Dear APA Members,
First, my sincere appreciation to those of you who have reached out to me directly – concerning your written or verbal communication with the Senators and Representatives in your home districts. Your feedback has corroborated much of the information that we have been receiving.
Our collective effort to accurately inform Legislators and Governor Baker’s Administration with pertinent information about this untenable situation has been understood by the right people. Senators and Representatives across the State, including many who serve on the Joint Committee on Higher Education, have responded and have offered support.
We have seen a trend in these responses that has evolved from, “I spoke to my contacts at the DHE (or at the Governor’s office, or at OER) and they have explained that the APA Agreement terms exceed the financial parameters” to “I have spoken to <insert an official here> and they have assured me that this contract will be funded”.
Many members across the state have offered to join in some kind of physical demonstration or protest. With the Legislature out of session, there are few officials on Beacon Hill to witness that kind of event (and the especially busy beginning of the school year would not afford large numbers of the membership to participate).
Yesterday, members of the Council of Presidents and the Commissioner of Education are meeting to discuss the contract funding/OER problems. Today, Friday (September 14) I will be attending the Higher Ed Leadership Council (HELC) meeting. HELC consists of all of the MTA Affiliate Statewide Presidents. We will be discussing ways to escalate the funding issues and how to deal with some other potentially anti-union activities that have been encountered across the state. After tomorrow’s meeting, I should have more information to share.
The bottom line is, our efforts have been noticed. The verbal feedback has been positive. We will not let off the pressure until there is an outcome that we can accept.
Thank you all for your continued energy in keeping this matter in the front lines.
Sherry H
