During our first term in office, the PEA Delegate Assembly voted for the first time to allow AFLAC to offer our members the option to voluntarily participate in:
1). Accident Insurance
2). Cancer Insurance
3). Hospital Indemnity Insurance
According to AFLAC representatives, our PEA members have taken advantage of these previously unavailable voluntary benefits, and as of June 2017, AFLAC has paid out more than 100 claims to members of the PEA.
We are pleased to continue to help serve our members and their families. If you would like more information about this program, or the next open enrollment, please contact our AFLAC rep (Gina) at gina.purazzo@gmail.com
The PEA Pension and Benefit Committee
Have you moved or changed your contact information?
Members:
Keeping in constant contact with our members is a high priority. With over 3,100 members, it is highly likely that you have changed your mailing address, cell phone number, or personal email address in the past three-six months.
More than that, if by chance you did not update this information with the PEA office you will be missing out on the following particulars:
1. All emails sent by the PEA to personal email accounts (remember we will not be using the server at PPS unless we need to send necessary attachments.)
2. All information related to the NJEA convention. Every year we receive at least 12-24 NJEA member cards which are sent back to the PEA due to incorrect home mailing addresses.
3. All important text messages to members informing you of any school closing, delayed start, early closing, or negotiations update.
So how do you update your information? Here is what you can do:
If any of this information has been changed, you can call the Javelina Payano or Shasha Rodriguez at the PEA office (973-881-9445). Either Javelina or Shasha can manually update this information for you.
Thank you.
The P.E.A. Membership Committee
Gentle Reminder
Summer Office Hours and Closings
Summer Office Hours:
Monday-Friday 9:00 AM- 12:00 Noon Sharp
The PEA Office will be closed for vacation on the following dates:
**Friday, July 28, 2017- August 15, 2017.**
The office will reopen on August 16, 2017, and remain on Summer office hours until September 1, 2017.
During the office closure, all work related emergencies should be sent to our NJEA Uniserv Office at 973-694-0154.
Thank you.
The PEA Office Staff
P.E.A. and Acting Superintendent Work To
Provide 15-minute breaks to Summer
School Employees
Through the course of the first few weeks of summer school, the P.E.A. and the acting Superintendent Eileen Shafer have been hard at work attempting to work out a plan that would enable summer school employees a 15-minute break.
As you know, the provisions of the contract do not pertain to summer school. In essence, working summer school is similar to how life would be without a Union. All of the language in our contract book is not enforceable during the summer months.
However, through constructive dialogue, the PEA received word today that the Acting Superintendent has been working hard behind the scenes to make these breaks possible (which Dr. Evans had no intention of providing nor scheduled).
If you are currently working summer school, please inquire within your worksite to determine the plan. The PEA thanks the Acting Superintendent for responding to the Union's request to provide breaks for our employees.
P.E.A. Secures Grant From NJEA to cater PEA School Lunch Visits
The P.E.A. has reviewed the results of the survey distributed last June. You have spoken, and we are ready to adapt to your needs.
This year, the P.E.A. has scheduled a full list of visits to all of our schools and work sites beginning in September. A calendar of these visits will be emailed before opening day on September 1, 2017. However, this year's tours will be structured a bit differently.
This year the P.E.A. will be providing lunch for the staff at each school visit thanks to an approved grant by the new President of the NJEA Marie Blistan.
More than that, we would like to make these visits a bit more productive. Here is our plan:
1. An email will be sent to all work sites outlining our scheduled appointment time and date. This email will be sent to all personal email address accounts on file.
2. Our office staff will be contacting all duly elected delegates at each work site via telephone before our arrival. We will be doing this because we plan to be providing our delegates with valuable on site training during our lunch time visit that our representatives can utilize when representing you.
With 57 worksites it is not a small task to visit each worksite more than one occasion. We were not able to visit all schools this year and know that we need to improve in this area. We are striving to do better in this area during the 17-18 school year.
