Colleagues,
Please see the following email regarding the open enrollment for the NYSUT Member Benefits Catastrophe Major Medical (CMM) Plan.  For those of you who, like myself, have been blissfully unaware of the benefits of a CMM plan, here is a link to a document with additional information: https://ebview.com/pdfgenerator/ViewPdf/NYSUT/CMM/Vol_CMM_Plan_Highlights-July_2020.pdf 
Stay well,
Rob 


TO:        Local and Chapter Presidents
FROM:  Matt Jacobs, Regional Staff Director
DATE:   September 2, 2020
RE:        Starts today! Open Enrollment for CMM
*****************************************************************************
Open enrollment for the NYSUT Member Benefits CMM (Catastrophe Major Medical) Plan starts today September 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020 with an effective date of January 1, 2021. This benefit has been promoted in NYSUT Leader Briefings, NYSUT United and Member Benefits Map emails. Please note, open enrollment periods for CMM do not always occur annually and any applications received after September 30, 2020 will not be accepted!
 
A Catastrophe Major Medical plan offers supplemental coverage that members and their eligible family members may need. Once the out-of-pocket deductible has been satisfied, this plan provides benefits for eligible expenses that your basic plan may not fully cover, including prescription drugs.
 
Here’s the link to the online enrollment page on the NYSUT Member Benefits website:

https://www.nysutmbteinsurance.com/health-insurance/major-medical/catastrophe-major-medical.html
 
Matt Jacobs
Regional Staff Director, Nassau
BE the union! www.nysut.org/unionvalue

Dear Colleagues,

The following is a very important message from NYSUT concerning recent fraudulent unemployment claims filed in the names of some school employees.  Steps #4 and 5 are most important for you to follow if you are a victim of a fraudulent claim.  Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.
Stay well,
Rob

Begin forwarded message:

From: Delores Cook <delores.cook@nysut.org>
Date: Jun 22, 2020 at 2:51 PM
Subject: Response to Fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Claims


TO:        Local, Chapter and RC Presidents
FROM:  Matt Jacobs, Regional Staff Director
DATE:  June 22, 2020
RE:       Response to Fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Claims  
*****************************************************************************
 
As you may have heard, there has been a spate of data breaches across the state that have resulted in fraudulent unemployment claims being filed in the names of some school employees. So far, I am not aware of any members in our region that have been targeted yet, but this has been spreading rapidly and is likely to occur in Nassau in the near future.
 
Following a conversation with Jacqueline Kagan, the Director of the Investigations Unit at the NYS Department of Labor, NYSUT wants you to be aware of the steps that should be taken immediately by any members whose security has been compromised by fraudulent Unemployment Insurance claims filed in their names.
 

1. All impacted employees should immediately notify their Local President and the Superintendent or other appropriate management official.
2. That manager needs to e-mail Ms. Kagan  at jacqueline.kagan@labor.ny.gov to inform her of the breach.
3. In most cases the DOL will already know about or suspect that a false claim was filed, but this step will confirm it. It will ensure that all steps are taken to protect the employee from exposure regarding the claim and protect their records with the Department of Labor.
4. Irrespective of whether DOL has flagged it and taken action, the employee is the victim of a crime. In some cases, the employee will actually learn about the breach from the FBI or other authority. If so, they can avoid the next step. If not, and the false application is learned about when they receive notice from DOL indicating that a claim was filed, then the employee should immediately file a police report.
5. The employee must immediately thereafter file an alert with the FTC at https://www.identitytheft.gov/. Completing this form is the best way to ensure that the 3 credit bureaus are aware and that steps are taken to prevent additional use of the data to open up credit cards, loans, etc., in the employee’s name. When completing the form information should be shown regarding how to take those steps. Further, any victim should review their credit records to ensure no other false accounts have been created. The victim should also monitor their credit accounts going forward. There are discounts and program available through NYSUT Member Benefits, should anyone inquire.  Also, if participating in the Legal Service Plan, members should be able to receive assistance for clearing up other false claims that may exist in the credit report.
6. It’s important to note that in this particular fraud cycle, it is unlikely the breach came from the respective employer. Rather, central database hacks are more likely the source of the breach. For example, we recently learned that the NYS Office of Technology Information Services was victimized in January. It’s likely that this may have exposed large databases of current and former public employee information (State and Local). Certainly, the employer should always be asked to confirm that this is the case.
7. NYSUT OGC has reviewed what is known about the fraudulent claims at this time. It does not appear that there is any immediate cause of action that can be brought against any public employer based on what is currently known.

 
Matt Jacobs
NYSUT Nassau Regional Staff Director
(516) 496-2035 (Office)
(516) 319-7065 (Mobile)
Matthew.Jacobs@nysut.org
 

Hello,


Today at 4:00 PM, NYSUT is hosting a virtual vigil to call for an end to racial and economic inequities and to honor the lives of George Floyd and others. 

