Message from President Josephine Libassi
Yesterday at our meeting with Dr. Lonergan we discussed attendance. Dr. Lonergan has agreed to STOP emailing MITA members who have taken a sick or personal day. This agreement took effect immediately and remains in effect until the mid-point of the year -January 2019. At that point, he will review our collective usage of sick and personal days, looking for significant improvement from last year. He is looking to see a 25% improvement.
MITA's position on this has not changed. We object to the emails and I have personally explained to him many times the hurtful impact these emails have on our members when dealing with an unexpected family crisis. However, it’s important to note that MITA supports the district in using sick and personal days appropriately.
Furthermore, I asked Dr. Lonergan if he would be continuing the attendance incentive, which we had agreed would be in place for the past 2 years, but not extending into this year, pending an assessment of better attendance. He has agreed to keep the incentive in place for this year with the expectation of improved attendance. Dr. Lonergan further committed to hiring 2 MITA staff, IF through our efforts we can reduce the current cost of covering our absences.
As MITA members, we enjoy an annual grant of a minimum of 10 sick days (12 after 3 years) and 5 personal days per year. These days are of great benefit to us all and we should take advantage of this benefit when necessary in compliance with our union contract. Contrary to what I frequently hear, that personal day are "my time" and therefore should be able to be used for any reason, this is not the case. We need to reduce our absenteeism, which will save the district money. I am urging you all to please be mindful of this fact when using days.
