|
Due Process Challenged in NYC Lawsuits
Two Lawsuits Filed Attacking Tenure Laws Following CA Ruling
Emboldened by a recent verdict in California that struck down tenure laws, two groups have filed similar suits in New York City. While the suits will likely have little direct impact on our unit members, the fact that such a pervasive trend against tenure sits in our backyard should be cause for concern. Even more troubling perhaps is the basis for the public spin continually equating teacher tenure as a life-long appointment.
Read our full article here.
|
|
Reappointment Workshop Success
Professional Staff Reappointment Workshop Held on Aug. 12th
On Tuesday, August 12, Jennifer Higgins, the Professional Staff Negotiations Coordinator for our unit led a workshop highlighting important things to know about the reappointment process.
|
 |
|
Statement to Montclair State Board of Trustees
Local 1904 President, Rich Wolfson, Speaks at July Board Meeting
At the July 24, 2014 Board of Trustees meeting AFT Local 1904 President Rich Wolfson commented on the University's commitment to keeping the increases in tuition, fees and room and board reasonable. He also noted that the budget suggests that next years student body will be the largest in Montclair's history. At the same time, Wolfson called attention to the challenge of accessing meaningful information from the University's financial statements and questioned the mounting costs of MontclairOne. Wolfson's statement culminates with a critique of administrative "bullying" of Instructional and Clinical Specialists concerning their contracts and starkly contrasts it to President Cole's compensation package for the upcoming year.
Read the full statement here.
|
 |
|
|
|
Talking Tech with Michael Heller
AFT Local 1904 member is doing #WorkThatMatters
 | |
Photo Credit: Mike Peters
|
Since joining Montclair State as Director of Language Learning Technology in 1998, Michael Heller has been managing an ever evolving landscape of technology for educational goals. In his own words, Michael relates what drives him about his work:
"I particularly enjoy helping faculty develop technology solutions that meet instructional and research objectives. I'm passionate about the impacts that well-designed and outfitted instructional facilities can have on teaching and learning! I also enjoy working with students as they use technology and our facilities to meet language and linguistics course objectives."
You can read more about Michael and his work here.
|
|
|
AFT Local Protests Ted Nugent at the Wellmont
Joins BlueWave New Jersey, New Jersey Citizens Action & CWA Local 1
On July 22nd, Local 1904 members including President Rich Wolfson and Vice-President Bill Sullivan joined a protest against the rocker Ted Nugent prior to his performance at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair.
While Mr. Nugent's right to free speech was never in question, the issue over the concert related to the Wellmont Theater profiting from a performer with an extensive history of hate-speech. Our community supports a diverse population and just as many perspectives. If there are issues to resolve, we seek to do so with civility, not invectives.
|
|
|
|
|
In Memoriam
A Sad Farewell to Peter Freund
On June 12th, we said goodbye to our friend and colleague following his battle against pancreatic and liver cancer. Peter, age 73, was an Emeritus Professor of Sociology from Montclair State. During his work on campus, Peter spent much of his focus on environmental issues, car-dominated transportation, impact of social organization on the body, health, and health inequalities. There will be a memorial event at the Manhattan Sociology Walk on November 1st and 2nd. |
|
|
 |
|
Professional Staff: Got New Colleagues?
If your office or a colleague's office has recent hires that are in the AFT, or you or your colleagues were not able to attend the Professional Staff Orientation in January, contact Jennifer Higgins @ Jennifer.higgins@aftlocal1904.org or Susan Hagen @ susan.hagen@aftlocal1904.org to arrange a lunchtime orientation for you, your colleagues, or your entire department.
Over lunch you will learn more about what it means to work on a unionized campus as a union employee and the collective strength that comes from being in a union. You will learn about what your contractual rights are and a few things that aren't reviewed in the orientation provided by the university. Jennifer and Susan hope to hear from you soon.
|
|
|
 | | Richard Wolfson, President |
President's Corner
We are in the last "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" and I do hope some of you have had restful vacations even if you were on campus working. I have been amazed at how many of you I see when I am there and it's nice to be able to say hello and chat. And for others, I know this message will reach some of you in all corners of the globe. But the Local's business has not seemed to diminish at all. We just finished a successful Reappointment Workshop for Professional Staff and it was nice to see many of you there. There are a number of grievance and "work place" issues that the local has been working on including those concerning specialists, the School of Communication & Media's new facilities, and last week I was even contacted by a member who could not find a faculty/staff parking spot in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. Seems like the issues never end for the Local.
The Local 1904 Officers are preparing for the upcoming year with programs for Stewards, Faculty, Staff and Librarians being finalized. Linda Turano and our intern, Joseph Christensen, have been working in the office digitizing many of our documents (we actually have an Archive Policy) and getting rid of years of hard copies of papers taking up space. You should stop by to say hello to Linda and see the office as it hasn't looked better ever. There are also t-shirts available for the asking in, I think, almost any size.
So, as the summer winds down, I do hope you take a minute for yourselves for those sodas, pretzels, and beer. I will see you all again on September 2nd when the circus comes to town for the start of the new academic year. This will be my 33rd and I am looking forward to it.
In solidarity,
|
|
Mark Your Calendars
AFT Local 1904 Events
|
|
Current Events of Interest
For daily updates on items of interest to union members and activists, sign up for the COPE News Service. Subscribe by sending an email to amkorotkin@aol.com with the subject "COPE Subscribe"
Raising the Bar - Tenure Denials at Northeastern University Raise Questions About Raising the Bar
Analysis: Chrisie Needs Pension Panel for Political and Practical Reasons
Response to Lawsuit Attempting to Overturn Tenure in New York
Opinion: NJ College Students Need Tuition Price-Lock Upon Enrollment
NJ Assembly to Consider Bill Requiring Companies to Provide Paid Sick Days to Workers
|
|
|
AFTNJ
AFT Local 1904 is affiliated with American Federation of Teachers New Jersey (AFTNJ), which is the state federation of AF T locals in New Jersey. AFTNJ represents 30,000 Pre-Kindergarten to grade 12 and higher education workers throughout the state.
Want to know more about AFTNJ? Sign up for their news feed by clicking here. |
|
