In This Issue:

1) Letter From President: District hiring practices under state control

2) Rebuttals

3) Building Faculty and Student Success

And much more!

United Faculty and Academic Staff (UFAS), American Federation of Teachers Local 223, is proud to support this legal challenge by our state federation, AFT-Wisconsin.

For Immediate Release
February 4, 2019

Unions File Lawsuit to Protect Wisconsin Governor from Lame-Duck Power Grab
 

February 7, 2019 — UFAS members voted unanimously today to pass a resolution of support for striking faculty at Wright State University and to donate $200 to their strike fund.

The UFAS Steering Committee had previously sent a letter, dated January 28, 2019, to the president and Board of Trustees at Wright State University calling for a fair contract for striking faculty there.

The membership resolution reads:

The members of United Faculty and Academic Staff (UFAS), American Federation of Teachers Local 223, send solidarity greetings from Madison, Wisconsin. We endorse the letter from the UFAS Steering Committee, dated January 28, 2019, to WSU president Cheryl Schrader and the institution’s Board of Trustees. We fully support your demand for a fair contract that protects faculty working conditions and student learning conditions, which are one and the same.

STA supports graduating seniors by offering four scholarshps valued at $1,000 each. One scholarship is open for our members' children, regardless of the high school from which they will graduate. The deadline to apply is May 1st. Click here for more information. Good luck!

February 4, 2019

Madison, WI--The Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (WFNHP), a union of professional healthcare workers, joined the American Federation of Teachers– Wisconsin, Service Employees International Union, and the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers in the filing of a lawsuit challenging the partisan, sour grapes power grab by Wisconsin legislative Republicans.

(Feb. 1, 2019) Educators at Summit Academy Parma voted overwhelmingly to go on strike after management refused to improve teaching and learning conditions.

2019 Legislative Session Underway

Bow, NH - February 4, 2019

The NH General Court (the Legislature) began its substantive work early in January, but it is only in the past two weeks that activity has really picked up.  You may recall that the 2019-20 Legislature is quite different from the 2017-18 version.  Voters erased Republican majorities in both the Senate and the House in the November 2018 elections, so Democrats now control the Senate 14-10 and the House by a nearly 60-vote margin. With a Republican governor still holding office, there will be a fair amount of friction and a need for some degree of cooperation between the Legislative and Executive branches if anything is to be accomplished.  It is a new situation for both Democrats and Republicans, and it will be interesting to watch as the session unfolds over the next five months.

If you are an OCCTA member emrolled in a graduate program, you can get a grant from the OCCTA-OESPA Retired Association.  Complete the application and send it in before March 29, 2019.

EDUCATION GRANT

When we're locked out of our jobs, how do we pay our bills? Find out how the AFT helped this member in a big way. 

From The Stand