As discussed at our most recent membership meeting, our negotiating team is taking a new approach to bargaining this time around - it’s called interest-based bargaining”.

Although we engaged in conventional collective bargaining for our first contract, we can see the benefits of interest-based bargaining. Instead of presenting proposals and counterproposals and arguing our positions until we reached a settlement that we could recommend to you for ratification, we are going through the contract article by article attempting to improve upon the existing language.

As a result, some articles are signed off unchanged while others undergo minor or major changes. We are also attempting to correct typos and grammatical errors throughout the process.

So far, we have been meeting on a fairly regular schedule – every other week. The team also meets in between sessions to prepare for upcoming sessions. As you already know, we cannot disclose details due to the confidential nature of collective bargaining, but we can say that we are moving at a decent pace and hope to begin bargaining the economic portion of the contract fairly soon.

As always, we thank you for your support and patience and can assure you we are doing everything possible to bring you a fair and equitable contract as soon as possible.

The AFL-CIO has launched its 2012 AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch site—now called CEO Pay and the 99%—which includes the most comprehensive data available on 2011 executive pay. All the data available is searchable by industry, by state and by the top 100 highest-paid CEOs.

In her latest column appearing in the New York Times, AFT president Randi Weingarten describes how the AFT Innovation Fund is providing an alternative to school reform efforts that ignore the expertise of educators and their unions. The fund supports AFT affiliates that engaged in collaborative efforts that focus on promising ideas and proven programs that can be scaled up. Read the full column.

Please click on the Title above to download the Health & Safety Information.

Please click on the Title above to download the Employee Handbook.

We wanted you to know that we have been meeting with administration on a regular basis (every other week) to negotiate our successor agreement. But what’s really significant is that we are bargaining in a collaborative setting. What this means is that the tone at the table is very professional, and we tend to discuss issues rather than argue over them. In this way, we believe we can be more productive. We are hopeful that as long as we can continue to communicate on this level, the more that we can achieve and the faster we can reach a tentative agreement.

So far we have had two formal negotiation sessions. During both sessions, the parties have agreed to modify contract language - in some instances to clarify language and in others to improve on our first contract. We will continue to meet every other Wednesday until we reach a settlement.

Please make every effort to attend membership meetings as we need to stay connected. And many thanks to the members who gave us suggestions for bargaining.

Also ,we wanted to mention that we appreciate administration’s cooperation by giving us the release time needed to come to the bargaining table as well as prepare for our sessions at team meetings.

We will strive to update this message on a regular basis, so please check the website at least once a month for any news.

Your Negotiating Team
Lynne Cottelli & Chris DeMilia

Save the dates April 20-21 for the AFTNJ Convention at the Seaview in Galloway Township.
See http://aftnj.org/calendar/ (<--Copy & Paste into browser) for more Union and Education events.


Other Dates:

June 5th - NJ Primary Election (includes Presidential & US Senate)
July 27-30 - AFT Convention, Detroit, MI
November 6th - General Election Day

AFT President Randi Weingarten took some time on January 27th to talk with members of AFT New Jersey and the Health Professionals and Allied Employees about the importance of getting actively involved in political education and advocacy.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is pushing an agenda filled with attacks on K-12 education through undermining tenure and promoting vouchers, as well as a hastily conceived plan to merge higher education institutions.

The economy has created an opportunity for the “scapegoaters and the demonizers,” said Weingarten. “Instead of taking the responsibility of governing in tough times seriously, they are pointing fingers” and attempting “to turn the very people who are trying to make a difference in the lives of others into villains.” It’s unfair, and our members see it, said Weingarten. “They want to know what we are going to do about this. How are we going to make it better?”

AFT affiliates in New Jersey are working on legislation to protect members. “We have to work together, not just with one another, but with state lawmakers to get the best possible legislation,” Weingarten urged. “We have to come together with a quality agenda to engage members.

LEGISLATION MATTERS - One Union - One Voice for Working Families

Join HPAE and AFTNJ along with AFT National President Randi Weingarten.

Rutgers Labor Education Center, 50 Labor Center Way, New Brunswick, NJ.

5:00pm - Light Refreshments

6:00pm - Program "Moving Forward Together" with President Weingarten

Register at www.aftnj.org or (732) 661-9393

*Please click on the Title above to download the Flyer.

Many studies over the years have documented the need for smoother transitions from prekindergarten to the elementary level. A new AFT report reinforces that conclusion—and does it in a manner that puts frontline voices at the heart of the dialogue.

The citizens of Ohio took back their state with a historic vote on Nov. 8 to repeal Senate Bill 5. The vote, which marks the first time that the collective bargaining rights of public employees have been upheld on a statewide ballot, sends a clear signal that Ohioans will not sit idly by while politicians scapegoat hard-working public employees for an economic crisis they did not create.

 

President Obama's bold plan—the American Jobs Act—is the right antidote to help solve our persistent economic problems, AFT president Randi Weingarten says.

Two longtime union activists and education reformers are assuming new roles in AFT's leadership, AFT president Randi Weingarten announced on Sept. 9.

Every day, educators and other public employees, and the services they provide our communities, are being attacked. From challenging collective bargaining rights, to undermining the quality of public education and higher education, to decimating pensions and trying to put healthcare coverage further out of reach, working men and women across the country are under assault. And if this has taught us one thing, it's that Elections Matter.

Generation Y teachers—those in their mid-30s or younger—say that to keep them in teaching, schools should be transformed into workplaces that support high-quality teaching and learning, so eager but nearly overwhelmed novices will stay in the profession and can become highly effective, according to a new report by the AFT and the American Institutes for Research.

In a March 28 speech sponsored by the Commonwealth Club, AFT president Randi Weingarten challenged those who have blamed public employees and their right to collectively bargain as a cause of their states' fiscal problems.

Workers' fundamental rights are under attack in a growing number of states. But as we have seen in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and elsewhere, those attacks have inspired and motivated tens of thousands of union members to stand together for their rights. The challenge now, as AFT president Randi Weingarten put it in a recent e-mail to more than 1.5 million AFT members and allies, is to take this moment and turn it into a movement. One step in that direction is a "We Are One" Week of Action, starting April 4, that will bring together members from the AFT and other unions, along with our allies, to participate in events around the country. First, take the pledge to help make a difference. Once you take the pledge, you'll see lots of ideas for how to join in the week of action.

AFT president Randi Weingarten on Feb. 24 proposed a new way to align teacher development and evaluation to due process for tenured teachers. Weingarten laid out a three-step process consisting of clear standards for what teachers should know and be able to do, a time-limited improvement and support plan for teachers deemed to be unsatisfactory according to the evaluation standards, and a hearing process that can take no longer than 100 days, which in many cases would be even more expedient.

On Jan. 20, 1961, John F. Kennedy captured and crystallized a moment in history when he told America, "the torch has been passed to a new generation." To mark the 50th anniversary of this landmark inaugural address, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum has created a new website filled with groundbreaking multimedia that invites young visitors to explore the JFK legacy through such core themes as public service, civil rights and innovation.

 

 

One of the most vital functions of a Union is to prevent management from intimidating employees.  Nowhere is this more important than in closed-door meetings when supervisors attempt to coerce employees into a confession of wrongdoing.

 

The right of employees to have the presence of union representatives during investigatory interviews was announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1975 in NLRB vs. J. Weingarten, Inc.  Since that case involved a clerk being investigated by the Weingarten Company, these rights have become known as the Weingarten rights.

 

 

[Click the Title Above to Continue Reading]