Chuck Herring, Uniserv Director
Harriet Poch, Uniserv Field Assistant
WHERE’S CHUCK?
| April 13 | Meeting with Atlanta Superintendent
(Atlanta) Region 14 Council Meeting (BJ’s – Gaylord) |
| 14 | Jury Duty? |
| 15 | Chuck in Lansing |
| 18 | Bargaining Workshop for Alpena ESP I & II (MEA Office) |
| 19 | Hillman EA Bargaining (Hillman) |
| 20 | Lansing – "Stop the Take Over" Meeting MEA 14A Retired Meeting (Alpena County Library) |
| 21 | Jury Duty? NMEA (BJ’s – Gaylord) |
| 22 | Mackinaw City Meeting on Senate Bills 55 & 56 |
| 25 | Spring Arbor Student Teacher Workshop (ACC) |
| 26 | Alpena EA IDP Workshop (MEA Office) |
| 27-29 | Chuck on leave |
| May 2 | Meeting with Atlanta EA & Atlanta ESP (Atlanta) |
| 6 | Chuck in Lansing |
| 9 | Meeting with CC Chair, Georgeann MacKinnon (Alpena) |
| 11 | Region 14 Council (BJ’s – Gaylord) |
| 17 | 14A Coordinating Council Meeting (Alpena) |
| 18 | MEA 14A Retired Meeting (location to be announced) |
| 19 | NMEA (BJ’s – Gaylord) |
| 23-27 | Northern Zone Retreat (Marquette) |
| 30 | Memorial Day – MEA Offices closed |
NO $’S:
The MEA in conjunction with the K-16 coalition will be pushing the legislature to fund education adequately (5% or cost of living, whichever is less). A bill has been introduced in the House. If it wallows in committee or is rejected, we will be initiating a petition drive to force the legislature to vote it up or down. If they vote it down, it will be on the November ballot. So hold on to your hats and be prepared for some legislative battles!
NOT AGAIN!
Yup. They’re at it again. The mischievous little devils in Lansing are trying to increase the school aid fund by taking some things away on the expense side. Guess what they want to take away—our insurance! For some reason the majority in the Senate and House want a piece of the education community again. So what are they up to?
House – HB 4274: Insurance carrier must release claims experience. "This has been introduced every year for at least the last 10 years. We have always been able to kill it, because it singled out MESSA and no other company."
Senate – SB 55: Creates a new insurance plan for educational employees, run by the state. "This will be good?"
SB 56: Makes it illegal to bargain health benefits for school employees only. "Don’t think so!"
WHAT’S HAPPENING…
Alpena EA turned down a three-year settlement offer with 2% for each of the three years, Community Blue PPO 1, reduction of three calendar days, and lots of wording changes. The "no’s" stated in this order—2% was not enough, the insurance needed tweaking up, and the calendar needed more shortening. Mediation has been scheduled for May 12 and a petition for fact finding has been filed by the Association.
Politics will be forcing us to get into crisis mode establishing phone trees, calling legislators, and educating ourselves.
I’m hearing frogs in the swamp—means the smelt should be running.
EASY WAYS TO LOWER YOUR PHONE BILL:
Get rid of features you may not use, such as call waiting and call forwarding. Send E-mails or instant messages instead of calling. If you make few long-distance calls, cancel long-distance service and use prepaid phone cards when you need them. Reject "inside wire maintenance coverage" unless you have a lot of trouble with your home wiring—the service is rarely used and costs about $4/month. If you use the phone a lot, consider a "bundled" local/long-distance plan that has one flat rate—usually about $50/month per phone line—instead of two separate plans. To compare plans: Telecommunications and Research Action Center http://www.trac.org will send you a cost-comparison chart by E-mail for $6 ($7 by regular mail). Jane Bryant Quinn, consumer columnist, Newsweek, 444 Madison Ave., New York City 10022. 53 issues. $41.08/yr.
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