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Colleagues,
NTU Hall of Fame Dinner - Our 20th Annual Albert Shanker Scholarship Awards and Hall of Fame Dinner on Wednesday, May 16 2018 at The Robert Treat Hotel, 50 Park Place, Newark, NJ at 6:30 p.m. is honoring the members for having survived one of the most expensive attacks on a teachers union in history.
Every school should be represented! Be proud of the work you’ve done and represent. Go to our website to purchase tickets or ads. It all goes to a worthy cause, scholarships for our children, our staff, and the students of Newark.
This year, the Newark Teachers Union will be awarding our first ever NTU Legacy Award to Christine "Roz" Samuels. Roz worked in Newark for 40 years and served as NTU Secretary Treasurer along with being both a Building Rep and Executive Board Member. Roz continues to be very active in the labor movement even after she retired from the Newark Public Schools. We are very happy to be able to honor her legacy to Newark.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Johanna Rios at (973) 643-8430 or e-mail ntuscholarshipawards@gmail.com
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End of the Year Evaluations – If you disagree with your Annual Evaluation, it is important to write an appeal to NPS’s Evaluations Office and the Peer Oversight Committee. Email your appeal to evaluations@nps.k12.nj.us.
Make sure you include all evidence you can provide that the evaluation is not an accurate representation of you! NTU has put together some rebuttal tips we hope will assist you in this effort! If you need help on your appeals, reach out to mmaillaro@newarkteachersunion.com and miovino@newarkteachersunion.com.
Also important, IF your personal days or FMLA days are being counted against you on competency 5, LET US KNOW IMMEDIATELY!
If you are already on a CAP and received a Partial Effective or Ineffective on your Annual Evaluation, you may be facing tenure charges! CALL THE NTU IMMEDIATELY!
What does Agency Shop mean?
Over the last few weeks, while doing our Building Rep Committee and member organizing campaigns, we have had a surprising amount of NTU bargaining unit members ask “What does Agency Shop mean?”
In NJ, there is an agency shop law. When the majority of the teachers, aides, and clerks of Newark elected to form a union, the NTU became the collective bargaining unit for all teachers, aides, and clerks in Newark. We represent all members of the bargaining unit in everything from negotiations to tenure/civil service cases, and because there is a cost to those services, everyone in the bargaining unit contributes to the union.
There are two levels of Union membership:
- A full NTU member pays 1.1% of their salary as dues. This entitles them to voting in union elections (including voting on contracts), holding union office (including Building Rep and our Executive Board), and access to various other member-only benefits, including AFT’s Member + benefits.
- Agency shop members pay a portion of full dues. It equates to .935% of your salary. They are not full members of the union.
While the vast majority of our bargaining unit are full members, there are still many people who believe they are full dues paying members because they belong to the bargaining unit, but they are actually Agency Shop Members. The simplest way of being sure is to check your pay stub. If it says “NTU Dues” you are a full member, if it says “Agency Shop” or “Agency Fees” you are not a full member.
As we continue to move towards empowering all MEMBERS through our Building Rep Committees, it is more important than ever than every member of the Bargaining Unit become full members.
IT TAKES EVERYONE! IT TAKES A COMMITTEE!
FAQ - I am uncomfortable becoming a full dues paying member because the Union will use that money to support causes and candidates I may not agree with.
Your dues or agency shop contributions are never used for political donations or political action. Unions do not (and cannot) use dues money for political contributions. We have a separate COPE fund that accept donations for those causes.
Newark Public Schools Job Opportunities
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Attention Non-Tenured Teachers!
Newark Teachers Union has opened up a website dedicated to answering your questions about what to do when you are given a termination letter, a contract, or hear nothing at all from Newark Public Schools by the May 15 deadline.
Please review this information, it could save your career!
NTU Legal Update:
COUNT TO TEN AND COOL DOWN
You have so much to be rightly frustrated about. Lack of administrative support, lack of supplies, students who need classifications, sweltering classrooms, threats of suits, fighting, students who curse at you, students who say they’re going to get you fired. Some students deliberately try to bait you. How many times have you heard “get your hands off me or you hit me?” when you weren’t near the students!?!
Don’t Take The Bait By Going Into Their Territory
Count to 10
If a student is challenging you, count to 10 and don’t let the overall frustration control. Don’t step in - step back. Nothing will be solved by “hands on” other than when a physical altercation exists. Then you must carefully intervene to prevent students from injury. Never touch head or neck areas. Send someone for security as you carefully separate using the least amount of physical force and pressure.
This past weekend an incident videotaped on a bus went viral showing a teacher dragging a student off a bus by the student’s ankles. No one knows the frustration this teacher probably has endured. The public only saw the results of the frustration.
School faculties have to discuss amongst themselves, with building committees and school administrators, the too many frustrations which exist in your schools. Your building committees must be very active on protecting staff from unfounded allegations. Jobs, pensions, careers and teaching licenses are at stake.
COUNT TO TEN – YOU ARE IN A MINEFIELD
- NPS Business Meeting – May 15, 2018, 5:30 PM – NPS Offices, 765 Broad Street
- NTU Hall of Fame Dinner – May 16, 2018, 6:30 PM – Robert Treat Hotel