Lamphere Federation of Teachers
MFT&SRP #1614
November 2003
Buying Years of Service-- The rules for buying years of service change on January 1, 2004. Members may be better off buying years before December 31st. The MFT&SRP web page (www.mftsrp.org) will have a link from the main page that will provide members with all the information they need to purchase service credits and prepare for a slightly earlier retirement. The rules on making these purchases change on January 1, 2004. After that time you will probably find it becomes a bad deal to make this purchase. People need to make the application, even if all the paperwork is not completed, before December 31, 2003. If you do that, you will be grand fathered into the current system which makes purchasing the time a good deal.
Motor City Bowl--Union members from AFL-CIO affiliates are offered an incredible discount on football tickets for the Motor City Bowl football game on Friday, December 26th. The Big 10 will play the winner of the MAC Conference at Ford Field in Detroit, an you are invited. Teams will be announced on December 8th. Cost is $19 per package, which a concessions voucher for $7. The package can be ordered from Ford Field November 17th through December 24th.Call 1-800-585-BOWL, and ask for the Motor City Bowl ticket offer for members of the Michigan State AFL-CIO.
Dropping Health Care Benefits--The
deadline for dropping health care benefits and receiving compensation for
doing so is November 30th. There is $2000 compensation for dropping health or $2,500 for
dropping health, dental and
vision benefits.
From workers at Borders Books in Ann Arbor-- Workers at Borders Books store #1 in Ann Arbor, MI were on strike as of Saturday, November 8 at 9:00 AM. They did not take this step lightly. By striking, they hope to convince Borders Management to negotiate in good faith so we can reach a fair contract and return to our jobs. They ask for other union support by:
1) boycotting all Borders, Waldenbooks, and Amazon.com;
2) signing an online petition: http://BordersReadersUnited.2ya.com;
3) calling Borders Headquarters (734-477-1100) to tell them you support us;
4) forwarding this message to all your friends and colleagues!
Complete information, updates, and pictures at http://bordersreadersunited.blogspot.com/
BENEFITS CONSUME MOST GAINS IN PUBLIC SECTOR
The bulk of compensation gains won by public sector employees now goes to pay the rising
cost of healthcare, pensions and other benefits, the U.S. Labor Department reported on
Oct. 31. The department's widely watched employment cost index, a quarterly gauge of
nonfarm worker compensation in the public and private sectors, rose a seasonally adjusted
1 percent in the quarter ending in September. Although the increase was virtually
unchanged from the previous quarter and easily outpaced inflation, less of the increase
was seen by workers in the form of higher salaries. "Among state and local government
workers, benefit costs accounted for over 55 percent of compensation gains during the
quarter, with health insurance and defined benefit retirement plans accounting for nearly
half" of the overall increase in public sector compensation. For the year ending in
September, wages and salaries for state and local government workers rose 2.3 percent.
Benefit costs rose 6.7 percent over the same period.
The
Center for the Child Care Workforce (CCW), a project of the AFT Educational Foundation,
has a newly updated Web site. The site, http://www.ccw.org,
is a resource for all early care and education professionals, including teachers,
assistants and family child care providers, as well as advocates, researchers, trainers
and anyone interested in early care and the education workforce. The site has been
restocked with information and resources and has been redesigned to help visitors better
find news, research and other useful material. Also on the site are free publications and
state-specific initiatives on the has been redesigned to help visitors better find
news, research and other useful material. Also on the site are free publications and
state-specific initiatives on the early care and education workforce.
2004 UNION PLUS SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS NOW ONLINE
Applications for the 2004 Union Plus Scholarship program are now posted online.
Scholarships are presented annually to union members or their family members who want to
begin or continue secondary education. The children of 14 AFT families and one AFT member
were selected to receive 2003 scholarships ranging from $500 to $3,000. The deadline for
the 2004 awards is Jan. 31, 2004. For more information and to download an application, go
to http://www.unionplus.org/benefits/education/scholarships/up.cfm.
Note that the application is an Adobe Acrobat pdf file.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Schram, LFT Vice-President
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