ANNOUNCEMENTS

CHAPTER MEETS AT 11 AM AT USF POLY FRIDAY

On Friday, the UFF USF Chapter will meet at USF-Poly starting early, at 11 am, in LTB 2155. For lunch, we will bring sandwiches, chips, soda, and information about what is brewing in Tallahassee. All UFF USF members and non-members are invited, so come and join the movement.

JOIN UFF TODAY!

Join the fight to defend USF and Florida's public universities! Download, fill in, and mail the membership form. Benefits of membership include the right to run and vote in UFF chapter and statewide elections; representation in grievances (UFF cannot represent a non-member in a grievance or future litigation); greater opportunities for influencing the bargaining agenda; special deals in insurance, travel, legal advice, and other packages provided by our affiliates; free insurance coverage for job-related liability; and the knowledge you are supporting education in Florida. And if you join now, you will get a $ 100 rebate dues rebate. Come and join the movement!

OPPOSE $ 400 MILLION IN CUTS FOR THE STATE UNIVERSITIES

Here is a letter to all Florida university faculty and professionals from statewide UFF President Tom Auxter.

The $400 million in cuts for state universities that is proposed by the Senate Budget Committee will have devastating effects on Florida’s economy and on the ability of students to earn much higher salaries in the future. A New York Times article on how Florida Set for new Cut in Spending on Colleges summarizes the damage.

How can we stop the damage from $400 million in cuts?

Contact Senators Now!

The vote in the Senate is scheduled for Thursday. Call your senator’s office before Wednesday night and leave a polite, one-sentence message. (Emails are not read in time. It takes 30 seconds to phone in a message.) An example is: "Please ask the Senator to vote against cuts to university budgets."

Click on this link and enter your zip code to find your senator's phone number.

Reminder: Use a personal phone to make calls to senators and a personal computer to forward this message to colleagues. (Do not use state equipment.)

1. State your name and say that you live in the senator's district.
2. Provide a short message. For example:
   Please support higher education by opposing further budget cuts.
   Please oppose the creation of a 12th Florida university.

We have also posted some talking points for legislators on why Florida should Invest in Higher Education. Thank you, and as USF President Genshaft said, we are going to fight.

LOGISTICS

• Click here for the standing agenda
• Click here for the minutes of the previous meeting.

Membership: Everyone in the UFF USF System Bargaining unit is eligible for UFF membership: to join, simply fill out and send in the membership form.

NOTE: The USF-UFF Chapter website is http://www.uff.ourusf.org, and our e-mail address is uff@ourusf.org.

About this broadcast: This Newsletter was broadcast from uff.ourusf.org, hosted at ICDsoft.com, and is intended for all members of the UFF USF Bargaining unit (USF faculty and professionals at most departments). A (usually identical) version will be broadcast to USF-News and USF-Talk from mccolm@usf.edu.

If you do not want to receive the UFF Biweekly, you can unsubscribe below. If you do not receive the Biweekly, but want to, e-mail a message to mccolm@usf.edu.