MTA Today - Summer 2015

n That the MTA reaffirm its commitment “to eliminate discrimination in public education” and to “prevent any encroachment on basic civil and human rights”; develop materials for members on the impact of mass incarceration, police violence and the school-to-prison pipeline on students of color; and provide staff support for locals that want to engage their members, students and communities on these issues.

n That the MTA continue to oppose the uploading, collection and storage of personal data from Massachusetts prekindergartners and kindergartners by third-party private contractors and work legislatively to overturn the selective mandate for Teaching Strategies GOLD as part of the Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment program.

n That the MTA not hold its 2015 Summer Conference at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and do no business with the university until such time as all salary increases are paid, including the retroactive component.

Delegates also referred two new business items to the Government Relations Committee: support for striking sections from Chapter 71 of the Massachusetts General Laws that infringe on teacher tenure or seniority and lobbying the Legislature to direct the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to scale back its regulatory requirement for the teacher evaluation system.

MTA working to implement business items

Continued from Page 19

One of the nonrenewals was sent to Morales, and the HTA fought back. In late August, the Department of Labor Relations found that there was probable cause to believe that Morales was illegally fired because of his activism as a union leader. The DLR will hold a hearing on the complaint.

McAndrew and other educators visited during the Organizing Institute’s work said that they had not been informed about what to expect in the new school year.

“I think that the union now is more important than ever,” McAndrew said. DLR issues complaint over Morales dismissal

Continued from Page 21

enough full-time professors, you are not building a high-quality, accessible higher education system,” said Max Page, a professor at UMass Amherst and a member of PHENOM, the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts.

A panel of full- and part-time faculty members from Bunker Hill Community College brought up a number of concerns. The speakers described the financial challenges faced by part-time faculty and the devastating impact of their struggles when, for example, they can’t get health insurance.

Then there is the matter of respect. Michael Dubson, an associate professor of English at BHCC, described how differently he is treated since becoming a full-time faculty member after years as an adjunct.

“No longer do I have to fear or
tolerate insult and abuse, swallowing
things that no dean or chair would
dare say to me today,” said Dubson,
“Most importantly, I am able to be
there, on campus all day, all week for
my students.”

Bunker Hill Community College faculty members Michael Dubson, Robert Whitman and Eric Estevez, left to right, testified in support of a bill to improve working conditions for adjunct instructors at public colleges and universities.

Photo by Scott McLennan

Grocery store and gas bonus rewards apply to the first $1,500 in combined purchases in these categories each quarter.**

For more information about the rates, fees, other costs and benefits associated with the use of the credit card, call the toll-free number or visit newcardonline.com.

You will qualify for $100 bonus cash rewards if you use your new credit card account to make any combination of Purchase transactions totaling at least $500 (exclusive of any fees, returns and adjustments) that post within 90 days of the account open date. Limit one (1) bonus cash rewards offer per new account. This one-time promotion is limited to new customers opening an account in response to this offer. Other advertised promotional bonus cash rewards offers can vary from this promotion and may not be substituted. Allow 8-12 weeks from qualifying for the bonus cash rewards to post to your rewards balance.

** The 2% cash back on grocery store purchases and 3% cash back on gas purchases apply to the first $1,500 in combined purchases in these categories each quarter. After that, the base 1% earn rate applies to those purchases.

This credit card program is issued and administered by Bank of America, N. A. Visa and Visa Signature are registered trademarks of Visa International Service Association, and are used by the issuer pursuant to license from Visa U. S. A. Inc. Bank of America and the Bank of America logo are registered trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. The MTA Benefits logo is a trademark of MTA Benefits, Inc., which is used by the issuer pursuant to license.