September 28, 2016

Parents, Students, and Community Leaders,

The Newark Public Schools recently sent out a communication about their decision to close schools on Election Day, looking to blame teachers for any inconvenience that it may cause. The NPS seeks to blame everyone else for their mistakes and attempts to nullify a law that clearly states “No teaching staff member shall be required to perform his duties on any day declared by law to be a public holiday.”

We are pleased to announced that the Newark Public Schools has decided to respect your legal rights and will be closed on Election Day.  NPS sent out the below letter this afternoon.  I will note there is quite a bit of mislead information in the below email.

1) At that time, NTU leadership raised no concerns regarding Election Day not being observed as a holiday this year.

First Opportunity is Union Liaison Training—formerly called Unit Representatives. There is one training sessions being offered on two separate dates, 10/14 & 10/15, same training. We are trying to work around schedules, come learn about what a Union Liaison is all about.  

See attached flyer for details. Please RSVP to aft5047unit47@gmail.com  we need to place food order.

Second Opportunity is to become part of the Hospital Safety Committee. We are looking to train eight committed members to serve as union representatives on the Hospital Safety Committee.  Job safety is not an accident! We must learn how to be vigilant for work place safety to happen.  OSHA guidelines provide for union presentation on this committee. You will learn how to be an effective member and what the safety committee can and should be doing.  See attached flyer for dates. You must attend all three initial sessions. Preventing injuries is worth your time.

Fall 2016 Spearhead Newsletter

An update on bargaining:

chapter_42_bargaining_update_9-23-16.pdf

And a response to the Superintendent's letter:

The AFT-Maryland was active in the Baltimore community Saturday Sept. 17th, participating in two events. The first was an AFL-CIO kickoff for Maryland. The event featured politicians from across the state rallying supporters and energizing the base in advance of this November’s elections.

We received the following notice from Joe Amabile, a Newark Teacher and Treasurer of AFT-NJ, and felt it was important to share:

IRS and Security Summit Partners Warn of Fake Tax Bill Emails

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners today issued an alert to taxpayers and tax professionals to be on guard against fake emails purporting to contain an IRS tax bill related to the Affordable Care Act.

Check out this article in the Los Angeles Times on the class action lawsuit filed against Gov. Rick Snyder and state education officials on behalf of Detroit’s students and families. DFT leaders participated in a press conference on Sept. 13 announcing the lawsuit. Read the full article here.

Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a tax break that a city can give to developers to help communities restore their most run-down areas or jumpstart economically sluggish parts of town. KCPS and the KC Library both receive local money from property taxes, and when the KC City Council agrees to a TIF, they're taking money away from our schools and libraries - millions and millions of dollars. KCFT & SRP is not against all TIFs and tax abatements. When they are used in areas of the city that are truly blighted or as a jobs creation tool, they can be beneficial.