July 7, 2008

Dear State College faculty and librarians,

The one year agreement that we reached last August expired on June 30, 2008, although the agreement remains in full force and effect.

We have been at the bargaining table since February 4th. At this point the greatest impediment is the Patrick administration, namely Leslie Kirwan, Secretary of Administration and Finance (A&F), who refuses to pre-approve a financial offer by the Board of Higher Education, our employer of record. At a meeting with A&F on June 20th, a number of statewide unions, including MTA, were told that A&F was "going to shoot for August" to get financial offers on bargaining tables. Without money on the table, settlement is impossible.

We have been pressuring the Patrick administration to put money on the table, as have some of the other MTA-affiliated unions. We will continue to work with those unions that are willing to keep up the pressure during the summer.

To do this we will need your participation this summer. At a minimum, we will schedule days for sending waves of emails and phone calls to the Governor's office or to Secretary Kirwan. We will also target the Governor's public appearances as we did on June 2nd at Framingham State College. (An article about this event appeared in MTA Today and will be on the front page of The Perspective as well this month.)

The MSCA does not intend to be patient and let the summer slide by. We would like to have a tentative agreement in place by September 1, but we will need your help during the summer if we are to achieve this. The bargaining team is committed to meeting throughout the summer.

In solidarity,
C. J. O'Donnell,
MSCA President

Dan Shartin,
Chair MSCA Bargaining Committee

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