NTFC hosted a Work-In on Reading Day, December 14th, in the Illini Union Courtyard Cafe.  Faculty members from many departments came to grade papers, meet with students, and discuss work and union-related issues. Bagels, pizza and coffee were served to give members the energy needed to push through the last days of the semester.  Members from GEO and other local unions joined us in solidarity.  Our members are passionate about being available for their students and having a strong presence on campus.

Dear Colleagues::

Congratulations to the NTFC Stewards Council for executing such an outstanding organizing drive over the past couple weeks. In addition, we welcome all members, colleagues, friends, and community members to our semesterly Work-In where NTFC will be completing our school supply drive with an exciting matching campaign!

GEO will also be there offering free tutoring services all night. So if you want to know more about how bargaining is going with the administration, stop on by, and see how you can support a fair contract for graduate employees.

This Week in Reflection

With the assistance of temporary organizers from AFT/IFT, Natalye Tate and Casey Sweeney, NTFC was able to increase membership by a noticeable percentage, and they left us with a comprehensive report of our capabilities including recommendations for moving forward. During the organizing drive, 15 NTFC members completed 41 hours of office visits with our temporary staff from IFT/AFT. We attempted 170 visits and actually found and talked to 53 people from our bargaining unit (a 31% find rate, which is really impressive), including 44 people from our bargaining unit that we spoke to for the first time! Even for those folks we did not find, we were able to fill in some gaps in our information, such as correct office locations or office hours—which will make future visits much easier. This was a great way to shake things up and reinvigorate NTFC as a local who is constantly strengthening our base. Let’s keep the momentum up in the New Year and make an hour of organizing conversations a weekly standard.

Coming Up

Join us on Reading Day, Thursday, December 14, for NTFC’s Work-In. The Work-In runs from 10am to 2pm, stop by anytime to chat or just to work. Everyone is welcome whether you’re a card-signed member, fee-payer, supporter, colleague, friend, or community member. There will be coffee, bagels, and pizza throughout the event, so come by the Illini Union Courtyard Café and look for the NTFC logo.

During the Work-In, we will also be concluding this semester’s School Supply Drive for Champaign-Urbana area schools. Any supplies donated will be matched either in item or cost by NTFC. That means for every notebook or pack of pencils you donate will actually have double the impact! Let’s show our area teachers and students how we support each other during this season of giving and family.   

Nationally

A new version of the Republican party’s tax plan passed the Senate by a vote of 51-49, split mostly along party lines except “Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee was the only Republican to vote against the bill, citing concerns about growing the deficit.” Since there are many differences between the versions the House and Senate voted on, Congress will have to make revisions to a final version before sending it to President Donald Trump to sign. Today, during the UIUC Academic Senate meeting, Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost John Wilkin expressed the University’s intention to continue to lobby against the inclusion of any item that would harm higher education and the affordability of graduate education. Even if all the predatory elements of the tax bill are removed, this plan still gives the greatest breaks to the wealthiest while starving the social structures that makes for a strong middle class. If you wish to have an impact on the final revision of this bill, contact Republican Representatives and let them know how their choices now will impact elections in 2018.

Closing 

This time of year can be frantic, but it can also represent the best of what it means to come together as a community. Help NTFC prove that by donating school supplies. Prove it to the nation by helping the change the direction of the Republic tax reform. Happy grading. Happy holiday break.

We give supplies to schools, the schools give to kids who need them.

Families can’t always afford to support their students and teachers should not have to buy their students’ supplies. Nationally, K-12 teachers spend approximately $500 per year of their own limited paychecks to provide basic school supplies for children who would not have those supplies otherwise. [1, 2]

While the system needs to be changed, until that systemic change comes, we can still lend a helping hand.

A spiral notebook that costs $2 becomes a journal for a middle schooler to write and reflect in. A pack of pens means a child who is able to keep pace with in-class activities because they didn’t have to ask to borrow from a classmate or the teacher. And we can stand in solidarity with those teachers who regardless of the cost to themselves, still see themselves as the only ones willing and able to take on the responsibility of making sure their students have the resources they need to pursue their education.

You can donate to our School Supply Drive to benefit Urbana schools by dropping off needed items at our office or other locations around campus.

Starting Dec 6 until Dec 14, all donations received will be doubled through a sponsor’s donations in kind or in value.

