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We are meeting tomorrow, Friday, at USF Sarasota / Manatee, but first, we are entering the party season... Autumn Social |
IN THIS ISSUEThe Florida Education Association (and Other Affiliates)Today, we look at our affiliates, but first, some important news.
A Little Help From Our FriendsThe United Faculty of Florida is part of a much larger organization, and sometimes it is helpful to be part of a much larger organization. Some UFF grievances have costed upwards of a hundred thousand dollars, and it helps to have a state organization that has handled lawsuits with legal bills approaching a million dollars. (And during bargaining, it helps to have access to a large database and legal advice.) And those of us with long memories remember when Governor Jeb Bush attempted to get rid of the UFF altogether; UFF got $ 1.5 million and staff support from our affiliates to fight back. So who are these affiliates with the lawyers, staff support, and the like? The USF Chapter is one of twenty-eight chapters of the United Faculty of Florida, which is a statewide union "local" of the Florida Education Association, which represents K-20 teachers and other professionals across the state of Florida. The FEA has over 140,000 members and is the largest state affiliate of any union in the southeastern USA. Most of its locals are county-wide organizations representing teachers and professionals in districts within that county. The FEA was formed when the Florida state affiliates of the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) merged - largely in response to Governor Bush's attempts to break unions in Florida. With over three million members, the NEA is the largest labor union in the country. The NEA provides services (including educational grants), educates politicians, pundits and the public, and helps state affiliates that need help. Meanwhile, the AFT has a very similar role, but unlike the NEA (which is independent), the AFT is a member of the American Federation of Labor / Congress of Industrial Organizations. The AFL-CIO is not itself a union; it is an association of unions. It provides mechanisms for unions to work together, even on the local level. In the Tampa Bay area and environs, the West Central Florida Federation of Labor is the local AFL-CIO organization, and it is a place where electrical workers, teachers, postal workers, nurses, journalists, construction workers, and other union activists can exchange ideas and plan joint activities. Like the annual toy drive (see the announcement at upper left). People of common interests have organized groups from the American Chamber of Commerce to the American Medical Association to the National Rifle Association. We are all individuals, but as Ben Franklin observed, we hang together or we ... hang ... separately. The FEA's Delegate Assembly
The primary policy-making body of the Florida Education Association is the Delegate Assembly, which met in Orlando on October 20 - 22. Every year there is a theme, and this year it was Every Student, Every School, Every Day. Former President Bill Clinton dropped by ...
FEA Vice President Fred Ingram, President Joanne McCall, former US President Bill Clinton, and FEA Secretary Treasurer Luke Flynt ... and told us that when he was a student, he wouldn't have made it through school if it wasn't for music (readers may recall his saxophone).
Some theories about the origins of music and language have them linked through poetry, and the most compelling speakers at the Delegate Assembly were the Florida / Viking Freedom Writers from Miami Norland Senior High School. They write poetry and perform it (check them out on You-Tube). (This is not the movie starring Hilary Swank; the Viking Freedom Writers program is run by Precious Symonette, Miami Dade Teacher of the Year). Many of the students have hard times, and much of their poetry was about poverty and loneliness. They were minority students, and some of their poems were about facing prejudice.
The Viking Freedom Writers There were sixteen new business items, and one of them was to provide resources for addressing institutional racism. Institutional racism was defined as, "The norms, policies and practices that are structured into political, societal and economic institutions that have the net effect of imposing oppressive conditions and denying rights, opportunity, and equality to identifiable groups based upon race or ethnicity." David Johns, the Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans led a panel discussion - which included two freedom writers - which largely concluded that educators should listen to student concerns.
The FEA also passed a motion, made by statewide UFF President Jennifer Proffitt, that "FEA will work closely with UFF to oppose uniform (one-size-fits-all) and punitive performance-metric-based funding for higher education."
FSU delegate Michael Buchler seconds the motion by UFF (statewide) President Jennifer Proffitt One final nag. November 8 is Election Day: don't forget to vote! |
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LOGISTICSChapter Meeting tomorrow Friday, November 4, on USF Sarasota / Manatee, in B 224. There will be sandwiches, snacks, sweets, and drinks. 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 gmccolm@tampabay.rr.com. |
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