TAKING
SOME PRIDE
By PCT President
Morty Rosenfeld
Fundamental
to any organization, but especially to unions, is the need of individual members
to subordinate their individual needs to the welfare of the entire group.
Members must be clear that a greater good comes to all from acting in the
common interest, even though that may require individual sacrifice.
Wherever I go in union
circles, I invariably hear the plaintive cry of union leaders lamenting the lack
of support by union membership for their union.
This lament is often expressed in generational terms as, “The young
people don’t want to do anything.”
In speeches that I’ve made
and workshops that I’ve run, I have expressed my conviction that the
membership of today’s unions
do not represent some mutated form of humanity, that just as their
predecessors they want some workplace dignity and some say about the content and
quality of their work lives. Shown
by their leaders how to achieve that, they would be as strong supporters of
their union as any who came before them.
The just completed round of
negotiations put my beliefs to the test. Our
membership confirmed my beliefs and then some.
They took an already high
level of solidarity to new levels. In
the almost 40 years that I have been a part of the PCT, I can’t recall a
difficult negotiations where we were more together, where the leadership could
concentrate on the negotiations process instead of keeping the members on the
same page. I don’t know of another
education union that could have asked its teachers to supress the need to come
to school the week before Labor Day to set their rooms up for the start of the
school year and get the 99.9 percent compliance that we received.
It’s simply outstanding.
Beyond any question we are
witnessing the payoff of the leadership development work that we have been doing
for the past few years, especially building leadership work.
That endeavor has us organized better than we have ever been.
There is no telling what we can accomplish in the future.
We can all take pride that a new generation of PCT membership is prepared
to carry on the glorious tradition of our union.
MERGER
AT LAST
On September 1, the PCT
became a proud member of NYSUT, NEA,
AFT, AFL-CIO, the one statewide union formed by the merger of NEA/
New York
and New York State United Teachers.
For the first time in many years, people working in education in our
state will speak with one strong voice to the powers in
Albany
. At
long last, the energy and resources that went into the organizing rivalry
between the two unions will be put to the benefit of our members.
One of the first benefits of
merger will be our united political action work in November’s very crucial
elections. While the PCT has always
been politically active, our efforts here on
Long Island
have been constrained by our isolation as one of
a handful of NEA/
New York
locals. That’s
all going to change now with the PCT becoming a leader in an already vital NYSUT
political action program throughout the state.
We have already participated
in the development of that program. PCT
officers Morty Rosenfeld and Judi Alexanderson, both members of the NYSUT Board
of Directors, took part in the NYSUT endorsement meeting held in
Albany
in August. Also
at the August NYSUT Board meeting, Morty Rosenfeld was appointed to the
Political Action Committee of the new merged organization.
There will be much more for
the membership to do this fall. First
of all, we will be conducting a NYSUT VOTE/COPE fund raising drive.
Like the PCT, NYSUT raises all of its very considerable political action
money through voluntary contribution. That
money is used to support candidates with a pro-education, pro-labor agenda in
Albany
and
Washington
. The
NYSUT political action program has been successful in the past.
Merger with NEA/
New York
should make it an even more potent political
force.
Money alone won’t get us the changes in
Albany
and
Washington
we need. PCT
members are accustomed to phone bank work, and that will continue in the merged
organization on an even grander scale. PCT
members will be recruited this fall to make phone calls from our phone bank in
Jericho
in support of the NYSUT slate of endorsed
candidates. Members are asked to
start thinking about giving some time in October to the cause.
NEW
MEMBER MEETING
Staff new to the Teacher and
Clerical Units are reminded of their invitation to attend a meeting at the PCT
Office at
4:00 PM
on Monday, September 18.
Officers and staff of the PCT
and Welfare Fund will be on hand to assist new staff to put their benefit
packages in place and to find out about our union and the work it does for its
membership.
403b
CHANGES
PCT members wishing to start a 403b account or
change their contributions to existing
accounts (tax sheltered annuities) are reminded that they have until
September 15, 2006
. The
next contractual deadline for changes is
January 15, 2007
.
Members should further understand that recent changes in the tax code
permit an increase in the yearly amount that may be contributed to an account.
Effective for the 2006 tax year, contributions may be increased to
$15,000 per year under age 50 and $20,000 per year over age 50.
FLEX
BENEFITS CHANGES IN NOVEMBER
Changes in flex benefits deductions are made through the Business Office
in November for the year beginning
January 1, 2007
. It
is not too soon, therefore, for members to start thinking of changes they may
wish to make. Now is a good time to
review medical expenses not covered by insurance which could be paid for with
pre-tax dollars from one’s flexible medical spending account.
PCT
PARTY SET
On
Thursday, October 26, 2006
, the PCT will hold its annual party to welcome
its newest members and to honor those who retired during the 2005-06 school
year.
This year’s party will be
held at Antun’s on
Old Country Road
in
Hicksville
. Speeches
and ceremonies will be kept to an absolute minimum, while beer, wine, soft
drinks and finger foods and music will be maximized from
4:00
to
7:00 P.M.
There are no school meetings or staff development on this date, so it
should be easy for every member to attend. Honored
retirees and new members will be our guests.
Because of a healthy PCT subsidy, the charge to all other members will be
a very low $15.
Our annual party is one of the few opportunities we have for all of us to
get together during the year. It
will also be an opportunity to celebrate our recently negotiated contracts. The
officers of the PCT are looking forward to this being the best attended party
yet.
CONTRACT
SURVEYS
Within the next week, members should be on the alert to receive a PCT
Contract Survey Form. It is through
this form that PCT Secretary Judi Alexanderson gets the information she needs to
make sure that the contracts of all of our units are being implemented as they
should be.
PCT Members are asked to spend the few minutes necessary to complete this
very important form and to return it promptly to the PCT Office via inter-office
mail or by giving it to a building SRC Representative.
NYSUT
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
The PCT Office is aware of the fact that some of our members have
maintained Associate Memberships in NYSUT in order to keep some benefits
purchased when they worked in another district whose local union was affiliated
with NYSUT.
Members of the PCT will no longer have to maintain their Associate
Membership. Their membership status
has been automatically changed to reflect the merger of NEA/
New York
and NYSUT.
NAME
AND ADDRESS CHANGES
If your family status changed over the summer, or if you have moved or
changed your email address, please
make sure you give the PCT Office your updated information immediately.
IN
MEMORIAM
We were saddened to learn of the passing of several members of the
Retiree Unit of the PCT. We remember
the contribution they made to the children of Plainview-Old Bethpage and their
sacrifices to build our union. They
are:
Frank Matlack
Sy Rubin
Gladys Stevens
Mae Bermann
Kathy Barash