January 22, 2001

Dear Members:

Everything seems to be on track for payment of the salary adjustments negotiated as part of the one-year extension of the contract. Current employees should receive their adjustments, bonuses and retroactivity in the January 26th payroll, which is received by members on February 2. Former employees should receive their monies later in the month. Please do not hesitate to contact your local chapter president or me if you have any concerns or questions.

MSCA Director of Communications Patricia Johnston and I have been preparing the next issue of the MSCA Perspective. We hope to have it on the campuses the second week of February. A complete set of worksheets to verify the accuracy of your February 2nd paycheck will appear.

After several postponed sessions, DGCE bargaining will resume tomorrow, January 24th, at Worcester State College. It is always risky to express public optimism, but we hope that a settlement of the DGCE contract is at hand.

Day bargaining continues to progress slowly. The employer has made some changes to its post-tenure review proposal concerning frequency of evaluations, the amount of materials required, and the adjudication process for members deemed "unsatisfactory." The parties will meet again on Friday, January 26th, at Worcester State College. Bargaining strategies will also be discussed and presented to the MSCA Board of Directors on February 2nd at Westfield State College.

I have been invited to be a guest on a radio show devoted to labor issues. Host Mark Stern is a labor historian at Bentley College who notes that WMBR, the radio station at MIT, is at the "leftmost spot on your FM dial" - 88.1. I will appear on Mark's show on Tuesday, January 30th, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM, to talk about labor issues in academe and our particular difficulties in bargaining with the Board of Higher Education.

Pat Markunas
MSCA President

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