Dear Colleagues,
On Friday, February 3rd you received an email propaganda piece from Dr. Dixon about the state of negotiations, from the administration’s point of view.
Not only is the information she published misleading, it is also a violation of the Ohio collective bargaining law. It is inappropriate for management to communicate directly with the Local 795 membership on contract talks as it would be for our Union leadership to send information to members of the Board of Education. We will be filing an Unfair Labor Practice with the State Employee Relation’s Board regarding this wrongful action. It is clear that the timing of Dr. Dixon’s missive was intended to influence our February 7 membership vote (Tuesday, 4:00 at Forest Hills Church).
We will be compiling a complete rebuttal to the Superintendent’s email, but here are a few important points:
- The main “roadblocks to getting a deal” are the Board’s unacceptable salary offer and their demand to usurp more of our non-contract time in expanded mandatory professional development. There are other important details, but these are the most egregious.
- Teachers are fairly paid – and we would like to continue that trend. In comparison to surrounding municipalities and school districts we continue to lag behind in raises – most being between 1.5% and 3%. Comparing our salaries to the community is nonsensical – in her implied logic a teacher in Orange should make more than a teacher in East Cleveland because the community median income is higher. Her comparisons are meant to inflame the community, nothing more.
- Our health insurance is among the best because we have sacrificed in salary and increased our premium contributions over the years. Remember, before 2004 we paid NO premium contributions at all.
- The 5 year forecast is an ultra-conservative guess about the future. If the sole basis for bargaining is based on the 5 year forecast then to us that is not bargaining at all – our raises were decided before we started negotiations, which is bad faith bargaining.
- There seems to be no mention of the massive lay-off last year and the hurtful way teacher, community and student concerns were dismissed. We have lost 10% of our classroom teacher positions from last year. We were also ignored when CHTU lowered our salary demand in exchange for a “No Lay-off” guarantee.
- Lastly, there was no mention of the “me too” clauses that the other unions signed. Dixon makes it look like everyone else agreed to take 0% except us. She failed to state that if we get a raise then they all get the same raise without bargaining for it.
Don’t be misled. The Board’s offer devalues our membership and the hard work we all do every day on behalf of students. Vote to Reject the Board’s Offer. I have attached a great document published by the high school stewards for your additional reading pleasure (link).
See you tomorrow.
Ari Klein
CHTU President