|
Contract Vote Update for NHFT Now that we have a Tentative Agreement, we are working on the logistics for our upcoming NHFT Membership Meeting at Wilbur Cross on Thurs, Oct 27 @ 4pm and our subsequent Contract Ratification Vote.
Thank you, Leslie, Pat, and the Negotiations Team
0 Comments
Dear NHFT Members,
On behalf of our dedicated Negotiations Committee, I am excited to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement with the New Haven Board of Education. Our next step is to convene an NHFT general membership meeting on Thursday, October 27 at 4:00pm at the Wilbur Cross High School Auditorium. It is important that you join us at this meeting where we will share the details of our new contract and encourage members to vote in support of ratification. Throughout this process, we have been committed to positively impacting teacher retention and working conditions, and we are proud of what we have accomplished. As with every negotiation, we didn’t win all of our proposals, but we will continue to organize and advocate for our members and our schools. We are optimistic about our new contract and the work ahead. In advance of Thursday’s meeting, we want to share a few important highlights:
Overall, we are extremely proud of our work and we will recommend ratification of this tentative agreement. Be on the lookout for an executive summary that we will share next week so you can review additional details in advance of our general membership meeting. I also want to thank every one of you who helped us arrive at this moment. From completing our teacher retention survey, to participating in negotiations working groups, to calling and messaging the mayor and the Board of Education, to wearing blue this week in support of a fair contract — you demonstrated your solidarity and commitment to our union! We continue to grow stronger every day. Lastly, I want to thank our negotiations team for their collective effort to deliver our union members a fair contract. They dedicated weeks of their summer vacation, as well as long nights and holidays, to prepare for negotiations and ultimately get the job done. I hope you will join us next Thursday, October 27 at 4pm at Wilbur Cross to learn more about our tentative agreement, to thank our team for their tireless efforts, and to vote in support of ratification of our next contract. In solidarity, Leslie Blatteau NHFT President You did it. You heard our call and you took action! Over the long weekend, you made calls, and you sent texts and emails. At Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, members raised their voices demanding respect and a fair contract. Collectively we sent hundreds of messages to the mayor and BOE members to urge them to return to the negotiations table. And it worked! The Board of Education’s attorney called our team on Wednesday morning to schedule two additional negotiation sessions next week. Now we need to keep up the pressure.
To show your support for our negotiations team and our fight for a fair contract, please wear blue to work on Monday, October 17. Then post pictures of you and your colleagues wearing blue on social media and tag us on Facebook (@NHFT - New Haven Federation of Teachers) and Twitter (@NHFT933). Please help spread the word to your colleagues throughout New Haven. We want to make sure that our working conditions and our rights as teachers are protected. We want to make sure that every teacher gets a raise while also defending against unfair increases to our health insurance. Our team has been committed to this process for months. We started in the spring when we surveyed our members and hosted open contract working group meetings. We continued this summer when we worked hard to write comprehensive and fair proposals to support our teachers, our students, and our schools. And we will keep working this fall to reach an agreement with the Board that ensures New Haven educators receive the compensation, benefits and support we deserve. We know the outcome of this contract will affect teacher retention in New Haven. And we know that our students deserve fully staffed schools where teachers are respected as professionals. And it is for these reasons that we need you to show your support for a fair contract and wear blue on Monday, October 17. Because of you and your willingness to take action, our union is getting stronger everyday. Let’s keep up the momentum until we get the contract that we deserve. In solidarity, Leslie Blatteau President, NHFT
The NHFT Negotiations team came to the table prepared. Unlike the Board of Education’s team, we started our work months before the first negotiation session in August. But here’s what's really disheartening – On Wednesday night, when we were making progress, the Board’s team decided to walk away from the negotiating table and proceed to arbitration. The contrast couldn’t be clearer – ten dedicated NHFT educators, on their day off, were ready to work all night for our members, our schools, and our students, and the Board’s team chose to walk away without even responding to our counter proposals. And that is why we need each of you to take action now.
We need every NHFT member to click this link to contact the Mayor and Board of Education and demand they come back to the table and negotiate a fair contract.
The good news is we are close to agreement on some economic issues. However, some of the Board’s other proposals are very concerning. They want significant increases to health insurance costs. They are trying to take away fundamental rights of teachers that our contract has protected for years. They want the unilateral right to lengthen our workday, take away holidays, and record us in the classroom. The Board’s proposals will limit teacher input and teacher voice. Their proposals will increase our workload significantly, while limiting students’ access to services and putting the culture and climate of our buildings at risk. And this, at a time when teachers and students need more support, not more top-down demands, to ensure we have enough certified professionals to safely staff our schools.
We want to share some of what is at stake:
If the Board does not come back to the table, decisions about these important issues will be put into the hands of an arbitrator. That is why it is important to click this link and contact the Mayor and Board of Education. Our goal has always been to represent our members and advocate for the working conditions, salaries, and benefits that will help to retain teachers and positively impact our schools. NHFT union members know better than anyone that our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions and we are committed to improving both. Thank you for taking action now to help us deliver a fair contract for our members. In solidarity, Leslie Blatteau |
Archives
October 2022
Categories |
RSS Feed