NEIUPI

We are all overwhelmed by the volume of email received daily…and from time to time we delete or ignore some mail. In the next few months, please do not ignore emails about our pensions. It is very clear that there is a concentrated effort by Governor Quinn and many legislators to undo the constitutional guarantees that protect our pensions. Many of you received an email from the IFT asking you to email your senator and requesting a “no” vote on HJRCA 49. Please know that if passed this threatens not only future pensions but could affect current pension benefits.

Here’s the link to the IFT site that includes a letter you can send via email to your state senator. Please send this email to your colleagues at other public universities in Illinois as well as all NEIU employees who are not represented by the UPI. Please find below a copy of the letter that will be sent from this link once you identify your state senator. You can do this by entering your zip code,

Thanks for your attention.

Oppose HJRCA 49

The Letter

Dear Senator,

Please vote NO on HJRCA 49, legislation that would create a constitutional amendment requiring a 3/5 vote of the General Assembly to modify pension benefits and a 3/5 vote of local governmental bodies to approve contracts (if the agreements include incentives or compensation increases beyond salary).

There is widespread agreement that there are problems with the Tier 2 pension package. A 3/5 requirement would make it nearly impossible to fix these problems. According to TRS, Tier 2 benefits will force Social Security coordination to become a reality in six to seven years because those benefits will fall below the threshold of meeting or equaling Social Security benefits. Forcing teachers and public employees into Social Security would have a devastating effect on local governmental budgets statewide.

Such an unusually high threshold for passage would also make it difficult to include in negotiated agreements such useful incentives as professional development stipends or incentives, training stipends and National Board Certification stipends for teachers. Incentives like these encourage employees to further develop their skills to the benefit of students and citizens. Under this legislation, the opposition of a very small minority would be enough to unfairly block these legitimate forms of compensation.

Please vote NO on HJRCA 49!

Greetings to you all,

This is a friendly reminder to complete and mail your ballot for the election of UPI local 4100 officers and our NEIU chapter leadership and representatives by this Friday 4/20. You should have received your ballot at your home address, with the envelope stamped and ready to go. If you need a ballot, please contact Terry Schuepfer (T-Schuepfer@neiu.edu) or myself (n-potee@neiu.edu) immediately.

I encourage you to make your voice heard by making your vote count.

Here is to continuing the good fight.

Sincerely,
Nanette Potee
Out-going NEIU/UPI Secretary

All UPI members should have received your ballot for the election of UPI local 4100 officers and our NEIU chapter leadership and representatives. The ballot was mailed to your home address. If you have not received your ballot, please contact me immediately. Your completed ballot must be postmarked no later than April 20. Your ballot is sent to the IFT post office box in Westmont.

Please find attached the April newsletter for our chapter. Many thanks to Tim Barnett, Chuck Steinwedel, Paul Lempke, Michael Armato, Jen Blair, Steve Frankel and Mary Ellen McGoey for their work on this document.

You can access the 2011-12 Faculty Salary report from the link below.

AAUP report

After you locate NEIU salaries relative to other 4-year public universities (nationally and in Illinois), you may want to read the following article that addresses Vice President Biden’s comment, “Salaries for college professors have escalated significantly,” Mr. Biden said in January during a town-hall meeting in Pennsylvania. “They should be good, but they have escalated significantly.”

Professors reframe salary debate

Yes! The waiver is saved. The bill to repeal the 50% tuition waiver for university employees was defeated tonight 26 in favor of the repeal to 75 opposed to the repeal. A great victory! Your phone calls, emails and personal visits convinced the majority of Illinois House members that this was not the cost saving measure it was purported to be.

We won’t need to initiate the postcard campaign so no UPI tables in Village Square. Thanks to all who signed up. Remember the next focus for the General Assembly is our pensions.