, or ‘Memorand

This new study proves what should probably be obvious, but backs it up with hard facts. –Suzanne Verderber

One of the UFCT 1460's parent unions, the AFL-CIO is finally grudgingly beginning to accept the reality of global warming, but is still reluctant to endorse emissions caps. –Suzanne Verderber

The Union and the Administration are in the process of putting finishing touches on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which sums up changes made to the Collective Bargaining Agreement as a result of this summer's negotiations. The MOU will be presented to Union members for ratification as soon as these final changes have been made. At that important meeting (date TBA) elections will also be held for the Union executive committee. The following nominations have been made