LAMPHERE FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
MFT & SRP #1614
Newsletter
August/September 2005
Congratulations--Best Wishes are in order to all of our LFT members who have retired! Congratulations to Claudia Alexander, Sharon Briedenbaugh, Cheryl Fraiberg (Sultan), Carole Green, Louisia Knivila, Cathy Maxwell, Suzanne Mueller, Rick May, Mel Natinsky, Cal Phillips, Susan Shanaman, Ralph Shepard, Tony Sepich, Marilyn Snider and Ann Tank. A special personal thanks to Carole Green, Mel Natinsky, Suzanne Mueller, Tony Sepich, Ralph Shepard, Ann Tank and Cathy Maxwell who all served on the LFT Executive Board during their careers at Lamphere. You will all be sincerely missed.
K-16 Rally--LFT members joined the 11,000+ crowd at the Capitol on June 21st to rally for changes in educational funding. My thanks to Beth Sabo and Dave Wrobel who braved the heat to represent the LFT.
NCLB -- By the end of the school year all teachers in subject areas that must be highly qualified will need to make certain that they have met the proper qualifications. If you have taken additional certification exams be certain that you provide the proper verification to the Human Resources Office.
Benefits--You may have noticed a change in the contract number on the Blue Cross/Blue Shield cards. Because of new federal legislation aimed at curing problems with identity theft it was required that Social Security numbers (aka Contract Numbers) be taken off of the cards. You will also receive a memo regarding SET dental insurance. Dentists who are part of the SET Network who have signed a contract to accept lower fees are now part of our coverage. This does not mean that anything in our coverage changes, just that if your dentist is part of that network they will accept that fee.
Labor Day Parade--The annual Labor Day Parade will be on September 5. AFT Michigan will be marching in the parade. The parade begins at 10 am. Shuttle buses from Cobo Hall will be taking marchers to the start sites. All of Woodward is now open so the parade will start near the Art Institute and go directly down Woodward. Everyone is encouraged to come and bring their family.
Join The Send "WAL-MART BACK TO SCHOOL" Campaign-AFT
members shopping for back-to-school supplies this summer are invited to sign a pledge that
they will not purchase supplies at
Wal-Mart in support of a nationwide union campaign to convince the retail giant to become
a responsible employer. In the past year alone, Wal-Mart has repeatedly violated child
labor laws, abused sweatshop labor in Third World countries, and exploited immigrant
labor. Wal-Mart also has a record of discrimination against 2 million female workers and
has failed to provide company healthcare coverage to more than 600,000 employees. Part of
this effort will be the "Send Wal-Mart Back to School This Summer" campaign,
supported by the AFT and the AFL-CIO, asking
teachers, school staff and parents to sign a pledge to buy their back-to-school supplies
somewhere other than Wal-Mart. On Aug.10, local AFL-CIO central labor councils and locals
of the United Food and Commercial Workers kicked off the campaign with a series of news
conferences. To sign the pledge, go to http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/i71KNd11fubt/walmart.
CEC Clarification-- In an effort to save the concept of CEC time during previous bargaining sessions management reiterated the "right to grant CEC for college courses, particularly when teachers are either required to take courses or if it moves them up the pay scale." In further discussions with management we did receive assurances that workshops and seminars as defined in section 3 would generally be approved for CEC credit.
CEC is addressed in Article XIV (C):
1. A personal business day shall be given on a day with mutual consent of the administration and shall be labeled "Continuing Education Credit Day." All workshops and seminars eligible for these C.E.C.’s shall be at the expense of the teacher and outside of the school day.
2. Should a teacher elect and get approval to take a university credit class under this provision, than only the completion of a class that shall meet for fifteen (15) hours or more shall be counted for one Continuing Education Credit Day.
3. The Superintendent or designee shall have the authority to award CEC units to teachers on a prorated basis whenever a teacher or teachers shall be requested to attend a workshop or seminar. The prorated portion shall take into consideration the time of the workshop or seminar, the financial involvement of the district and or the teacher in the workshop or seminar, and other related conditions that would warrant an award of CEC credits to the teacher(s).
Request in writing a list of CEC time from Suzanne Schleyer by September 15th.
Contract Changes--A review of Contract Changes for 2005-07 are available on the website. Click on "contract changes" for the link.
Free Materials Help Promote Healthcare Coverage For Kids
Millions of children and adults who lack health insurance coverage are
actually eligible for publicly funded healthcare coverage but are not enrolled. The AFT
again has joined with Covering Kids & Families, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, to support a back-to-school campaign encouraging enrollment and renewals in
public health programs such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program
(SCHIP). Covering Kids & Families operates through statewide projects in 45 states and
the District of Columbia, as well as more than 140 community projects. This year's
campaign, to launch Aug. 2, will feature outreach and enrollment events throughout the
country to inform families about low-cost and free healthcare coverage for children. To
help kids and families in your school or workplace, go to http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/id1KNd11fub5/healthcare
and click on Communication Tools for downloadable materials or to order free bookmarks,
fliers, lapel stickers, posters and more.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Schram
LFT President