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We need a fair contract for all!

By Spencer Kent, NJ Advance Media 

PERTH AMBOY — Contract negotiations between the Perth Amboy Board of Education and the district’s union is no closer to resolution as the BOE declared an impasse on Tuesday, “rejecting a union proposal” over health insurance costs, according to a statement from the Perth Amboy Federation-AFT.

The Perth Amboy Federation-AFT, which represents district teachers and employees, said the impasse was discouraging.

“All we want is a fair contract for hardworking Perth Amboy educators who work with students in the schools every day,” said Patricia Paradiso, union president and a third-grade teacher, in the statement.

Paradiso said she believed it was hypocritical that school Superintendent David A. Roman was paying only 1.5 percent of his $200,000 salary for coverage “while a teacher making a third of that pays significantly more,” Paradiso said.

“The union wants to see a decrease in health insurance costs for everyone,” she added.

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In its statement, the union said the district has displayed that it has the money by recently creating “four new top-level administrative positions allocating more than $500,000 in salaries for personnel who will never see the inside of a classroom.”

Paradiso condemned the impasse and “called for a return to the bargaining table.”

The union hasn’t been afraid to display its outrage, organizing pickets and protests outside of schools.

Nat T. Bender, a spokesman for the union, said he believes public support is on their side.

“We have significant community support,” he told NJ Advance Media in a telephone interview.

He said the health care costs is “the sticking point.”

“It’s not right,” he said.

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PERTH AMBOY - The leadership of the Perth Amboy Federation-AFT has been notified that the Board of Education has declared an impasse regarding negotiations.

The union, which represents teachers and other district employees, received a letter Tuesday from the Machado Law Group, which represents the Board of Education containing a notice of impasse.

Union President Patricia Paradiso said the board filed for impasse after rejecting the union's proposal to stagger health insurance costs so lower-paid workers would not pay as much.

"When increased health insurance costs were implemented, they were progressive," said Paradiso, a third-grade teacher. "The union wants to see a decrease in health insurance costs for everyone."

Paradiso said it's hypocritical for an administrator like the superintendent of schools to pay 1.5 percent of this $200,000 salary for health insurance coverage while a teacher making one-third of that pays significantly more.

She said the money is available. She said the district just created four new top-level administrative positions allocating more than $500,000 in salaries for personnel who will never work inside a classroom.

"How much are these new administrative hires paying for health insurance while the costs for lowest-paid educators in the district continues to climb," she said.

Paradiso called for a return to the bargaining table, adding the union has been active with pickets and protests outside of schools and parents are expressing solidarity with teachers and school personnel.

"Our members have great relationships with the community and many parents have signed on to our petition calling on the board to bargain in good faith," she said.

1.    Please sign the petition calling on the board to bargain a fair contract

2.    Attend the June 2 Membership Meeting. We are expecting a capacity crowd so there will be two sessions: 3:30 and 4:30 PM

3.    Attend the June 16 Board Of Education meeting. We will be in full force.

By Patricia Paradiso

We are extremely disappointed that the Board declared impasse in negotiations May 24 instead of staying at the table and working out a fair deal on health insurance for all members. Our union proposed a progressive solution, which would take into account how much members actually make and lower costs for everyone in the unit.

We, the Green River United Faculty Coalition, are striking against the unfair labor practices of college president Eileen Ely and the board of trustees. This 3-day strike will run Monday May 23, through Wednesday, May 25, and will take place at all four college campuses.This strike was called to protest the most recent in a long stream of unfair and wrongful labor practices by the college administration.

University of Maine System trustees approved a $523.4 million budget for fiscal year 2017 during their two-day session that concluded Monday, May 23.

Much of the news coverage focused on the System’s forecast of a $400,000 surplus for fiscal 2011. That is still simply a forecast for five years out, and the much-reported “structural” gap will continue until then.

The Health Insurance Open Enrollment period continues through June 3, 2016.

This is the time of year to review your current health/dental insurance plan and make adjustments.  Other than "life" changes, the health plan you select will remain your plan until the next open enrollment period in 2017.  Please ensure that you are only covering qualified individuals on your health insurance, if a dependent or former spouse needs to be removed, please do so.

http://www.njea.org/news/2016/05/04/chester%20language%20arts%20teacher%20selected%20as%202016%20njamle%20educator%20of%20the%20year