Dear Colleagues:
We have tallied the results of our February 7, 2017 membership vote and the Cleveland Heights Teachers Union has overwhelmingly rejected the Board of Education’s final offer for a three-year contract. 484 of those casting ballots 93% – voted to reject the Board’s offer; 36 members 7% - voted to accept. We received 520 ballots out of 541.
Today, CHTU and the Board of Education returned to the bargaining table in an attempt to identify, and hopefully deal with, the stumbling blocks keeping us from reaching a resolution. Although we had good conversations we did not end up with a proposal to bring you or any additional tentative agreements. We discussed conceptual solutions to several issues, but ended up setting March 3 as a new date for continued talks. One of the largest problems is that the administration team did not have authorization from the Board of Education to change their salary offer.
At today’s bargaining session, our team read aloud and delivered the attached letter as a response to that letter from Superintendent Dixon that was emailed to all of us on February 3. As I mentioned in a previous email, CHTU has grave concerns about Dr. Dixon’s letter, not just because of its contents, but also because, as an attempt to influence the outcome of a contract vote, it violated Ohio labor law. CHTU has filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint with the State Employee Relations Board (SERB) to address our legal concern about Dr. Dixon’s letter. The purpose of my attached response was to address its contents. (link to CHTU Response of 2.15.17)
While the SERB will have to determine if Dr. Dixon’s letter was in fact a violation of law, it is inarguably a violation of spirit – the spirit of partnership and shared sense of mission that the District and its teachers have long enjoyed. Even when we vigorously disagreed, we never publicly maligned each other. We recognized that doing so would ultimately damage how the District is perceived and undermine its future levy prospects. And we understood that even in the midst of negotiations, we were all still pursuing the same mission.
In its tone and its manipulation and omission of facts, Dr. Dixon’s letter casts CHTU in a negative and inaccurate light and attempts to redefine us as antagonists, instead of partners with a shared purpose. My response raises objections to how we were characterized and attempts to point the harmful consequences of either side conducting itself this way.
It’s our hope that this letter represents an aberration, not a full-scale rejection of the working relationship between CHTU and the Board of Education. As I wrote in my letter:
“Despite our alarm at what appears to be the Administration’s unilateral decision to treat the District’s teachers as adversaries and opponents, instead of allies, our membership is hopeful that the fruitful partnership that we have enjoyed for so long can be restored. Our District faces enough external challenges without creating unnecessary internal ones.”
This openness to working together, however, should not be interpreted as weakness. Just because we want to work together cooperatively does not mean we will compromise our principles. CHTU will remain dedicated advocates for the interests of its members and their families and of our students and their families. Our vote to reject the Board’s final offer is testimony to this fact.
We will continue to insist that our members are compensated fairly because it allows us to retain and attract the talented, high-quality educators who have distinguished our District and who are crucial to maintaining and increasing enrollment and preparing our students to succeed. Doing so is the right thing for our members, our students, and our district.
(link to CHTU Response if you missed it)
In Union,
Ari Klein
President
Cleveland Heights Teachers Union