Parents, Students, Community Leaders and AFT Detroit issued the following statements and presented the list of demands during a press conference held on Tuesday, July 28.  Please click the links, Press Release -- Community Leaders, Labor, Parents and Students Come Together Demanding A Safe Return To School, and 

As of this moment, the COVID-19 bill that Mitch McConnell is poised to introduce will include the TRUST Act, a proposal championed by Mitt Romney to set up a fast-track commission to cut Social Security and Medicare.

One of the disadvantages of the Pandemic is that we, your Executive Board, have not been able to conduct membership meetings on campus. Consequently, we have begun conducting the meetings via Zoom.  

In the past month, we conducted two Zoom membership meetings and were able to talk about the history of our bargaining unit along with the history of our negotiations as well as the current status including some of the problems we have been experiencing at the bargaining table.

The meetings also gave members an opportunity to ask questions and express concerns. We encourage members to participate in this way for now as we will be scheduling these meetings on a regular basis until the College resumes normal in-person operations.

The following is a link to an interesting article about adjunct faculty:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/20/new-report-says-many-adjuncts-make-less-3500-course-and-25000-year

Recent improvements to the New Jersey unemployment benefits regarding adjunct faculty are outlined in the following links:

Unemployment Bill

New UI Law is a Victory for NJ's Adjuncts

CFT President Jeff Freitas dons an NFT tee to interview NFT President Mariah Fisher. Watch Upfront with CFT!

Over the past several months several job Classifications in the "managerial" (MP) pay plans have gone through the lengthy process of joining our union.  If you are in one of these titles, you know the effort and time it took to accomplish that task.  Endless hearings at the State Board of Labor Relations, a determination that your job titles were eligible to be in A&R, then unionization votes - in each case unanimously in favor of joining A&R.

The Pandemic Picnic is sold out for 9/4 and 9/11

The unfortunate news is that all Social Committee events have been canceled through November 2020...this means no Maneeley's picnic, no Red Sox or Yankees games, no Christmas Spectacular, no Foxwoods, no events at all through November 2020...we are still leaving the door open for our annual Holiday Party at the Aqua Turf; we have not yet canceled this event.

So We Got Creative:

Since we couldn't hold our Lake Compounce trip nor our Maneeley's picnic, we put our heads together and worked out a way to hold a summer picnic anyway...so here is our plan:  we will be hosting a "picnic" of sorts in the parking lot of the A&R Office.  It is not the traditional gathering, but rather a "stay-in your car, drive through" picnic.  We will still have food, games, gifts, and prizes for all who attend.  This event is only open to active A&R members. 

This will be different than any picnic we have had before, but we think we can pull this off safely and still have some fun. The good part, everyone still has their LPRTY time available (the half-day for a summer picnic in our contract page 90), so here is your chance to use that time.  The event/s will be held on two consecutive Fridays: Sept 4 and Sept 11 (you choose 1 day) and we are limited to 150 people on each date.  The cost is $10 per person and we have 2 ways to register:

1) Pay by Check:  Fill out this form and mail the form and check as indicated
2) Pay by Credit Card: Register online and we will contact you for your credit card info (you MUST leave your phone number so our office staff can call you and take your credit card info over the phone)...don't call us, we will contact you for the c.c. info.

THERE ARE NO WALK-IN REGISTRATIONS...sorry, but, well, COVID.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS FRIDAY AUGUST 28th

Recently Deb Peterson announced that she would not be seeking another term as President but would like to continue representing RC43 as a delegate.  The usual transfer of office takes place immediately following our Annual Conference.  However, with all NYSUT meetings canceled until at least October 1^st, the RC 43 Executive Board has agreed to a transition effective immediately. That means that I am stepping into BIG SHOES effective immediately. 

HOUSTON-Statement from Craig Adams, president of the Spring Branch HFT, and Zeph Capo, president of Texas AFT, on Spring Branch Independent School Distr ict1 s decision to have parents choose between their children 1s participation in either in-person learning or distance learning starting in August (Spring Branch is a suburb of Houston):