MNEA retirees play role in collective bargaining

Retirees have a genuine opportunity to assist with the collective bargaining process in public school districts. We need MNEA-R members to run for seats on boards of education. We need to encourage them and other friends of collective bargaining, whether MNEA-R members or not, to do so, and we need to support their candidacies. The more favorable voices we have on local school boards, the more likely the School Boards Association will not adopt a hostile position to collective bargaining. Most of us know members of organized labor who might be good candidates for school board membership. We need to encourage them to become candidates, contribute to their campaigns if possible, and assist them with getting out a favorable vote. The more favorable voices on the local school board, the greater the likelihood of a receptive attitude toward collective bargaining and the better chance of making positive changes for public education on the local level.

Join MNEA-Retired
If you are an active member of MNEA and not yet a member of MNEA-Retired, you are missing the seamless transition from active membership to retired membership with no loss of benefits. But why should you join now? Can’t you wait until your last year as an active member and then join? Sure. But you will miss out on the retired publications that contain information important to pre-retired members, and you will undoubtedly pay more by waiting. Today, the cost of lifetime retired dues is only $350 for both state and national membership. And you are locked in for life. The cost is comparable to one year’s dues as an active.

And Joining MNEA-R has just become painless because you can now put the dues on your credit card. Just go to www.mnea.org and find the big box on the right-hand side of the screen titled “Join MNEA Now.” This is where you can join MNEA-R. At the bottom of the box, click on I want to join Missouri NEA. (This includes MNEA-R). The page titled “How to Join the Association” comes up. Click the circle next to Pre-Retired Subscriptions (or click the circle next to Retired if you are already retired) and follow the directions.

by Cecil Sharp
MNEA-Retired president

sb, winter '07