Back to school lunch invitation

Welcome back to school! The LFU invites all members of the Longy faculty to drop in and enjoy each other’s fellowship over a light lunch.

Date: Monday, September 12, 2011
Time: 12:00 - 1:45 PM (drop in anytime)
Location: Wolfinsohn Room
Food: Pizza, salad, beverages

This is a wonderful opportunity to visit, eat, pick up a copy of the newly published Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), and communicate with each other and the LFU Executive Board any thoughts, ideas, and/or concerns you have about life at Longy.

We look forward to seeing you there!

A Fantastic Number: 06484

Since becoming a union, the road taken has been long and arduous, involving many hours of work and some sleepless nights on the part of Treasurer Sano and President Clay Hoener. They crunched budget numbers and communicated with other LFU members, various branches of government, financial institutions, and AFT representatives. Forms were filled out, phone calls were made, and emails were sent and received. Our official charter number is 06484.

Landmark events included ratification of our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on March 6; selection of our bank (Eastern Bank) and establishment of our account at the end of March; approval of the LFU budget by members on April 4, which set the levels of dues to be collected; payroll deduction of first dues on May 16; completion of the transferal of those dues to Eastern Bank on June 8; and signing of LFU’s first dues checks to AFT and Greater Boston Labor Council (GBLC) on June 13.

Members of the Longy Faculty Union, Local 06484, AFT can enjoy the full range of benefit programs offered through AFT. These benefits are very valuable indeed. In fact, the amount of savings people receive from these ancillary benefits alone can, and in many cases do, actually exceed the Union dues!

One example of the many benefits available is the AT&T Wireless discount of 15% on your monthly charges of any new or existing contract. This benefit is offered through Union Plus (http://unionplus.org/) and you can find the info on how to sign up for it here. Another great benefit for movie fans are movie tickets for up to 48% discount through Working Advantage (http://workingadvantage.com/). When you register use the Company ID 744387769 to get the Union Plus discounts. For shopping, there’s AFT Advantage (http://aftadvantage.affinityperks.com/) which gives you all kinds of discounts on products and services like 15% off at 1800Flowers.com, 15% off at Fedex Office, 20% off at Gold’s Gym  or a $100 per month discount on Nutrisystem to name just a few.

LFU members should have received their membership cards by now, so to take advantage of these benefits and to learn more about AFT membership, click here to validate membership today. After a card is validated the membership page will appear next. Members then enter their last name toward the bottom where it says “New users” and click on “Create an Account”. Savings galore are just a few clicks away.

Longy committees begin meeting

Our Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the School calls for the creation of a number of different committees involving Longy faculty: Labor Management Committee (LMC), Faculty Planning Committee (FPC), Faculty Development Committee (FDC), Conservatory Curriculum Committee (CCC), and Community Programs Curriculum Committee (CPCC). After the election of faculty members in May, all Committees, except the CCC, have met and begun discussing issues of mutual concern.

The LFU appreciates the significant time and effort contributed by many members of the faculty and the administration in order to arrange these first meetings in anticipation of the upcoming academic year. Sharing opinions, having constructive discourse, and establishing clear recommendations on these Committees is a significant part of the Union’s mission.

Thank you

The LFU Board, the LFU Communications Committee, and AFT Field Representative Diane Frey would like to thank the many Union members who spontaneously came together to give them gifts and honor them with a party on July 8 in appreciation of their hard work over the past year. The party was graciously hosted by Leslie Amper and Randall Hodgkinson at their home.

LFU meetings

One of our priorities in the LFU is to listen to concerns of our members. One such concern prompted us to call a Membership Meeting on June 13, 2011.

The issue at hand was the possibility that a small number of faculty members might be charged a particularly high percentage of their wages as dues, based upon our newly-established dues structure. At the meeting, members voted unanimously to stipulate that total Union dues (local plus all affiliate dues) for any member will not exceed 3.25% of a faculty member’s gross wages.

The LFU Executive Board continues to work hard for the benefit of the faculty, the School, the students, and the community. The Board had meetings this summer on June 27, July 27, and August 12.

As always, please feel free to contact any members of the LFU Executive Board with any issues that may arise.

Personal Notes

• We are sorry to report that the father of Longy faculty member Yuan Mei Xing, Professor Xing of the Sichuan Conservatory Music in China, passed away on August 1, 2011. He had taught clarinet there for 40 years, and while he was on the faculty, he arranged to have Longy faculty members and former Director Victor Rosenbaum play concerts there in November of 1993. Yuan Mei made an emergency trip to China to be with her father at the time of his passing. He was loved by his many students, colleagues, and by his family. We send condolences to Yuan Mei and her family.

Michelle Shoemaker resigns

As of August 2011, Michelle Shoemaker has resigned from the Longy faculty after 9 years of service to the school. When she began at Longy in 2002, she was Department Chair of Winds and Brass for both the Conservatory and Community Programs. Throughout her tenure, she was a member of the clarinet faculty, she taught pedagogy and a music history elective, and she served on many committees. Michelle was a member of the LFU. She has accepted a full-time position as Director of Communications for the All Newton Music School in Newton, Massachusetts. We send her best wishes in her new professional life.