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April 6, 2018
Vol. 2, #8
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Hi All,
As you read this, I'll be on my way to attend the 2018 Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, April 6-8. I'm hoping to meet teachers from West Virginia who participated in their historic 13-day strike. Labor Notes is the creator/publisher of the book, "Secrets of a Successful Organizer" that I've been highlighting in this year's editions of "
The Connection
." The article featured in the graphic (you can read it by clicking the picture) talks about a potential walk-out by Oklahoma teachers on April 2nd. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to update this article before publication.
Anybody got the fever?
--Peace
Kathy Rohde
Regional Director
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The Ten-Minute Meeting
All too often we hear, "there's no reason to hold a meeting if there's nothing to report/decide/vote on." Or, we hear, "I'm not sure we have a union because there are never any meetings." But mostly, we hear, "I don't have TIME to go to ANOTHER meeting."
You have an opportunity to keep members in the loop AND respect their time by holding 10-minute meetings! It's also a great time to get feedback from people in the building.
If you feel like you're in a rut, why not try the 10-minute meeting?
For more details about how the 10-minute meeting works, click
here.
Past topics can be found in our archived newsletters on our website:
The April 10-Minute Meeting topic:
Understanding your WRS Statement
Very soon you will be receiving an annual statement from the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) that reports your Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) earnings. No matter where you are in your career, it's important to review that information for accuracy.
Click on the image to sign up to receive an e-book, "20 WRS FAQs" from WEA Member Benefits.
Click
here to learn more about your retirement pension. Did you know that WRS is the 9th largest public pension fund in the US and the 25th largest public/private pension fund in the world?
The Department of Employee Trust Funds has a great website full of useful information, including
videos and webinars that are grouped according to your length of service (early-, mid-, and late-career employees).
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WEAC's own Shelly Moore Krajacic, current NEA Executive Committee Member, will be speaking to retirees in Appleton at the WEAC-FV Retired spring meeting on April 24, 2018.
An invitation is being extended to all WEAC Region 3 retired members. If you don't know Shelly or have never had the opportunity to hear her, you've missed something very special. She is a truly dynamic, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and witty speaker.
Shelly is a National Board Certified high school English and drama teacher from Ellsworth, Wisconsin. She currently serves as one of nine members of the NEA Executive Committee, which is composed of the three officers and 6 members elected at large at the NEA Representative Assembly by delegates from around the country. Shelly was elected in July 2015 and is running for re-election at this summer's RA in Minneapolis.
Shelly now spends much of her time traveling around the country on behalf of the NEA and public education, and we are very fortunate that she is taking time out of her extremely busy schedule to make a stop in Appleton to speak with retirees.
Expect Shelly to touch on such subjects as these:
- Janus v. AFSCME Council 31 US Supreme Court case - What are the implications for NEA, WEAC, and states around the country should the ruling be unfavorable to unions?
- School Safety - What is NEA saying about arming educators, and what are the alternatives NEA is promoting?
- Successful West Virginia strike and impending Oklahoma strike - How might these impact other states, especially Wisconsin?
- Social Justice and Institutional Racism - How does NEA define these priorities and what are NEA and WEAC doing to promote social justice and help put an end to institutional racism?
- NEA Retired - What does NEA see as the role of retirees in the organization?
Here are the specifics for the meeting:
Tuesday, April 24, 2018
1:00-2:00 p.m.
DJ Bordini Center
(across from Fox Valley Technical College)
If you are interested in attending, please email WEAC-FV President, Kim Jordan,
[email protected]
, with the number attending to be sure there is adequate seating. Hope to see you there!
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NOW AVAILABLE: a state-wide
calendar of Professional Development events offered by the Academy, WEAC, Regions, and everywhere in between!
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GBEA is Hosting the Following Event and
Region 3 Members are Welcome to Attend!
Backpacks Full of Cash
Tuesday, April 17th 4:30-6:30 p.m.
De Pere Cinema
Join us for a showing of the film "Backpacks Full of Cash." All GBEA, Region 3, Aspiring Educators, and community members are welcome.
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Mark Your Calendars For These Region 3 Events:
- Union Skills Workshop:Tuesday, June 12, 9-noon and Thursday, June 14, 1-4pm at the Region 3 office in Green Bay
- Writing SLOs and PPGs: Saturday, September 22 at Region 3, and/or, we can offer this workshop AT YOUR LOCAL with 10 or more people signing up!
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Political Action
This is an 11.0101(10)(b)(1) communication with WEAC members
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Citizen Action General Assembly
Join Citizen Action's Northeast Organizing Cooperative as they gather together cooperative members and progressive folks from across the Northeast region to learn how they can collaborate on issues and electoral organizing! There will be a potluck from 11:30-12:30 followed by the General Assembly.
This Assembly has taken on issues of healthcare, fair maps and more! Join them as they announce a new organizer, a new steering committee and what they believe is a brand new Organizing Co-op for 2018!
WHEN: April 14, 2018 at 11:30am - 3:30pm
WHERE: Kaukuana Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 400
2700 Northridge Drive, Kaukauna, WI 54130
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