e-Bulletin20171010
Dear Members of TAUP,
TAUP is affiliated at the state level with the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania (AFTPA), which represents 36,000 members, including teachers and school-related personnel, health care professionals, higher education faculty members and state employees. AFTPA provides TAUP with valuable resources, training, and advice.
After the 2017 Biennial conference, the Executive Committee voted to move forward two amendments on electing Vice Presidents of the AFTPA. Vice Presidents play an important role in the AFTPA, serving on the Executive Council that oversees the statewide union’s finances and other business, including its biennial convention. You can find the AFTPA Constitution and Bylaws here.
● The first amendment lowers the number of members that larger local chapters need to elect Vice Presidents of AFTPA.
● The second amendment deals specifically with higher education. At this year’s Biennial Convention, local affiliates were informed that Higher Education would no longer be considered a “region” of its own, entitled to elect its own Vice President. Its locals, if not large enough to elect their own Vice Presidents, would thus vote as part of geographical regions along with K-12 and other affiliates. The amendment seeks to reverse this decision by re-affirming “Colleges and Higher Education” as its own region.
The Executive Committee of TAUP recommends voting “yes” on both amendments. The first would make it more likely that TAUP would be eligible to elect its own Vice President to AFTPA, thereby giving us more of a voice. The second rightly acknowledges that there is a community of interest among colleges and universities. That community of interest would be diluted if higher ed locals under the threshold for having their own Vice President had to vote with all of the K-12 locals in their geographical region.
The more votes we pass on to the AFTPA, the stronger our voice!
Your ballot is here. Please take a moment to cast your vote now. The deadline for doing so will be October 13th at noon.
