Dear Members,

In-person early voting starts on October 24 in New York. Attached are flyers with dates, times, and locations for early voting in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Given all the uncertainty of life in 2020, please make every effort to vote early in this election. 
You can search for NYSUT-endorsed candidates in your election district using NYSUT's simple online tool: https://mac.nysut.org/find-endorsed-candidates-in-my-district. Although NYSUT doesn't make endorsements for President and Vice President, both AFT and NEA have endorsed Biden/Harris.

Finally, a reminder that virtual phone banking will continue 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM daily until Election Day. Here are the links I shared last week.

• Direct link for PA calls for Biden/Harris - https://www.openvpb.com/vpb_bycode/FFE874J-590245
• Direct link for Monica Martinez - https://www.openvpb.com/vpb_bycode/F9EE64I-139051  
• Direct link for Jackie Gordon - https://www.openvpb.com/vpb_bycode/F0AE54M-529893

Please let me know if you have any questions, and let's get out the vote!

Sincerely,

Dennis Urban
BMUST Political Action Committee
​

​The Community Cupboard is in need of volunteers for Wednesday, October 7.
For everyone's safety we're looking for no more than six volunteers in each of the following time slots:

Wednesday, October 7

2:30 (or whenever you can get over after dismissal) - 4:00 
4:00 - 5:00

If you are interested in helping, please reply to this email, and include your phone number. Slots will be filled on a first come, first serve basis. The Community Cupboard is located down the hall from Personnel. Volunteers must use the main entrance at Brookside to enter the building. Due to safety concerns, volunteer opportunities are limited to employees only at this time.

Thank you!
Meg

Attention Bellmore-Merrick CHSD Faculty and Staff, 
Anthony Dolisi and Ronald Dinehart from Equitable Advisors, LLC are dedicating Monday, October 5th, Tuesday, October 6th, and Wednesday, October 7th to meeting with Faculty and staff in Bellmore-Merrick CHSD. We would like to review your 403(b) plan and answer any financial planning questions you may have as well as help in enrolling anyone who needs to open a 403(b) plan.
 
Please click the link below to schedule a phone conference on the date and time that works for you.
 
We have attached both of our calendars. If one of the time slots are booked, feel free to book on the other calendar.
 
Calendar Scheduling Link Anthony Dolisi
 
Calendar Scheduling Link Ronald Dinehart
 
We look forward to speaking with you!
Ronald Dinehart, MBA
Retirement Planning Specialist
1000 Woodbury Road, Suite 300, Woodbury, NY 11797
m. (516) 353.2230  |  p. (516) 358.3901
www.equitable.com | ronald.dinehart@equitable.com
my calendar link (schedule an appointment)
 
Please note my new e-mail address is ronald.dinehart@equitable.com.  I will no longer be receiving emails at my AXA e-mail as of September 25th 2020.  
 
The highest compliment my clients can give, is recommending me to their friends, family, & associates.
​
INVESTMENT ADVISOR REPRESENTATIVE Retirement Planning Specialist
 
Securities offered through Equitable Advisors, LLC (NY, NY 212-314-4600), member FINRA, SIPC (Equitable Financial Advisors in MI & TN). Investment advisory products and services offered through Equitable Advisors, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor.  Annuity and insurance products offered through Equitable Network, LLC. Equitable Network conducts business in CA as Equitable Network Insurance Agency of California, LLC, in UT as Equitable Network Insurance Agency of Utah, LLC, in PR as Equitable Network of Puerto Rico, Inc.  Equitable Advisors and Equitable Network are affiliated companies and do not provide tax or legal advice.  Representatives may transact business, which includes offering products and services and/or responding to inquiries, only in state(s) in which they are properly registered and/or licensed.  Your receipt of this e-mail does not necessarily indicate that the sender is able to transact business in your state.   
For more information about Equitable Advisors, LLC you may visit https://equitable.com/crs to review the firm’s Relationship Summary for Retail Investors and General Conflicts of Interest Disclosure.
“Retirement Planning Specialist” title (Equitable Advisors, LLC)
Retirement Planning Specialist title awarded by Equitable Advisors, based upon receipt of a Certificate in Retirement Planning from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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