Published On: October 13, 2021
There was much to celebrate this past weekend – including the return of the Boston Marathon (congrats to all our members who participated!), Patriots and Red Sox wins, and, of course, also Indigenous Peoples’ Day! We hope that you all were able to take some time this weekend to reflect on the new official city holiday and its historic significance. Schoolyard News published an informative article urging the School Committee to follow in the city’s footsteps and officially recognize the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day. As always, we are looking out for any opportunity to make our work more inclusive to elevate and celebrate our Indigenous members, and welcome any and all suggestions.

We will be resuming master contract negotiations with BPS next week. As the BTU negotiating team met last week to continue our preparations, we realized it was the first long weekend and vacation break in over two years that we did not spend some time in negotiations. We are grateful to the commitment and hard work of our negotiating team and staff, and we were glad they finally were able to enjoy a full break.

Our next membership meeting is TODAY, Wednesday, October 13 at 4:30 p.m. It will be virtual on Zoom. As always, registration in advance is needed to verify BTU membership and to receive the link.

Quick reminders for registering: 

  • Please remember that you must register at least one hour in advance, or you will not receive a link.  
  • Each link is unique and cannot be shared.
  • Links are sent after your registration and membership status are verified – please do not register multiple times if you do not immediately receive a link.
  • Remember to include your exact BPS ID# in order to expedite approvals. If you are retired or don’t have an ID# for another reason, please enter “000000″.
Please make sure that you have updated your Zoom account with the latest update before the meeting in order to avoid complications with your link

Congratulations to the BTU educators who were considered for the 2022 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year! Lea Serena, BTU staff member, and Ashley Clerge were both semi-finalists, and Chantei Alves was a finalist. Thank you for all that you do! Also, congratulations to Candida Mundo-Arboleda, who has been nominated by Latinos for Education to be recognized at their State of Latino Education event for her exceptional work at the Boston Public Schools. The virtual event is October 7 at 4 p.m., and anyone interested in supporting Candida and learning more about Latino education in the Commonwealth can register to attend here.

We are pleased to let you know that there has been significant movement on the Retirement+/TARP bill. The bill, entitled House Bill 4111, would authorize the Boston Retirement System to establish an alternative superannuation retirement benefit program for certain educators and nurses. See here for more information and how to contact your representatives and encourage them to sign onto this incredibly important legislation! Check out all of our Political Action Updates here.

We continue to be in close communication with the district about addressing the challenges and issues regarding pooled testing, contact tracing and notifications. We set up a meeting last week between the Superintendent, her staff and BTU nurses. We are continuing to advocate that educators who opt in to get tested weekly can use those results for city compliance testing as well. The district is continuing to pursue solutions to the challenges everyone is facing due to the poor rollout of the state’s program pool surveillance program. Unfortunately, the Governor did not offer the National Guard to help Boston although we are one of the districts where the state is running the program, too. We are also pursuing an unfair labor practice charge at the state labor board to ensure that the vast amount of work entailed in Covid test administration is not shifted onto our already overburdened school nurses. We will keep everyone posted on any new developments.

We’re excited to host another vaccine clinic at the BTU! PLEASE NOTE THE NEW HOURS: Thursday and Friday, October 14 and 15 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, October 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Come to the union hall to get initial first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine, as well as the third booster shot if you’re eligible! The clinics are open to all, including retirees and community members.

If you missed the recent Book Fair, there are still lots of middle and high school books at the BTU! You can come anytime Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. to pick up. 

Friendly Reminder: Check your pay stub to ensure that you are being paid correctly! Many BTU members have caught errors in the past and it’s important to check and correct before it’s too late. 

Lastly, please note that BTU President Jessica Tang will be taking her parental leave beginning later this week. Thursday will be her last day (assuming she doesn’t go into labor before then). There is a leave plan in place to ensure that there is a smooth transition and Executive Vice President Erik Berg will be stepping in to handle primary presidential responsibilities for the duration of her leave. Former BTU President Richard Stutman will also be rejoining the BTU on a temporary and part-time basis to support some of Erik’s work to free him up as well. Rest assured, the entire BTU team will be working together to continue our work! 

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