Good Morning
Below, is a message from the statewide Board of Directors of the MSCA:
On Friday, November 1, 2019, the MSCA Board of Directors voted unanimously to end Work to Rule at the statewide level effective Monday, November 4, 2019.
The Board unanimously supports the Westfield State University chapter’s continuation of Work to Rule at the chapter level and the chapter’s vote of no confidence in the university president.
The decision to end Work to Rule came as the day part-time, per-credit rates have been agreed to, as well as the hourly rate for Music Instructors. We have been told that the universities are in the process of paying all retroactive monies owed, dating back to July 1, 2017.
Several of the university presidents have indicated to chapter leadership that they a will be partially or fully implementing increases in the equivalencies for modes of instruction other than lecture and seminar. This was the language item that ultimately necessitated a renegotiation of the original tentative agreement last spring.
It is time to reflect on the gains that the bargaining team was able to achieve – parental leave and day part-time increases in excess of 13% – and celebrate the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision on the 15% Rule in favor of the MSCA last month, while the team is preparing for successor negotiations.
MSCA Board of Directors
Note from the President of the Salem Chapter:
President Keenan and Provost Silva have agreed in principle that Salem State should move toward more fair equivalencies with special attention to the goal of moving the lab and studio courses to a 1 to 1 ratio. Chapter Vice President Juditha Burchsted and I have been in communication with Interim Assoc. Dean Tad Baker about this issue. Besides these talks between the chapter leadership and management, there will be meetings with the membership to gather the faculty’s ideas and desires on this issue. Look for mention of these meetings in future editions of the chapter’s e-blasts.
