President Merrie Najimy and Vice President Max Page were re-elected as leaders of the association at the 2020 MTA Annual Meeting of Delegates on May 2.
The meeting, held amid the coronavirus crisis, marked the MTA’s 175th anniversary — and it was the first such event to be held virtually. The delegates, participating remotely via video, voted to fill seats for MTA offices, passed a budget for fiscal 2020-2021, and honored award winners. More than 1,200 members took part.
Najimy, who ran unopposed for a second twoyear term, was re-elected with 1,121 votes. She is a longtime Concord elementary school teacher and a past president of the Concord Teachers Association.
Page, a professor of architecture at UMass Amherst and former president of the Massachusetts Society of Professors chapter there, also ran unopposed for a second term. He received 1,128 votes.
The delegates represented about 117,000 MTA preK-12, higher education and Retired members from across Massachusetts.
Najimy and Page — who initially won office in 2018 — began their new terms on July 15.
Najimy said she was honored to have been reelected, describing the meeting as "an affirmation that our members believe in the agenda of the MTA."
"In this time of profound distress," she continued, "we are trying to cope in the moment. We are all experiencing personal loss. Our retirees are feeling more vulnerable than ever. We are also trying to understand how the pandemic will change our future." The challenges ahead will bring additional needs, she noted.
"Now more than ever, we need full funding for our schools and colleges," Najimy said. "Now more than ever, the MTA must lead the fight to reimagine and rebuild public education — and for racial and economic justice for our schools, colleges and society.
"The task ahead is enormous," she added. "But I have great confidence that we will overcome. When we fight, we win!"
Page expressed similar sentiments.
"Even as we all are deeply worried about the health of our friends, families and students, and worry about the future of the economy, I know that the MTA will emerge stronger and be an even more powerful advocate for just public schools and colleges and a just Commonwealth," he said. "I have never felt so proud and impressed with the strength of this union."
The delegates elected new members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee. Those who are part of the Statewide Retired District filled four seats on the MTA Retired Members Committee.
An operating budget of $48,486,926 was adopted, and the delegates passed a general dues assessment of $20 to fund the association’s Public Relations/Organizing Campaign.
The MTA Board had voted earlier this spring to scale back the 2020 session from two days to one and to reduce the agenda, so consideration of proposed changes to the association’s Bylaws, Standing Rules and Resolutions was deferred to the 2021 Annual Meeting. At an Issues Forum during the meeting, Najimy led a discussion of the association’s All In Blueprint Project, a major MTA initiative aimed at building the union’s power in the post-Janus era.
For information about the award winners, please go to massteacher.org/2020AMawards.
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