Contract Funding Update
8/3/2023
Dear members,
On July 12th, the funding request for our one-year contract was submitted to the State Legislature. At the time, the legislature was still negotiating the annual state budget. We were unsure whether our funding would be included in the annual budget or a supplemental budget.
On Monday the legislature passed the state’s annual budget. The annual budget does not contain funding for over 20 MTA higher education unions including us and CSU. However, lawmakers are still able to use the supplemental budget process to finalize these agreements and fund the contracts this summer so that we and other higher education unions can receive our raises and higher course rates before the new academic year begins.
We want our raises and the funding distribution that we negotiated in good faith. Unfortunately, to get this will take our collective action to nudge lawmakers to get back to work and fulfill the Commonwealth’s obligation to fund contracts.
We are asking you to join your FSU leadership and the MTA in telling our lawmakers to pass a supplemental budget with the contract funding in it before September 1st.
What can you do?
Use the MTA Action Network to send a message to your state representative and state senator urging them to support legislation to provide funding for out contract.
Call your legislators. You can find your legislators' contact numbers by clicking here.
Send a follow-up email. At the end of this email is a sample language.
Together, when we fight, we win. Let’s win this fight.
Sincerely,
Caroline Coscia Sana Haroon
FSU President FSU Vice President
Senior Lecturer II Associate Professor
Political Science Department History Department
Sample letter
I am writing to you today to urge you to contact the members of your leadership team, including the Chair of the Committee on Ways and Means, to request that a supplemental budget that finalizes and funds public higher education and other state collective bargaining agreements be passed and sent to the Governor as soon as possible.
Earlier this summer supplemental budgets (H.3994 and S.2428) passed both branches of the Legislature. These budgets included important language finalizing collective bargaining agreements and providing necessary funding. Since this time, Ways and Means has received additional contracts that should be included with the contracts listed in Section 25 to finalize them under Section 7 of Chapter 150E.
Again, I urge you to contact the Chair of the Committee on Ways and Means and other members of your leadership team to request that a supplemental budget finalizing and funding the most recently ratified collective bargaining agreements promptly be sent to the Governor's desk. Our public higher education faculty and staff deserve quick action.
Thank you for your consideration and for all that you do in support of students, educators, and public education in Massachusetts.