From: Mass. Society of Professors
To: All Unit Email List
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 2:22 PM
Subject: [Allunit] Contract Ratified

Dear MSP Members,

I am very pleased to report that you voted overwhelmingly to ratify the contract negotiated by your bargaining team.

And so, what next?

First, both our sibling union at UMass-Boston (the Faculty Staff Union)
and the Board of Trustees must ratify the contract -- we expect both to
do so within the next two weeks. At that point, the contract is a
binding, legal document. The only "but" is that, as always, salary
increases and some other cost items in the contract must be
appropriated by the legislature. We hope that a supplemental bill to
fund the contracts will be introduced by the Governor soon after
ratification and that we will all see money in our paychecks by the end
of the fall. I fully expect the Governor to submit a bill for the full
amount of our agreement (including complete retroactive pay back to the
beginning of July) to the legislature in a timely fashion and that the
legislature will fund it. We are not going to be thrown into the limbo
of the 2001-04 contract.

In the meanwhile, we have a lot of work to do to implement the many
gains of the contract. We need members to participate in a series of
labor-management committees that will make many parts of the contract a
reality. Please let the MSP Office know if you are interested and able to contribute to the work of any of the following committees:

· Flexible/Enhanced Sabbatical Systems

· Phased Retirement

· Family Needs/Work-Life Issues

· Computer Replacement Policy

· Health Insurance for New Hires

· Faculty Liability with regard to Off-Campus Excursions

· On-Line Education

· Implementing Lecturer Promotions

Thank you again for your vote and, even more importantly, your
participation over the past year. Our successes were due in large
measure to our early preparation for bargaining and your willingness to
signal your support for your bargaining team's proposals at critical
moments.

Max Page

MSP President