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April Election Results

OFFICER ELECTION RESULTS

Elections for the NTFC Executive Committee were held April 17-21, 2017.

The following officers were elected by overwhelming majority.

President: Kay Emmert
Vice-President: Christina De Angelo
Secretary: Shawn Gilmore
Treasurer: Matt Goodman
Grievance Committee Chair: David Gooler
Communications Chair: Joe Grohens
Bargaining Research Committee Chair: Cindy Wachter

We congratulate the new officers, and thank them in advance for their service in running the union. You can view officer profiles here.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT RATIFIED

The April 17-21 ballot also included a vote on this amendment to the NTFC Constitution.

The amendment was ratified by an overwhelming majority.

[Complete constitution is available here.]

STEWARDS COUNCIL ELECTIONS

An election of Stewards was held Apr 3-7, 2017, as reported here.

Weekly Update May 5, 2017

By Shawn Gilmore, NTFC President :: May 05, 2017 :: Colleagues —

It’s time to celebrate! Today marks the one-year anniversary of our first collective bargaining agreement, ratified on May 5, 2016 (photo).

So, later on today, starting at 4:30pm, we’re hosting a potluck at Quality bar in downtown Champaign. Everyone is welcome–members, solidarity partners, friends, family; bring something if you can, but come regardless (link).

This follows on the heels of our regular end-of-semester Work-In, which gives our members and solidarity partners a chance to do their valuable work in public and spend time catching up, just before finals strike (a few photos here: link). And, earlier this week, many of us participated in a May Day rally, with some great speakers.

However, our colleagues, the unionized tenure-track faculty as the University of Illinois, Springfield, are on strike for the fourth day today, and are finally back in the bargaining room. There may be news to come today or this weekend, but they can still use support. As members of our three-campus coalition of IFT faculty locals, UISUF has the full support of NTFC and UICUF, and we were able to have the leadership of all three locals in Springfield on Wednesday (link).

There are still a number of ways to help, in addition to joining their picket lines (fee free to circulate these to anyone interested):

Sign the petition in support: link.
Follow their facebook page and offer support: link.
Contact UIS Chancellor Susan Koch. Email, call 217/206-6634, or send a message on Twitter to @ChancellorKoch. Tell her to return to the table to bargain a fair contract with hardworking UIS faculty!
Post messages of support on Facebook and Twitter. Use the hashtag #UISContractNow.
Donate to the UISUF strike fund. Send contributions and letters of support to: UPI Office, 11 E. Adams #1106, Chicago, IL 60603-6301.

Let’s make sure they have the support as they continuing fighting for their first CBA.

A couple of weeks ago, NTFC voted on a new set of officers and committee chairs, who will take over this weekend. This transition means that this will be my last wrap-up as President, as I’m turning the reigns over to Kay Emmert, who served are our Bargaining Research chair and lead negotiator for the past few years. Our new officers will be:

President: Kay Emmert

Vice President: Christina De Angelo

Treasurer: Matt Goodman

Secretary: Shawn Gilmore

Bargaining Research: Cindy Wachter

Communications: Joe Grohens

Grievance: David Gooler

Stewards Chair: Dennis Dullea

I will send updated contact information to the relevant parties on Monday, and then my time as President will be done. I want to thank everyone who receives these wrap-ups for their attention, feedback, and support. Hopefully, I have overburdened your email along the way, and know that NTFC would not be as successful without the support of those around us, and we will keep paying that support back for a long time.

Typically, I close with an invitation to our standing Friday Happy Hour, but today, come celebrate with us a Quality, in downtown Champaign, starting at 4:30!

In solidarity

Weekly Update – Apr 28, 2017

By Shawn Gilmore, NTFC President :: Apr 21, 2017 :: Colleagues —

Nearing the end of the semester, and NTFC Local #6546 is wrapping up some of its projects for the semester.

Yesterday, faculty, students, and staff from universities across the state converged on Springfield to Teach Out (sponsored by UPI/IFT), speaking to the budget impact in it many varieties. While not many NTFC faculty were able to make it, members of the UIUC community were there, and you can see some photos of the event here.

New week, we have a lot going on. On Monday, May Day, we are co-sponsoring a noon rally on the patio south of the Illini Union, with speakers from a variety of unions and social groups (event page). On Reading Day, May 4, we will hold our end-of-semester Work In at the Illini Union, from 10am-2pm (link). This recurring event gives our members a chance to reconnect and show the work that they do in public. We’re happy to welcome our solidarity partners as well, so if you have work to do (particularly those in CFA and GEO), or if you want to come by over the lunch break for conversation with fellow unionists (SEIU, AFSCME, and others), you are most welcome!

We also will be celebrating the one-year anniversary of the ratification of our first collective bargaining agreement, on Friday, May 5, starting at 4:30pm, at Quality, in downtown Champaign (link). All friends and family of union are welcome–bring a dish, bring yourself, bring your solidarity.

Finally, we held a series of officer elections, and at the end of next week, I’ll turn this update and officer duties over to our incoming President. We are in very good hands, and some officers are returning in new roles.

Later on today, our regulars will be out for our weekly Happy Hour today, at or around 5pm, at our normal location, Quality Bar, in downtown Champaign. Come on out if you’re local to celebrate the end of the week!

In solidarity