LAMPHERE FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
AFT Michigan #1614
April/May 2006
Delegate Election Results--For the AFT Michigan Convention the following individuals will serve as delegates: Beth Sabo, Barb Buczynski, Dave Wrobel, Ross Cardew, Kathy Thomas and Judy Schram. The AFT Convention Election of delegates results are Janet Kenyon, (66 votes), Barb Buczynski, (58 votes), Beth Sabo (54 votes) and Chris Anderson (41 votes). Janet Kenyon and Barb Buczynski and Judy Schram will serve as delegates. Beth Sabo and Chris Anderson will serve as alternate delegates. The president serves as ranking delegate based on the LFT By-Laws.
Contract--Building reps will be distributing cd copies of the current LFT contract. There are a limited number of paper copies also available. Contact your building rep if you haven't received it as yet.
Certification--If you received a notice regarding the update of your teacher certification please make sure you follow through on updating your credentials. Having current teacher certification is a condition of employment.
Staffing--At a recent board meeting all current bargaining unit members were approved for contracts for the next school year. This means that all bargaining unit have been retained for the next school year.
Prescription Drug Coverage--All members will soon be receiving a letter from Dr. Pando and the presidents of all of the district's bargaining units. In an effort to keep prescription drug costs down you'll be asked to voluntarily obtain your prescriptions from pharmacies that provide the lowest cost to the districts self-funded drug plan. Details will be in the letter. Again if you or any of your family members are on maintenance drugs you are asked to obtain those prescriptions through Caremark, the mail order prescription drug service.
Legislation Introduced to Make Michigan a Right-to-Work (for less) State--Representatives Robert Gosselin (R-Troy) and Leon Drolet (R-Clinton Twp.) have introduced a two bill legislative package that would make Michigan a Right-to-Work state. Gosslein's bill, HB 5771 would impact public employees, Drolet's bill, HB 5772, would impact private sector workers. These bills have been referred to the Commerce Committee.
Right-to-Work (for less) laws lead to weaker unions, lower wages for workers, and the loss of health and retirement benefits. Workers in Right-toWork (for less) states make on average $5300 a year less than workers in free bargaining states. Only about 67% of non-union workers are covered by an employer provided health care plan, and only 16% of non-union workers have a defined benefit pension plan in Right-to-Work (for less) states. Right-to-Work states also have a lower tax base which effects the quality of their schools, roads, universities and other vital public services. The only ones who benefit by Right-to-Work (for less) laws are employers who now can pay lower wages and fewer benefits. Why would anyone want that for Michigan workers? Help us fight back against these anti-worker benefits! If you live in Rep.Gosselin or Rep.Droulet's district it is particularly important that they hear from you. Please go to the Michigan AFL-CIO webstie at www.miaflcio.org where you can send a letter to your state senator and state representatives asking them to vote "NO" on this bad idea. Spread the word.
Stop OverSpending or SOS or TABOR--Signatures for a ballot initiative for SOS or TABOR are being collected. SOS would amend the State Constitution to mandate a rigid spending formula. This proposal is modeled after Colorado's so called "Taxpayer's Bill of Rights" (TABOR) that has proven to be a fiscal disaster in that state. SOS would limit growth in government to a formula based on population plus inflation. If Michigan hopes to become an attractive destination for new businesses and to keep our children who graduating college in state, we must continue to build our infrastructure. Good roads, strong K-12 and higher education system and stable communities will help to rebuild Michigan's economy, more than artifical budget restraints. The results were so disastorous in Colorado that the law has been rescinded for at least the next five years.
On May 13 you can mail a package and not have to pay a cent in
postage.
The 14th annual Letter Carriers Food Drive will pick up
bags of non-perishable food and deliver them to area food banks where they will be
distributed to those in need.
“It’s a national food drive, put on by the union in
co-operation with management,” said L. Ammar, union steward for National Association
of Letter Carriers Local 3126 in Oakland County.
Ammar said that the drive helps build morale among the carriers.
“We try to push it,” she said. “Every office
challenges itself to do better than the year before. It is a hard day, but it’s also
a fun day. We all get lunch after our shift. Everybody pitches in.”
And Ammar takes it personally.
“I’ve been getting to the schools, giving out circulars for
the kids to take home to their parents.”
Ammar said the annual drive is purposely aimed at the second Saturday
in May.
“The food goes to people who are out of work or just hit hard
times,” she said. “Right now, many of the food banks are running out of food
from holiday food drives, so this is an ideal time to do this.”
And if it means more work for the carriers, they really don’t
seem to mind.
“We have a lot of fun doing this,” Ammar said. “It’s a day we all come together and work together. It’s knowing that we did our part to help others and it doesn’t really take that much time. You don’t mind this because you know you’re doing a good thing.”
On April 28, the labor movement once again will observe Workers Memorial Day to remember
workers killed or injured on the job and to renew the fight for strong safety and health
protections. In the first few weeks of this year, disasters at the Sago mine and five
other mines claimed the lives of 18 miners. These tragedies focused the nation's attention
on the dangers workers face and the weakness in job safety protections. Before this year
is over, thousands more workers will be killed on the job and millions will be harmed. AFT
leaders and activists can mark Workers Memorial Day by holding events and distributing
information. For fact sheets, clip art, fliers, talking points and more, go the AFL-CIO's
Web site at http://www.aflcio.org/issues/safety/memorial/.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Schram, LFT President
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