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September 11, 2003

This fall the following positions are up for election: Vice President of Internal Affairs, Secretary and Area Representatives from odd-numbered areas (Area 1—Counseling, Library, Placement, Women’s Resources, Child Care & Assisted Learning, Area 3—Technical, Area 5—Health Careers & Nursing, Area 7—Science, and Area 9—Fine Arts & Fitness).

For all positions, nominations will close at the October 20 General Membership meeting, and elections will be held the following week. If you are interested in running for one of these positions, please inform Nancy Widman (nwidman@hfcc.edu) or your Area Representative in writing, or have your name nominated at the October 20 General Membership meeting.

On Tuesday, November 4, Dearborn voters will decide the fate of two HFCC millage proposals. The first provides a renewal of the College's entire operating millage of two and one-half (2.5 mills) for ten years; the second provides an additional one-half (0.5 mill) for five years to offset drastic reductions in State funding to HFCC.

HFCC relies on State funding much more than other metropolitan community colleges, which have much larger local tax bases and receive far greater local property tax support than HFCC. HFCC’s local property tax support is the lowest – by far – of any metropolitan community college:

Local Property Tax Support (2001-02)
1.	Oakland Community College	$73,882,524
2.	Wayne County Community College	$58,011,039
3.	Washtenaw Community College	$35,407,097
4.	Macomb Community College	$33,613,182
5.	Schoolcraft Community College	$20,396,516
6.	Henry Ford Community College	$10,768,816

Clearly, Local 1650 must be prepared to finance and staff a large advocacy campaign. On September 8, Local 1650's Executive Board voted to seek a $100 contribution from each Local 1650 member to fund the HFCC millage campaign. Assistance will also be needed in preparing mailings, distributing lawn signs, making reminder calls to educators and HFCC students and alumni residing in Dearborn, and working the polls on Election Day. Volunteer forms will be distributed shortly.

In addition to HFCC’s millage proposals, the November 4 ballot will address two openings on the HFCC Board of Trustees. Trustees Joe Guido and Mary Lane are uncontested in seeking re-election to the Board. This unusual circumstance will allow the Federation and College community to focus all of their attention and effort on the pressing need to renew and increase HFCC local funding.

Trustees Guido, seeking his third term on the Board, has been supported by Local 1650 in his two previous campaigns. Trustee Lane is seeking her second term.

With the upcoming millage campaign, Local 1650’s political involvement and financial support are again needed. Local 1650’s Executive Board has recommended that each teacher contribute $100 to the Local 1650 PAF and $20 to MFT&SRP. In the past, we could count on great support, with up to 90% of the 1650 membership contributing. Given the membership’s reduced numbers, your help is especially crucial this year.

How will your contributions be used? As in the past, Local 1650 operates two PAF funds. The first, a restricted fund, is used only for local millage/bond elections, Board of Trustees’ campaigns, and the campaigns of municipal and/or State Legislative candidates whose decisions impact directly on HFCC revenues. The Local uses the “unrestricted” fund to engage in political activity and to support candidates not as directly involved with the revenues of HFCC but whose decisions definitely affect Local 1650’s ability to represent the interests of its members. Gubernatorial, Attorney General, State Supreme Court and out -State legislative races fall into this category. Please note that PAF contributions are not tax deductible.

Your Area Representative will be contacting you soon for a contribution. Please offer your full support.

Local 1650 warmly welcomes one new teacher this fall. Cassandra Andrews-Fluker is the new Newspaper and Student Activities Officer.

As recent months of contract negotiations and the reopening of the 2002-2007 contract have indicated, your involvement in union issues is critical to establishing and protecting fair working conditions at HFCC. Given the budgetary crises facing the State, there will continue to be pressing issues that require the membership’s full attention and participation. In particular, please consider joining one or both of the following committees:

As you know, for several years now, it has been a contractual obligation for HFCC instructors to distribute standardized class evaluation forms to their students. The procedure has been to distribute those forms sometime during the last two weeks of class; forms are then collected by students, forwarded to the Local 1650 office for processing and distribution to divisional or departmental mentor committees, and ultimately returned to the instructors themselves.

After receiving suggestions from instructors and discussing the pitfalls of the current time frame, the Executive Board passed a motion to distribute the forms earlier in the semester, at the tenth week, and to require their completion and return by week 12 (for 15-week classes). By making this change, we hope to get feedback from more students (catching those who may drop courses later in the semester); encourage timelier return of the forms and, ultimately, timelier return of the results to instructors; and reduce end-of-semester stress, as instructors struggle to complete their class content in the final few sessions.

If you are a member of the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System, (MPSERS) please note that the following changes will affect service credit purchases as of January 1, 2004:

1. The Variable Percentage Buy-In Table will change. This table is used to determine the cost of actuarial based service credit purchases.
2. Tax-Deferred Payments agreements started after December 31, 2003, will be charged 8% interest. Existing agreements remain exempt.
3. All buy-ins that use earnings in the calculation require that wages were reported to the Michigan Public School Employees Retirement System during the previous fiscal year (July 1-June 30). If you have no reported wages from the immediate preceding fiscal year, you are required to wait until the start of the next fiscal year to apply and be billed for the purchase.

For more information on the rates of service credit and how these changes may affect you, please review the Service Credit Changes FAQs. (Taken from the Retirement Services Web site of the Department of Management and Budget, http://www.michigan.gov/ors/0,1607,7-144-6182-71304--,00.html)

The Retirement Coordinating Council will hold its Fall Workshop on September 27 at the Operating Engineers’ Hall (Seven Mile and Telegraph Road in Detroit). Both the State, and public school employees as well as retirees may benefit from talking with the representatives of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Delta Dental, and Vision Services Plan, who will be available for questions.

Advance registration (by September 19) is required. The $15 per person fee pays for the three-hour workshop (9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.) plus coffee and rolls (at 8:15 a.m.) and a buffet lunch afterward. To register, please make your check payable to the Retirement Coordinating Council, and send it along with your name, address, and union to the following address: Retirement Coordinating Council, 419 S. Washington Sq., Ste. 304 Lansing, MI 48933-2124.

The District’s open enrollment period runs from August 25, 2003 through September 26, 2003. During this time, you can change your medical plan or membership status. Examples of membership changes include, but are not limited to, such things as birth of a child, death, marriage, and divorce. Any changes to your medical plan will be effective October 1, 2003. If you have questions, please contact Dani Thornfelt, HFCC Benefits Secretary, at 313-317-1526.

The Creative Arts Center is running an art exhibit on the American Labor Movement August 23-September 27, 2003. Called “The Art of Labor,” the exhibit displays many artistic genres (murals, photos, woodcuts and more) on loan from unions, artists, and collectors that capture the trials and tribulations of the labor movement. The Creative Arts Center (47 Williams St., Pontiac, MI 48341) is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. You are also invited to attend the closing ceremony on September 20 from 6:00-9:00 p.m.

(from an AFL-CIO Labor Day bulletin, 8/26/03)