The event will feature state and national union leaders and NYSUT members. In between speakers, they will have performances by students and members.

For more information, and to register for the event, visit https://www.nysut.org/news/2020/june/vigil. 

Best,
Dennis Urban
Political Action Committee ​

Ronald Dinehart, MBA and Anthony Dolisi, of Equitable (formerly "AXA Equitable") a district approved 403b provider,  will be dedicating Tuesday June 2nd  Wednesday June 3rd  and Thursday June 4th  to BMUST Members regarding their 403b retirement plans/CARES Act questions, or any financial planning concerns they have.  To schedule your personalized one on one meeting please click either Ron or Anthony’s link below on their calendar to book a time slot.


If you cannot meet Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday next week please email Ron ronald.dinehart@equitable.com or Anthony anthony.dolisi@equitable.com directly to schedule another time.

 
ZynBit Calendar Scheduling Link Ronald Dinehart Bellmore-Merrick
 
ZynBit Calendar Scheduling Link Anthony Dolisi Bellmore Merrick


--
Rob Walsh
President
​

Dear BMUST Members,


I hope this email finds you and your loved ones in good health.

As you probably know, school budget votes and school board elections are quickly approaching. This year, voting will take place by absentee ballot. All qualified voters will receive a ballot in the mail, along with a postage-paid return envelope, from their school districts. The completed ballots must be received by the District Clerk’s office by 5:00 PM on June 9th, which means you should mail it back a few days before to ensure it gets there in time.

This year’s budget vote is extremely important, especially since the COVID-19 recession could be devastating for school funding. We are not only asking our members to pledge to vote YES for their local school budgets, but to encourage others to mail in their YES votes, too. Since the pandemic has disrupted our usual phone-banking campaign, BMUST and NYSUT are taking a number of steps to get out the vote to pass Bellmore-Merrick’s 2020-21 budget: 

1. NYSUT has scheduled robocalls to its members.
2. BMUST is sending postcards to likely YES voters living in the district.
3. BMUST and the component Bellmore/Merrick elementary school unions have purchased full-page ads in the Bellmore/Merrick Herald Life newspapers.

In addition, NYSUT has released its school board candidate endorsements for Long Island, which is attached to this email. 

Please let me know if you have any questions, and make sure you mail in your vote by June 9th!

Sincerely,

Dennis Urban
Political Action Committee

Dear BMUST Family: 

We are presently forming our committees for the 2020-2021 school year. Our committees are responsible for some of the most important advocacy and work done to build, secure, and maintain our professional lives and careers as educators in BMCHSD. A description of the work done by each committee can be found at www.bmust.org/committees. If you are interested in serving on a committee, or would like to continue serving on a particular committee, please submit this form no later than Friday, June 12th. If you would like more information about our committees, please reach out to me, a building rep., or a current committee rep.
Thank you in advance for your time and your interest.


Bill Morris
2nd Vice President
2vp@bmust.net

--
Rob Walsh
President

Please see below.  If you are interested, please sign up as soon as possible as slots fill up quickly.


FROM:  Matt Jacobs, Regional Staff Director

DATE:    May 4, 2020
RE:         New Dates for Student Debt Seminars
*****************************************************************************
 
Due to the popularity of the student debt webinars, NYSUT has added dates and raised the registration cap to 150 participants per workshop.
 
The dates with openings are: 5/7, 5/12, 5/14, 5/19 and 5/21. 
 
All the registration links may be found at: https://studentloans.nysut.org/webinars.
 
 
Matt Jacobs
Regional Staff Director, Nassau
Office Tel: (516) 496-2035
Mobile: (516) 319-7065
Fax: (516) 921-2964
mjacobs@nysutmail.org
 
BE the union! www.nysut.org/unionvalue
​

*Please note** The dates mentioned in this email from yesterday have already been filled! If you are interested, please register for the new May dates as soon as possible, or continue checking the link as additional webinars will be added.


TO:        Local and Chapter Presidents
FROM:  Matt Jacobs, Regional Staff Director
DATE:   April 22, 2020
RE:        Online Student Debt Webinars
*****************************************************************************
 
Online Student Debt Webinars are now up and running to replace the canceled in-person seminars.  The first one will be offered tomorrow as a test run. Registration for this initial webinar was opened only to members who had registered for one of the canceled live sessions. Two more online Student Debt Webinars are scheduled for next week with open registration. They will be on Tuesday, 4/28 at 4:30 p.m. and Thursday, 4/30 at 6 p.m. Give the short timeline, please let your members know about this opportunity as soon as possible.
 
Here is the link to register: https://studentloans.nysut.org/webinars
 
Thank you!



--
Rob Walsh
President
​