In May, 2010, after lengthy negotiations and vote of the membership, the MSP agreed to accept concessions in the financial terms of our contract.  We took 364 day delays in the timing of our raises, effectively giving us two years of no raises at all, followed by modest raises of 1.5% and 3.5%.

In that concession agreement, the administration proposed “revenue accelerators” that described MA state tax revenue targets that, if met, would reduce the delay time to less than 364 days.
 
The good news is that in FY 2011 those revenue accelerators were exceeded and should cause our raise delays to be reduced to only 180 days, so we are due 180 days of back pay in FY11.
 
Other statewide unions with similar accelerator language in their contracts have received a contract modification from the governor’s office in which they traded their 180 days of back pay in FY11 (which is one-time money) for an extension of their base pay raises for two years in FY13 and 14.  The Governor’s office has directed the UMass President to extend a similar offer to UMass employees.
 
We are very interested in pursuing this kind of contract modification, but at this time, no such offer has come from the UMass President’s office and they have clearly indicated a reluctance to provide such an offer.  So once again we need to mobilize to get a fair contract that honors previous agreements.

On Tuesday (Monday class schedule), October 11 at noon in the Cape Cod Lounge the MSP and other campus unions will have an all-member meeting to discuss our actions to mobilize around the actions of the President’s office and to secure adequate funding from the legislature and governor.
 
Please mark your calendar and plan to attend.  October 11, Noon, Cape Cod Lounge.
Randy Phillis  - President, Massachusetts Society of Professors.
 
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Cape Cod Lounge
Noon
(Refreshments Available)
RSVP immediately but no later than 11/4

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