Respecting the Power of the Unions

It’s just about all over now, except for formal action by the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education on Tuesday evening, May 18. At that meeting, the board will decide whether to accept or to modify the cuts to the school budget made by the Bridgewater and Raritan councils last Wednesday.

Don’t expect any surprises on Tuesday. The board will not challenge the councils’ cuts by appealing to the New Jersey Commissioner of Education – that would be fatal. Despite any claims to the contrary, the administration and the board were lucky to get away with reductions of only $1,037,000 to the 2010/2011 school budget.

The real failure of this budget process was the refusal of the three bargaining units to accept a one-year wage freeze which would have minimized budget losses. The unions’ successful pushback to Governor Christie’s and this community’s repeated requests to do so underscores the enormous power of the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and of its local affiliate, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA).

A major component of that power is the Bridgewater local’s ability to mobilize its members, as well as the parents of this district into a cohesive force that only the slightest majority of voters was able to counter. Even though many parents and at least some teachers (we will never know how many, because no vote was taken) supported a wage freeze, the absolute tight-fisted solidarity of union leadership prevailed.

There are at least two takeaways from this. The first is that boards of education need to pre-plan their bargaining strategies well in advance and find a way not to be such pushovers in contract negotiations. It’s not too soon for the Bridgewater-Raritan School Board to come up with a line-in-the-sand strategy effective enough to counter the BREA. This district has had enough of “win-win” contracts in which the community comes out as a loser.

The second is that Governor Christie’s office needs to find a realistic way to gain consensus with the legislature on his signature strategy to enact “Cap 2.5” legislation that will finally put a limit on runaway spending.

Mr. Christie has the momentum and the support of the majority of New Jerseyans on this one, but it would be an enormous mistake for him or his staff to discount the NJEA’s lobbying power, as well as that of other symbiotic muscle groups who stand to lose greatly should his initiatives become law.

Thanks for reading, and stay engaged.