Minutes 
General Meeting Longy Faculty Union 4 11 2010 
Present: eighteen faculty members and Diane Frey, AFT field representative 

The meeting began at 6:00 pm with Clay welcoming those in attendance to the first General Meeting since the March 5 meeting and the first since the election of officers.  The LFU has been very active in the intervening time. 
Membership and dues were discussed.  To join the union one must now pay dues of $20, which is really a symbolic gesture.  There will be no further dues until our first contract is negotiated.  People can still join the union now even if they received letters stating that they will not be renewed next year.  People who join the LFU now will be adding important support to LFU efforts to reverse recent decisions in the school. We have power in numbers.  We now have 50 members in a bargaining unit of 88. We are in the process of reaching out to every member of the bargaining unit by phone or personal meeting to find out how things are going for them.  The story in the Boston Globe may not have described all the elements of our story that we would like, but it was effective in building awareness of our story.  We are pursuing follow-ups, and welcome information about any possible contacts with the press. 
A new phone tree is being set up which spreads out the work of making phone calls among more people. The LFU has put out its first newsletter electronically, and this newsletter has been met with a great deal of enthusiasm.  The next newsletter willinclude a link to these minutes after approval by the Executive Board.  It will also include a link to the blog on our website, and information on the importance of joining the LFU now.  The LFU has put out a survey, for which the due date is April 15.  Bargaining unit members can fill it out electronically (they fill out paper copies if they have trouble downloading it) if they have not already done so.  The surveys truly are being submitted anonymously.  So far 30 surveys have been returned, and only 2 of these respondents have been against the Union. 
Leaflets were distributed on the sidewalk on for some days starting on March 6, the day after the meeting when faculty “realignment” was announced. They were distributed on a busy Saturday and just before or after Conservatory student meetings on weekdays. 
Meetings are being held with members of the Board of Visitors. Information about contacts LFU members have with members. Among others, a positive meeting was held with two members of the Board of Visitors: Alice Wolf, who is State Representative and former Mayor of Cambridge,and with Patty Nolan, Cambridge School Committee member.  More meetings will be held.  
Diane has met with some concerned students whose issues are aligned with ours.  These students can form the core of a wider group who can support our activities. 
The Negotiating Committee has met with management 3 times and succeeded in obtaining some important information from the administration, including copies of all the March 12 letters sent to members of the bargaining unit. 
The next planned public activity is distributing leaflets in front of the Rey-Waldstein Building just before the Board of Visitors meeting this Tuesday.  These leaflets have already been designed.  
Other upcoming activities are being planned to raise awareness about the devastating effect the administration's actions are having on the dedicated faculty being non-renewed, reassigned and forced into Emeritus status.
The meetingwas adjourned at 7:45 p.m. 
Respectfully submitted, 
Deborah Yardley Beers 
Secretary, Longy Faculty Union