“Have a COLA on MPEC!” That and other clever puns were shared throughout the day as the Maryland Professional Employees Council celebrated a win for state workers.

The AFT has launched a student debt clinic program to help our members and a toolkit for affiliates. 

Message from President Doromal ---

Given members’ growing anxiety over the planned changes to state retiree prescription drug coverage, AFT-Maryland brought in Sherry Kolbe of the Baltimore County Department of Aging for a workshop on enrolling in Medicare Part D.

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In this issue:

1) Class Size/Supply Survey

2) Membership Meeting Remind

3) And More

ATTENTION STATE RETIREES! 
ACTION REQUIRED!
YOUR PRESCRIPTION DRUG COVERAGE MAY BE ENDING IN 2019

If you are a Medicare-eligible Maryland State Retiree, you must elect a Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plan for 2019. Or, if you are a State Retiree and have Medicare-Eligible dependents on your plan, they must elect a Part D plan for 2019.

The annual open enrollment period for Medicare Part D coverage for 2019 is from October 15, 2018 to December 7, 2018.

Click here to read more from MCEA's insurance administrator R.K.Tongue and for information about Part D Enrollments.

NYSUT Phone banks for retirees will continue to be held every Tuesday up to and including Election Day. The Phone Banks operate from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., lunch included, and are located at the NYSUT Suffolk Regional office, 150 Vanderbilt Motor Pkwy, Brentwood, NY 11717. Hope to see you there!

Election ballots will arrive in your mail on or around October 19th. Check out the candidates who have been vetted through our member-involved Committee On Political Education (COPE) and endorsed by our executive board for the upcoming General Election. Your union sent out questionnaires on issues that matter to our members and their responses and voting records in the case of incumbents earned our endorsement. However you decide to vote, please be sure to fill out and mail your ballot or drop it in MY VOTE!

Over the past year, college administrators, union leaders and others in the Puget Sound area have been pushing for the idea of a “regional pay” adjustment to reflect cost of living in the greater Seattle area.  To that end, legislative funding was secured to conduct this study on regional pay issues to inform legislators on that topic and begin a debate. 

Key Numbers and Findings from the Study:

(New Orleans – September 25) Louisiana’s charter schools must recognize and bargain with unions if that is the desire of teachers and school employees, according to a unanimous ruling by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The September 21 ruling by a three-judge panel affirmed a decision by the National Labor Relations Board, asserting that the International High School of New Orleans violated the National Labor Relations Act when the group holding the school’s charter refused to recognize the school’s bargaining unit.