August 26th, 2024

To the Membership,

Welcome back everyone! Some of you are joining the Nashua School District for the first time while others are returning after decades of service. Whether it’s your first year or fortieth, I want to assure all of you that your union is here to support you. Never hesitate to reach out if you need our services.    

It’s been a very busy summer at the NTU Office. I would first like to thank our previous President, Adam Marcoux, and the rest of the Executive Board for helping me navigate my new role as President of the Nashua Teachers’ Union. Our office manager, Terry Freeman, has been a tremendous help during this transition as well.

This year is an important one for our union. We have three contracts to negotiate: the Teachers’ and Paraeducators’ contracts both expire at the end of this year, while our newest unit, The American Sign Language Interpreters, will be bargaining their first ever contract as well. The NTU has already begun the initial work on all three contracts. In next week’s Monday Morning Message, I look forward to sharing more details about all three of these contracts.

On August 15, I had the pleasure of signing a new Food Service Contract. Please note that even though this new deal does not officially take effect until September 1st, I have been assured by Central Office that food service workers’ first paycheck will reflect the new contract’s rate!

While running for NTU President in the spring, I made a commitment to the membership that, if elected, I would focus the NTU’s energies on four issues: improving student behavior; bettering your working condition; protecting your contractual rights; and improving the working conditions in our special education department, which not only impacts our special educators, but the hundreds of members in our paraeducator unit. Your union has already started to work on these issues, and in the coming weeks and months, I will report back to the membership more specifically about what the NTU is doing within these focus areas.
  

The aforementioned issues are not the only issues that your union is focusing on this year, but it is undoubtedly a good place to start. In the coming months, I hope to visit your schools and speak with you directly about how this school year is progressing and how the NTU can support you. It is my honor to serve as your President and I hope you all have a fantastic school year!

In Solidarity,

Gary E. Hoffman

President, Nashua Teachers’ Union