BFT Newsletter
March 2024
Don't forget! EFB Scholarship Fundraiser tonight. Please Come!
Friday, March 15, 6:00-9:00 at Nine Mile Brewing.
All staff and partners are invited.
Tickets available at the door, if you haven't purchased yet.
All proceeds go to scholarships for Bloomington Seniors.
If you buy a ticket, you will receive a custom BFT pint cup!
Negotiations Update
The negotiations team thanks you for all your support over the past months. The meeting where we presented the Tentative Agreement was well attended and we had a high voting turnout of 76%. There were 640 Yes and 91 No votes. The final draft contract went to the School Board on 2/26/24 and passed.
Payroll is working on our new salary and retro pay. The tentative date is the April 5th paycheck. This will not include Schedule C, D, E & F or retro for extra assignments. The target date for this is sometime in May. We will update you as we we get more specific dates. Use the information, starting on slide 18 to calculate your retro pay.
BFT Elections Set for April 30
Every two years, the positions of President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer of the BFT are up for election. The elections are open to all members in good standing. If you are interested in taking on a leadership role with the BFT, you will need to submit this nomination form to indicate your intent. On the second page of the nomination form is an outline of the responsibilities for each of the four officer positions. Nomination forms are to be printed off, filled out and sent to Jackie Kuhns at OGE by the April 1st deadline. The election will be held April 30th. Jackie is running the election so please let her know if you have further questions at jmkuhns@isd271.org.
BFT Lobby Day Set for April 17
Lobby Days are back! Lobbying at the Capitol is the most real way to impact your job. Legislators need your stories! Your pension stories, workload stories, healthcare stories, income stories...ALL of your stories. With the substitute teacher shortage, and the shortened schedule plus multiple 1-week breaks at the Capitol, it has been difficult to do in-person lobby days in St. Paul. We want to extend a special invite to elementary staff who had conferences during the pension rally on 2-29. However, we apologize that this is happening during testing season, which may pose challenges in attending. The union will cover your substitute if you would like to attend. Sign up here!
Kirsten Morcomb and Jennifer Corcorran are your contacts for any questions. This is direct advocacy with your own legislator as Education Minnesota books appointments for those attending. Also, we do a quick update/meeting before we start the day and give tips and talking points. It is very well organized and you get to meet other teachers attending. Give it a try!
Pension Reform Update
Pension Rally
EdMN feels positive about the impact; there is a very small amount of state money (that is not one-time money) to improve pensions, so we need to stay loud about this issue
If your building needs communication, here is a flier from EdMN that you can print and distribute.
BFT Spring Picnic - Save the Date
Thursday, May 9, 2024, 03:30 PM
Moir Park, Morgan Avenue South, Bloomington, MN, USA
2024 MN AFL-CIO Scholarships
The Minnesota AFL-CIO sponsors scholarships for high school seniors graduating in 2024.
Four scholarships are granted to high school seniors who are union members or the dependents of union members who will attend college or community college in Minnesota, and one to a student attending a trade school.
More details are available in this document or at the AFL-CIO website.
Interested in being a BFT Steward for your building?
Each year, buildings vote on who will represent them at the monthly BFT stewards' meeting and communicate back to the building. We know that the dust needs to settle for staffing, but if you are interested in learning more about the BFT Building Steward role, check out this document. There is a small stipend associated with the building steward's role. If you have any questions or are interested in being a steward, please reach out to your building steward(s).
Remember it’s staffing season, be sensitive to those that may be affected.
Bloomington Federation of Teachers (BFT) is a professional union comprised of more than 900 teachers and school nurses in ISD 271.