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UFF Biweekly EXTRA
United Faculty of Florida -- USF System Chapter
11 December 2011
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ANNOUNCEMENTS

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

JOIN UFF TODAY!

Download, fill in, and mail the membership form. You must be a UFF member at the time of an incident (such as a reprimand, non-reappointment, layoff notice, or tenure/ promotion denial) for UFF to represent you in a grievance or future litigation. UFF CANNOT REPRESENT A NON-MEMBER IN A GRIEVANCE OR FUTURE LITIGATION. And you must be a UFF member to vote or run in the union election in spring. Come and join the movement.

CHAPTER MEETING SCHEDULE FOR SPRING 2012

The UFF USF Chapter will meet on alternate Fridays next spring, starting on January 13. Each meeting will be at 12 pm noon, and there will be sandwiches, chips, and soda pop. This is the meeting where chapter business is conducted, and all UFF USF faculty and professionals are invited: members are free to participate in chapter business, and non-members are invited to check us out. The meetings are currently scheduled to meet in EDU 150 on January 13, February 10, March 9, April 6, and April 20. We will also meet in USF-St. Petersburg on January 27, in USF-Sarasota / Manatee on February 24, and in USF-Polytechnic on March 23, at rooms TBA. Come and check us out.

THANK YOU!

UFF USF delivered a big box of toys and books to the West Central Labor Council meeting on Tuesday for the Children's Home Society's toy drive. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

And 41 members of the USF community donated $ 4,591 to the UFF PAC for strategic campaign contributions. Thank you to everyone who sent in a donation; they will help us build relationships for weathering the next legislative session.

Taking the long view, UFF PAC is planning for the next election cycle, when many legislators will be particularly ... receptive ... to such bridge building. So UFF PAC is continuing two programs:

  • UFF PAC will continue to accept donations. Anyone – UFF member or non-member – may make a donation to UFF PAC. The form for making donations is posted online.
  • UFF PAC will continue to ask USF employees to consider donating via paycheck deductions. The form for setting up a paycheck deduction is posted online.
Since UNION DUES DO NOT GO TOWARDS CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS, UFF PAC depends entirely on donations.

As for the legislative session, there has been a certain amount of posturing. Governor Scott has proposed reversing most of his cuts in K-12 education that he made last year, but higher education was left out of his recent proposal. The Florida Education Association was not particularly impressed: see FEA President Andy Ford's response.

As for the legislative leadership's attitude, readers may remember New College student and Board of Governors representative (for students) Michael Long's challenge to Florida State Senator J. D. Alexander. Representative Matt Gaetz has proposed that instead of students choosing their BOG representative, the choice would be made by the governor. Cue the Dreamworks theme, "You're playing with the big boys now ..."

PLANS FOR SPRING

As of now, approximately a quarter of the UFF USF members joined during the last year, which means that the union is growing – and will continue to grow during the next semester. New members bring new ideas and new issues and have new needs. So in addition to the recruiting drive, the Chapter is pursuing two initiatives.

  • Reorganization. On January 13, at the first Chapter meeting of the semester (in USF-Tampa in EDU 150 at 12 pm noon), the Chapter will look at the chapter's administrative structure. The centralized system may have been appropriate when the union was much smaller, but there are growing pains, so the Chapter will be thinking about how to do things more effectively.
  • Chapter elections. Every spring, the chapter elects officers and representatives (incumbents are listed on the UFF USF contacts page. This year, because we are growing, we will receive more UFF senate and FEA delegate seats. In addition, we will be seeking people who have ideas and initiative and would like to become involved in building USF's future.
Come and join us.

LOGISTICS

Next Chapter Meeting during the first week of classes, Friday, January 13, at noon, in EDU 150, on USF –Tampa.

Sandwiches & sodas are provided by the union, and all UFF members are invited to attend. Non-members are also invited to come and check us out. Come and join the movement.

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.

The UFF also sends out a biannual hardcopy newsletter, Uncommon Sense, to the entire unit. Past issues of Uncommon Sense are posted on-line. Articles from past issues of the Biweekly are also posted on-line.