Cairo Association of Teachers CAT TRACKS FOR 10-19-94

NOVEMBER 14 ? !

YES . . . THE RUMOR IS TRUE!

This edition of CAT Tracks is late because I simply refused to believe that this “rumor” would actually come to pass.

When your bargaining team first heard that the mediation session—which is required by law—was scheduled for November 14th, it reacted the same way that you did . . . utter disbelief, frustration, and anger. Your team has made every good faith effort possible to resolve the contractual issues in a timely fashion. Our good faith has been met by repeated delays!

REVIEW . . . FOR PERSPECTIVE SAKE:

JUN 29: CAT sends letter—“Demand to Bargain”

JUL 1: Contract opens for “60 days” for the purpose of salary, insurance, and extra duty. (Article X says so and our “Demand to Bargain” letter emphasized the point—along with a request for needed financial information.)

AUG 6: First Session—Board Team Reaction? What are we here for? No financial information—“next session”. Set date for second session—September 1 or 6—Board choice.

AUG 21: I ask for definite date in preparation of CAT Tracks #1. (During the first week of school, I am told that September 1 and 6 are no longer suitable—“How about September 9, 12, or 13?” CAT picks first available date.

SEP 9: Second “Scheduled” Session—CAT “stood up” for Friday night session when only two of Board’s five-member team shows up! CAT then insists on a “school-day session”.

SEP 16: Second “Actual” Session—All-day session ends without a “tentative agreement” but with CAT team and Board negotiator optimistic on chances of a settlement.

SEP 19: CAT Meeting/”Open Letter to School District Employees”—Board and CAT attorneys are still trying to “clean up” this incident. Three sections of labor law were probably violated by the letter and so the possibility of another unfair labor practice looms. CAT membership authorizes its bargaining tam to call a strike.

SEP 20: CAT sends letters notifying all parties of its “Intent to Strike”. (Legal Requirement)

SEP 22: Special school board meeting to consider negotiations. Board rejects CAT “proposal”. Board negotiator and CAT agree to make joint request for mediation.

SEP 23: Superintendent and CAT President sign/mail joint mediation request.

At this point, I must generalize since the CAT was somehow left out of the process. It is my understanding that the Board Negotiator, Ron Booth, explored tentative dates with the mediator. The mediator then contacted our UniServ Director, Larry Bell, concerning two possible dates—October 13 or October 19. Larry told the mediator that either of those dates would be acceptable to him. Larry later received a telephone message from the mediator—“Mediation date for Cairo will be November 14.”

I contacted Larry Bell on Monday, October 3, to find out if he had heard anything about a mediation date. That is when Larry told me the above information. I expressed our outrage that mediation would be set for such a late date. He agreed and offered to contact the mediator and find out why the October dates had fallen through. Larry called back to say that the mediator still had those dates available, but that the Board Team had a problem with them. I contacted Dr. Bonifield and explored the possibility of moving mediation up to October. That is when I learned the reason for the postponement to November:

THEIR NEGOTIATOR, RON BOOTH, GOES ON VACATION FOR THREE WEEKS BEGINNING ON OCTOBER 20!!!

I stressed to Dr. Bonifield the urgency of concluding collective bargaining since many things throughout the District were being postponed “pending negotiations”! She said that she agreed with that, but that it would not be appropriate for the Board Team to engage in mediation when their negotiator was taking off for vacation the next day.

So . . . very reluctantly . . . I must report to you that mediation is indeed scheduled for November 14th.

I want to emphasize that the lateness of this date is against the wishes of your bargaining team. Your bargaining team wanted to resolve all of these matters BEFORE school started—or during September at the latest. Too many teachers have been through too much turmoil for too long. Prolonging this uncertainty is not productive—and is bad for the educational climate.

We used to have the respect of the Board of Education. The Board didn’t necessarily “like us”, but it understood the labor/management process and cooperated with CAT in resolving contractual issues. However, this past calendar year has seen a new direction. CAT had to fight to get things that were clearly spelled out in the contract. Labor Law was violated. Then cam the RIF “negotiations”—a total sham—that resulted in the first unfair labor practice being filed against the District. Now . . . these negotiations.

We—all of us—cannot allow anyone to wear us down. They should know that we will not simply go away.

Your bargaining team—and you—are educational professionals. That is where our focus is. We—and you—want to get on with the business of education and not be distracted by RIFs, negotiations, possible work stoppage, etc. Your bargaining team members, like you, have things started in the classroom that they want to see continue—without interruption. We do NOT want to call a halt to this—it is not good for the kids.

BUT—could this indeed be the Board’s strategy? They know that we are professionals—that we care about kids. Could they—would they—use this against us? Are they thinking: Delay negotiations long enough and “they”—meaning us—won’t call a work stoppage because they are too involved in their classes and programs! Paranoid? Another explanation? You decide.

Nobody wants a work stoppage—especially your bargaining team. We have gone the extra mile. We will continue to make every effort to resolve these issues in a manner satisfactory to you—the membership. In return, we would ask you to continue your support—and patience. It has been great!