NTFC Local 6546 AFT / IFT

Non-Tenure Faculty Coalition, University of Illinois

March 2017 Newsletter

Download our March 2017 Member Newsletter here.

 

Weekly update

By Shawn Gilmore, NTFC President :: Mar 10, 2017 ::
Colleagues —
A fairly brief update for the end of the week from NTFC Local #6546.
Much of our work this week has been internal, both on our own ongoing projects, and in connection with our solidarity partners. Our own efforts are being directed toward organizing and upcoming elections, first of Stewards, then of officers later this Spring. This will mean that the union will have new leadership in a number of roles, and many of our activists have stepped up their efforts to make sure we have strong Stewards and Executive Councils.
We also met with a number of our partners this week, including the historical AAUP advocacy local at UIUC, as we coordinate with them to avoid confusion (as we are also an AAUP chapter, though one with collective bargaining rights). We also hosted a meeting of the campus labor coalition, with updates on SEIU’s recently-settled contract–a huge congratulations to them. Both GEO and AFSCME will start bargaining this year as well, so we’ll need to offer them a lot of support. And, CFA held an amazing event this week, bringing together faculty, students, and labor: Radical Hope.
Next week, we’ll have leaders from UIC’s and UIS’s faculty unions in town and will be holding an action on March 15 at the Board of Trustees meeting. We’ll have much more to announce in a few weeks, including some developments about how we will proceed for the rest of the semester, with some events focused on the dire state of higher education funding in Illinois.
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

Officer Elections Open

March 2, 2017

Colleagues,

We are writing to announce the dates of our upcoming Officer Elections, which will be held during the week of April 17-21, 2017. All card-signed members of NTFC Local #6546 are eligible and encouraged to vote. If you have not yet signed a membership card, you can do so at any point by visiting the union office or setting up a meeting with our organizing team.

The following positions will be elected:

  • President
  • Vice-President
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Bargaining Research Chair
  • Grievance Committee Chair
  • Communications and Publications Chair

Nominations for these offices are now open. All card-signed members are eligible to run for office, provided they have been members in good standing for the last six months. Card-signed members may nominate themselves or a candidate of their choice, either in person at McKinley Foundation Building, Room 29, 809 S. Fifth Street, or in an email to ntfc6546@gmail.com.

Nominations may also be made in person at any Organizing Committee meeting. The closing date for nominations is April, 10, 2017, at 5pm.

In solidarity,

NTFC Local #6546, Elections Committee

Weekly Update – March 3, 2017

:: By Shawn Gilmore, NTFC President :: March 3, 2017  ::

Colleagues:
With the weather up and down and the weeks getting a little long, NTFC is going strong.
After last week’s General Membership Meeting, we’ve been working more on our internal structures and outreach, especially as we’re now in a key phase of implementing the collective bargaining agreement that we signed last Spring. In the next months, our members are contractually eligible for the announced campus salary program, should received new and earlier forms of notice about their appointment status for the Fall, and many of our long-term NTT faculty should be getting a new kind of offer, a 1+1 contract type that should stabilize their employment. In addition, the salary floor for NTTs will rise in the Fall. We’re keeping an eye on these changes, and are in contact with members across campus about the various ways these parts are playing out.
This week, I met with UIUC’s new Interim Provost (John Wilkin) to introduce him to NTFC and make sure he was aware of the many moving parts that affect the employment of NTTs here. He let me know that the outgoing Provost left him with a good working knowledge about our last contract bargaining process, and that he was happy to stay engaged between contract cycles. As we work to develop these relationships with various administrators, I hope to allay some of their worries about engaging with unions, while reminding them that we will always work on behalf of our members’ interests.
Hope everyone is staying warm. 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,
Shawn

February 2017 Newsletter

Download our February Member Newsletter here.

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