FiOS 1 Report on our Day of Action

This is what Solidarity looks like!

Standing together as one.

Many acting as one.

Be One of Many Acting as One

Join in the Day of Action tomorrow, 

April 25th at 12 noon in the Amphitheater. 

Notice of Election

On April 20, 2012, the 2012 Election Committee sent out a Notice of Election to each member's last known home address. A copy of that notification can be found here. 

Ballots will be mailed no later than May 9, 2012. If you do not receive a ballot by May 12, 2012, please contact the Council office at 908-964-8476 to get a replacement ballot and to verify your membership standing. 

The last date for receipt of ballots by mail at the Council office is May 16th.

There is strength in numbers . . .

when many act as one.

Day of Action - April 25th

Time: 12:00 p.m.
Where: Amphitheater  
Rain Location: Kopps Lounge

What is at stake for our contract?

Increments/Steps

Tuition Waivers and Reimbursement

Sabbatical Leave & Career Developmen

10 Vacation Days

Tuition Waivers for Dependents
Multi-Year Contracts

What is at stake for our students?

Affordable Higher Education

Student Loan Debt Greater than the National Credit Card Debt

Being a part of the middle class

Will you stand up and fight for our future?

AFT Local 1904 Bi-Yearly Elections are Suspended

Do to procedural challenges made to the AFT National office by one of the members of our Local, I regret to inform you that the AFT Officer and Delegate elections that commenced this morning have been suspended effective immediately. I know that many of you have voted already and I apologize for the inconvenience. 

Although we provided ample notice of the election by e-mail, AFT legal staff have informed us that, to comply with Federal election law, we must provide notice in a paper mailing, sent to the last known home address of each member. Because a large-scale paper mailing is not only labor intensive, but also costly, we chose the more cost-effective means of notice by e-mail. Unfortunately, in response to the challenge, we must prepare and send notification by postal mail.

The use of the ELVIS system to record votes has also been challenged. In exercising due legal caution, AFT National Legal staff have required that we provide verification of the security and anonymity of ELVIS in recording votes. The election committee has reached out to OIT to help us in presenting the specifications of ELVIS. In the event that the specifications of ELVIS cannot be documented to the satisfaction of AFT legal staff, we may be forced to conduct the election by paper ballot.

It should be noted that the above objections, and others not sustained by the AFT legal staff, were never made to Local Election Committee and were not presented to the National AFT until the well-publicized election was underway. Therefore, we were not able to address the objections before-the-fact. Moreover, AFT National Legal staff have determined that there was ample opportunity for anyone to declare candidacy and secure a nomination. Hence, no additional names will be added to the ballot, even as we are required to re-run the election.

It is going to take a bit of time to organize and send the required notice by mail, and to resolve issues regarding specifications of ELVIS. Hopefully, we will be able to send notice by mail so that you receive it late next week. We will continue to send notices, reminders and updates by e-mail as appropriate.

I am sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused, but we are committed to complying with our local constitution and bylaws, AFT National’s bylaws as well as applicable Federal law. 

In solidarity,

David Trubatch

Chair, 2012 AFT Local 1904 Election Committee

Join in the Day of Action!

Get organized. There's strength in numbers. Help push back the tide on the attack on working men and women in New Jersey.

Be a part of the blue school on April 25th from 12 - 1 p.m. starting at Amphitheater with a Solidarity Walk around campus followed by lunch.  RSVP on our Facebook event page.

Board of Trustees Statement

Preceding last Thursday night’s Board of Trustees meeting, there were tuition hearings, as required by law. Students were given the chance to speak to the Board to say how tuition directly affects their lives. They signed up to speak and were called in order. Halfway through the hearing, the signup sheet was taken away and never returned, so a couple of students didn’t get a chance to sign up. Clearly hearing from the students was a perfunctory matter to the Trustees, and when the original list of signed-up finished, the Board moved on.

I would have expected them to ask the audience if there was anyone else who wanted to speak. They did not. I spoke up to let the Board know that there were still students who wanted to be heard. They ignored me. Then I was called to make my scheduled monthly statement. As I walked to the podium, I told the Board how disappointed I was in their behavior, and that they could certainly make the time for every student voice to be heard.

In nearly 20 years of attending Trustee meetings, I have never seen such disregard of students, and I said so before I started my statement, which can be found by clicking here.     

  

In Solidarity 

Rich Wolfson
President, AFT Local 1904