🌷 Tuesday, May 26th, 2026 🌻
USA Member Elected to MTA Executive Committee!
New MTA President and Vice President Elected at Annual Meeting!
Sixteen USA delegates (pictured above) attended this year’s Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) Annual Meeting to vote in the MTA elections and on the budget, bylaws, ballot initiatives, and new business items presented before the body.
Matt Bach (Andover Education Association) and Deb Gesualdo (Malden Education Association) from the Educators for a Democratic Union (EDU) slate won the MTA President and Vice President positions after a runoff election. On the same slate, our very own Camille Godbout-Chouinard, USA Chief Steward, won the At-Large Education Support Professional (ESP) seat on the MTA Executive Committee. Congratulations, Camille! (Picture: Camille at the podium giving her speech)
After over an hour of robust debate, the body of delegates voted to approve the MTA budget for the next year. As Higher Ed Classified Staff, “[operating budget] dues for clerical staff and custodians will be $339.75, a $7.75 increase” and “[public relations and organizing] dues for clerical staff and custodians will be $18, a $6 increase”. The total MTA dues increase for the next fiscal year is $13.75 or about 50 cents a paycheck. These budget increases fund organizing and coalition-building work and training, which will be essential in our fights for living wages and better working conditions with our fellow unions on-campus and across the state.
Say NO to Kronos! ❌🙅♀️
Sign this petition to show management that USA members overwhelmingly reject increased implementation of the time-keeping and location-tracking software Kronos! Talk to your USA co-workers in your department, in your building, across campus and have them sign the petition too. Over 200 USA members have signed, but over 400 signatures are needed to reach majority! The goal is to reach majority before the first scheduled impact bargaining meeting (currently TBD, but sometime during the first week of June!).The best and most reasonable arguments at the bargaining table alone don’t win big contracts or successfully fend off bad faith proposals. Unwavering solidarity and an organized membership does!
✨ UPCOMING EVENTS ✨
The MTA Ethnically Marginalized Affairs Committee is excited to welcome you to our 2026 Juneteenth Celebration. This historic day will reflect the theme, Centering Healing and Action for Resistance. The program will feature DJ Lady Ly as well as sound bathing and celebratory dancing with SoulFire Movement. Bring your family along to enjoy brunch by Zaz Restaurant, interactive activities and ice cream from Gerly’s. You can also support local small businesses, which will have an array of items to purchase.
The event will be held Saturday, June 20th from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Worcester State University, Wellness Center, Multipurpose Gym (2nd Floor) in Worcester, MA. The event is FREE for all members and their guests. Make sure to RSVP by June 11th!
Union Crafting Circle hosted by crafty USA members!
Bring your projects and handiwork for an hour of crafting and socializing! All UMass community members are welcome – not just USA members!
Tuesday June 16th, 12-1pm @ W.E.B. Du Bois Library, Room 1920 (19th Floor)
Tuesday June 30th, 12-1pm @ W.E.B. Du Bois Library, Room 1920 (19th Floor)
If you’re interested in helping coordinate events or want to be added to the soon-to-be created email list, please email Camille (cgodboutchou@umass.edu) and Deborah (dplace@umass.edu).
MTA 2026 Summer Conference Registration is Now Open!
The MTA is coming to UMass Amherst for the 2026 Summer Conference July 26th-29th! If you’re curious about attending a union conference, the Summer Conference is a great place to start since it’s MTA’s largest conference, takes places right here at UMass Amherst, AND has a whole day of programming dedicated to Higher Ed (July 27th)!
The USA Office can provide release time to cover your workday while you attend the conference! Get in touch with usa@umass.edu for more information. Make sure to register as Higher Ed Classified staff to receive free meals and board (if needed) by July 14th!
MTA Bargaining Certificate Do you want to know how bargaining works and how unions win transformative contracts? The MTA Bargaining Certificate program will give you the foundational knowledge to become an effective negotiator while also giving you the tools to democratize your union and build worker power. For example, the Silent Bargaining Representative program from last year’s bargaining was inspired by the MTA Bargaining Certificate trainings! The certificate can be completed by attending sessions at MTA conferences and online. Read more here!
“After the vigil, I sat on the steps in stunned silence with a few coworkers. We had known about the murder for a week at that point, but it felt realer than ever in those moments after the crowd dispersed. Then we began sharing, because all of us knew that it could’ve been any of us. As I speak with others on campus, I am reminded of how ever present and ever hidden domestic violence is. Students have told me about their past abusers, coworkers thrown back into the memories of their own trauma, and myself, always thinking about how close we all were to being Emma. It only takes one time to go too far.”
“Chronos, the personified and deified notion of time in Greek mythology, is the harbinger of seasons, of passage, of cyclical inevitability, of death. The timekeeping company, HR’s friend, and the demonstrable morale killing entity, Kronos, mimics only the worst parts of what the mythology it is named after represents. Decay, death, demotivation, deterioration. With arts and humanities and social sciences already being torn away at for the sake of the hard sciences, the violent force-feeding of AI, the ever burgeoning business school, and the always struggling sports teams, seeing the ways in which institutional management is contracting with a company that is solely there as a punitive and invasive mechanism is disheartening to say the least.”
Interested in publishing a member essay on the USA website? Please reach out to Communications Coordinator Deborah Place!
Summer Reading on UMass Libby!
Strike for America is both a historical account and a rallying call about the strike the Chicago Teachers Union held in 2012, showing how a determined, community-supported union can challenge entrenched political and economic forces and why such movements matter in the fight for democratic education.
Rules To Win By presents a distinctive and highly practical model of “high-participation” collective bargaining, emphasizing transparent, large, and open negotiations grounded in detailed case studies and actionable guidance. This work proposes an adversarial, member-driven approach designed to build power, engagement, and solidarity, particularly against hostile employers.
This email is brought to you by the USA Communications Committee.
If you’re interested in joining, contributing, or have stories to share, please reach out to Deborah Place at dplace@umass.edu
