Upon recommendation from the Newark Teachers Union Negotiations Committee and with the support of the NTU Executive Board, it is my honor and privilege to present to you the Memorandum of Agreement that settles the 2013 Grievances which arose out of the 2012 contract.
An Explanation of Settlement follows, but it requires a bit of background. In 2013, the NTU submitted various grievances against the then state-controlled Newark Public Schools. The process took two years of hearings and another two years waiting for a decision from the Arbitrator. That Opinion and Award came in 2017. Though lengthy, at the end of the process we prevailed with the Arbitrator ruling in our favor on most key issues. The NPS choose to appeal their losses through various legal steps culminating in a final denial of appeal by the Superior Court of New Jersey.
Faced with a new administration in transition to local control and the fact that they had already begun the process of taking the case to the New Jersey Appellate Division (a process that would have additionally delayed enforcement of the Award), the NTU made the decision to do some aggressive negotiating. We begin contract negotiations in two months. How can I “in Good Faith” send a negotiations team to meet with an adversarial board and still look members negatively impacted by the 2013 Grievances in the eyes?
No other Union local in the country had ever been confronted with the assault we have survived for over 20 years. We had nowhere to look for opinions and examples of how to deal with a board in transition. As both Cami Anderson and Chris Cerf had publicly stated, they wished they had just “chartered” the entire district (as was their right under NCLB at the time) then to have dealt with the NTU. We had won. The question for us now was, “How do we translate this win to a settlement for the better interest of all our members, not just those affected by the 2013 Grievances?”
An Explanation of Settlement follows, but it requires a bit of background. In 2013, the NTU submitted various grievances against the then state-controlled Newark Public Schools. The process took two years of hearings and another two years waiting for a decision from the Arbitrator. That Opinion and Award came in 2017. Though lengthy, at the end of the process we prevailed with the Arbitrator ruling in our favor on most key issues. The NPS choose to appeal their losses through various legal steps culminating in a final denial of appeal by the Superior Court of New Jersey.
Faced with a new administration in transition to local control and the fact that they had already begun the process of taking the case to the New Jersey Appellate Division (a process that would have additionally delayed enforcement of the Award), the NTU made the decision to do some aggressive negotiating. We begin contract negotiations in two months. How can I “in Good Faith” send a negotiations team to meet with an adversarial board and still look members negatively impacted by the 2013 Grievances in the eyes?
No other Union local in the country had ever been confronted with the assault we have survived for over 20 years. We had nowhere to look for opinions and examples of how to deal with a board in transition. As both Cami Anderson and Chris Cerf had publicly stated, they wished they had just “chartered” the entire district (as was their right under NCLB at the time) then to have dealt with the NTU. We had won. The question for us now was, “How do we translate this win to a settlement for the better interest of all our members, not just those affected by the 2013 Grievances?”
The District’s bad faith implementation of the 2012 Agreement was tantamount to a crime – a theft from members of the benefits to which they were entitled. Although the offenders were no longer at the table, their successors were. What could we get by way of some Restorative Justice? Besides all the other wins delineated in this Explanation of Settlement, we were able to get a signed provision to our forthcoming contract that restores a Step and Advanced Degree Salary Guide that will be both cumulative and pensionable for all our members who hold or attain advanced degrees now and in the future; i.e. Restorative Justice.
We believe that these decisions, combined with a fully-funded re-opener, represent significant wins for this Union and our membership; we are turning the page on one of the most tumultuous chapters in NTU History.
Have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving, you deserve it,
We believe that these decisions, combined with a fully-funded re-opener, represent significant wins for this Union and our membership; we are turning the page on one of the most tumultuous chapters in NTU History.
Have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving, you deserve it,
In Solidarity,
John M Abeigon
President & Director of Organization
Newark Teachers Union, Local 481, AFT, AFL-CIO
What follows is a delineated verbatim version of the Memorandum of Agreement with an Explanation of Settlement in italicized brackets below it.
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
THIS MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT is entered into as of this __ day of November, 2018, by and between the NEWARK TEACHERS UNION, LOCAL 481, AFL-CIO (“NTU”) and the NEWARK BOARD OF EDUCATION (“Board”) (collectively the “Parties”).
