Contract Negotiations Enter into a Summer of Discontent

Tuesday night’s meeting of the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education (BR-BOE) was brief. It was not punctuated – as were so many of the others – by large, but orderly protests outside the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville, or by overflow outpourings of union membership inside the conference room. 

Bridgewater resident Mr. Benjamin Jones
addresses the BR-BOE. (Bergeron Image.)

But low union turnout is no indication of undiminished interest in the still hot issue of the simmering, unsettled contract negotiations for Bridgewater-Raritan teachers.

During the public comment segment of the BR-BOE meeting, longtime Bridgewater resident Benjamin Jones stepped up to the microphone to remind the board that the contract issue will not be forgotten during the summer. 

He stressed that “If you don’t have good morale [among the teaching staff] you are missing the boat . . . I’m asking you to please do what you can to settle the contract . . . It just doesn’t make sense when [we hear] from a governor who is demonizing teachers and [who] considers them evil.” 

Jones further indicated that “There is no reason it should have gone this long . . . there’s got to be some middle ground.”

*****

At the conclusion of the BR-BOE meeting, Mr. Steve Beatty, President of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA), described an overview of how the current process may roll out:

Banned in Boston.

From Monday through Thursday of this week, 15,000 leaders with involvement in the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) are gathering at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

Today, Tuesday, Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin – both  former Wall Street heavyweights – were, according to an early afternoon dispatch from Business Updates, featured keynote speakers at a luncheon discussion at that Convention in Boston.

Both men are former Treasury Secretaries. Paulson, is also a prior Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs and subsequently became U.S. Treasury Secretary in the early days of the Obama administration.  He was heavily involved in crafting the $700 billion bank bailout during the 2008 Great Recession.

Goodbye, Potholes!

Although last winter was a somewhat milder one than those of the immediately preceding three or so, the result is that many streets in Bridgewater have taken a brutal beating, testing to the upper limit the capacity of the Township’s budget to keep up with road damage throughout the Township.

Artist at work:  Could you accomplish this task as well

 as this person? No way could I. !! (Bergeron Image.)

It’s no secret to anyone that municipal budgets are tight everywhere and that in some cases, townships throughout New Jersey are playing a catch-up game with road repairs.

On a regular basis, Priscille and I use Brown Road as a shortcut to get from Washington Valley Road (WVR) to Route 202/206 south:  We have found it increasingly bumpy.

In particular, the northbound side of Brown Road from Papen to WVR has gradually deteriorated over the last five years or so, to the point that fixing potholes just meant patching the same ones over and over again, resulting in a crazy quilt riding pattern of thuds and thumps for drivers.

That is why I was so gratified early this week when, while driving northbound on Brown Road, up the side of the ridge, I spotted a crew working at the intersection of Papen and Brown roads and, further uphill, at the intersection of WVR and Brown – a very busy intersection.

Optimism Wanes as Hopes of a Contract Settlement dim and as Union Calls for Pressure on Board

As was reported in this blog on May 22nd, it then appeared that negotiators for the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education (BR-BOE) and for its teachers, the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA) were capitalizing on the optimism prevalent at the time that an accord might be near. 

A large contingent of members from the Bridgewater-
Raritan Education Association crowds into the conference
room at the Wade Administration Building and spills
out into the corridor on May 22nd.  (Bergeron Image)

However, during a conversation on Friday afternoon, in a follow-up call to BR-BOE President, Evan Lerner, I asked if that shared optimism might translate into an accord that would be presented to the full board and the public at tomorrow night’s BR-BOE meeting at the High School on Garretson Road.

Won’t happen. 

Still frustrating to everyone involved, including the public, resolution to this long-standing contract stalemate remains in limbo.

Recent War Vet Gets Stiffed by Apartment Owner

I wasn’t planning on writing three consecutive posts about Iraq and Afghanistan vets. That is, not until now.  Not until I came across a report printed in yesterday’s Boston Herald about an American veteran who was told by a prospective landlord that it might be better if he were to look elsewhere than in her apartments for housing.

The colors fly high at the JCC in
Bridgewater, NJ (Bergeron Image)

Writing for the Herald, Laurel Sweet stated that Sgt. Joe Morgan, 29, whose tours of duty took him to Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, was told by apartment owner Janice Roberts, 63, that “her peace activism presented a ‘conflict of interests’ and suggested he seek housing elsewhere.”

According to a voicemail left on Morgan’s phone, Roberts explained that, “We are very adamant about our beliefs.  It just is not going to be comfortable for us without a doubt.  It probably would be better for you to look for a place that is a little bit less politically active and controversial.”