Drop-Off Locations:

• NTFC Office, Second Floor, McKinley Foundation, 809 S. Fifth St., Champaign
• English Department Rm 211, 608 S. Wright St., Urbana

The Best Supplies to Donate:

• binders
• pencils & pens
• flash drives
• notebooks
• markers & highlighters
• 
dry erase markers
• tissues
• scissors
• 
colored pencils
• zip lock bags
• hand wipes

 

______________

1. “Teachers Spend Hundreds of Dollars a Year on School Supplies.” EdWeek.Org

2. Educators’ Funding Priorities & Personal Spending. Scholastic.com

Join us on Reading Day Dec 14 in Illini Union Courtyard Cafe

For our regular end-of-semester demonstration of solidarity in labor for education.

Food and Coffee Provided!

---

ALSO …..

Bring your school-supply donations to help local grade schools. We will be collecting supplies at the Work-In.

BEST SUPPLIES TO DONATE
FOR URBANA SCHOOLS

• binders
• pencils & pens
• flash drives
• notebooks
• markers & highlighters
• 
dry erase markers
• tissues
• scissors
• 
colored pencils
• zip lock bags
• hand wipes

 

By Kay Emmert

//

Dear Colleagues,

This week NTFC’s Stewards Council launched the start of a two-week organizing initiative. As we approach the end of the Fall semester, we’re focusing on talking to NTT’s new to our bargaining unit. As a member-run union, we want to be sure that new NTT’s not just know their rights under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) but have a voice in the direction of our local.

This Week in Reflection

We happily welcome Natalye Tate and Casey Sweeney, staff organizers from AFT, as they assist us in contacting new NTT’s in the next 2 weeks. Alongside staff organizers, NTFC members have volunteered their time to go on office visits as well. If you’d like to take your share of this responsibility and talk to some of your new colleagues, let us know by emailing us atntfc6546@gmail.com or calling 217-318-0042. These conversations happen in pairs and with assistance, so all you have to worry about it having a good conversation. Whether you’ve been involved with NTFC events in the past, or this would be your first time, participating in organizing conversations can be a fun and enlightening experience and all members are welcome to volunteer!

Coming Up

Every semester, representatives from NTFC meet with representatives of the Administration to discuss on-going CBA topics and other issues affecting our members. We will be meeting with the Administration in a couple of weeks to follow-up on the following topics: what services are retained for NTT’s who retire, the Admin’s strategy for handling any decision that may come down from the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court case, pay-floor compliance, faculty who are misclassified as “visiting,” and whether years an NTT was misclassified as “visiting” should count toward benefits. If any of these subjects are of interest to you, feel free to contact us at ntfc6546@gmail.com or by calling 217-318-0042. It’s especially important to contact us if any bargaining unit member believes they may be below the current pay-floor ($43,000 for 1FTE) or are misclassified as “visiting.”

On the State Level

The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), one of our affiliates we pay dues to, has requested input from our local regarding whether to endorse a candidate for the next Illinois Governor election. Specifically, they’d like to know: 1) should the IFT endorse a candidate in the gubernatorial primary at all?; and if so 2) who should the IFT endorse in the gubernatorial primary? While the deadline for such input is December 4, and may limit our options for requesting input, we welcome our members’ thoughts, which should be emailed to us at  ntfc6546@gmail.com.

Nationally

On Wednesday of this week, graduate students at over 40 universities staged a walkout to protest the Republican tax plan, called the “Tax Cut and Jobs Act.” This tax plan would include making tuition waivers taxable income, making graduate programs unaffordable by any but the already independently wealthy. If universities chose to take on the extra cost, which isn’t likely, many departments would face shutting down their graduate programs due to a decrease in applicants and increase in cost. Some private colleges and universities would also be hit hard by other changes in the tax plan. It’s clear that this tax plan is a way to provide the largest tax breaks to corporations while reducing options for class mobility.

The tax plan passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 227-205, but still needs to pass in the Senate. There’s still time for lawmakers to make changes to the tax plan or to defeat it completely. To help, you can sign GEO’s petition to the University to exercise its power to defeat the tax plan. In addition, you can write or call senators directly on either side of the isle to ask them to vote against this tax plan. If all democrat senators vote against the tax plan, we would only need to convince 3 republicans to also vote the tax plan down in order for it to be defeated in the senate. This tax plan would hurt workers and universities alike, so let’s unite to protect the future of education together.

Closing

As we go into the last weeks of the semester, as we invest ourselves in our students, research, and departments, let’s remember to invest just a little of our time in protecting our rights as workers and a vision of a University that puts education first.

In Solidarity,

Kay Emmert, President

NTFC Local #6546