WHEREAS in 2013 the NTU submitted seven grievances against the State-operated School District of Newark (“School District”), specifically Grievance No. 4725, relating to retroactive longevity payments; Grievance No. 4726, relating to retroactive pay; Grievance No. 4727, relating to retroactive pay; Grievance No. 4730, relating to creation and convening of a consultative committee; Grievance No. 4732, relating to starting salaries; Grievance No. 4734, pertaining to one-time annual bonuses; and Grievance No. 4737, relating to peer validators; and the State District Superintendent in 2013 denied each of these grievances, and each grievance was submitted to arbitration in accordance with the grievance procedure set forth in the CBA;
WHEREAS Arbitrator James Mastriani issued an Award and Order dated September 17, 2017 (“Award”), upholding Grievance Nos. 4725, 4726, 4730, and 4737, and dismissing Grievance Nos. 4727, 4732, and 4734;
WHEREAS in 2017 the School District filed an action in the Superior Court of New Jersey, seeking to vacate the Award regarding Grievance Nos. 4725, 4726, 4730, and 4737, and the NTU filed an action seeking to confirm the Award, and those matters were assigned Docket No. ESX-L-8794-17/ESX-L-8802-17; and on July 24, 2018 the Superior Court of New Jersey entered an Order denying the School District’s application to vacate the Award and granting the NTU’s application to confirm the Award;
whereas in 2013 the NTU submitted a Petition of Appeal with the Commissioner of Education, Agency Ref. No. 288-11/13 (“Petition”), challenging action by the School District freezing the salaries of certain NTU members for the 2013-2014 school year, and the School District filed an Answer denying the allegations in the Petition, and the matter was transmitted to the Office of Administrative Law and assigned Docket No. EDU17927-2013;
WHEREAS the NTU and the Board are parties to a Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) in effect through June 30, 2019; and a provision of the CBA agreed upon in 2015 provides that the Parties will engage in good faith negotiations regarding salary increases for NTU members for the 2018-2019 school year, and accordingly the Parties have engaged in such negotiations;
Whereas the Superintendent and the NTU have agreed to resolve all of these matters together, in accordance with the terms set forth herein;
NOW, THEREFORE, the Superintendent and the NTU hereby agree to the following:
1. Grievance 4725 (Retro longevity) – The Board acknowledges and commits to satisfy the Award by making longevity payments due for the period of June 30, 2010 to October 29, 2012 to eligible employees. The total amount due for retroactive longevity payments shall not exceed $1,348,527.11 and shall be made within a reasonable period of time. Following execution of any documents deemed necessary and appropriate, each eligible employee will receive payment via a separate check through direct deposit subject to all local, State and Federal deductions. Payment shall be made to each eligible employee prior to December 31, 2018.
[This is any employee who reached their 15th, 20th, 25th, or 30th year of service in the Newark Public Schools during the 2010-2011 or 2011-2012 school year. This staff will receive a check for their missed longevity payments for the years they were eligible. This money will be pensionable and on guide.]
2. Grievance 4726 (Retroactive Pay) – The Board will determine the amount of retroactive salary payments due to employees who were on leave as of June 15, 2012 who subsequently returned to work, and will pay the amount due to each such employee for this purpose. (Review of payroll records indicates that the amount of these payments will be approximately $275,000.) Each eligible employee will receive payment via a separate check through direct deposit subject to all local, State and Federal deductions, prior to December 31, 2018.
[There were employees who never received their retro payment for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years because they were on approved leave during this time period. This started as a much larger number of impacted staff, but we had been able to get many of those staff paid their retro over the years. The district had continued to refuse to pay this final group, and we are happy to report that they will FINALLY receive their payments by December 31.]
3. Grievance #4730 (District Approved Programs) - The NTU agrees to resolve Grievance #4730 in the better interest of its members, in exchange for inclusion of the following provisions in the successor NTU/NPS Collective Bargaining Agreement:
a) NBOE/NTU shall create and negotiate a Step and Advanced Degree salary guide;
b) All current employees subject to Grievance #4730 shall receive the increase negotiated for SY19/20 in the successor agreement retroactively to the year such advancement, degree or program was attained. To be eligible for such retroactive increase, employees must have started and completed an advanced degree between October 18, 2012 and the date of execution of this Memorandum of Agreement. Each eligible employee will receive payment via a separate check through direct deposit subject to all local, State and Federal deductions.
[When we survey our members about what they want most in contract negotiations, the answer that comes up time and again is a return to the traditional BA, MA, and PhD guides. We are educators, and we should have a system that respects education. Under Superintendents Anderson and Cerf, the district did everything possible to sabotage the compensation system we put in place for staff who worked for their advanced degrees.
Instead of continuing to try and make an unwieldy, tainted system work, we got the district to agree in writing to work with us on putting the original time-tested system back in place during our next contract negotiations. Any staff that started and finished their degree between October 2012 and the signing date of this agreement (November 14, 2018) would get the newly negotiated salaries paid retroactively to when they finished their degrees. Moving forward ALL STAFF will be placed on the proper guide. ]
4. Petition of Appeal – Without admitting any violation, subject to approval by action of the Board and execution of a Settlement Agreement and Release, the Board will pay salary increments from 2012-2013 and agrees to step movement for nine (9) current employees. The total amount of the payment for this provision of the settlement shall not exceed $76,653.00. Eligible employees will receive payment via a separate check through direct deposit subject to all local, State and Federal deductions prior to December 31, 2018.
[While there were many people who had been negatively impacted because of partially effective evaluations, we were able to get a sizable settlement for 9 of the most egregious cases. This staff will receive substantial back pay as well as be restored to their proper step moving forward.]
5. Contract Re-opener for SY18/19 – In accordance with the CBA established in 2015, the Board agrees to distribute $816,000 to employees currently paid at the highest step on each applicable salary guide set forth in the CBA for 2018-2019. Each eligible employee will receive payment via a separate check through direct deposit subject to all local, State and Federal deductions prior to December 31, 2018.
[During our Negotiations for the 2015 contract, we had put a clause in the contract that allowed us to renegotiate a larger increase for staff at the top of their respective guides in the 2018-2019 school year. We were able to get our members the full value of that reopener clause! This money is all on guide and pensionable. This increases our total cumulative increase for the 2018-2019 school year from 2.95% to 3.25%!]
6. The above referenced advancement increase and retroactive payments shall be cumulative and pensionable.
7. The Board and NTU agree that any and all bonuses awarded under Article XIV Section 1(D) (2) Teachers Salary shall be discontinued upon execution of this Agreement.