Bridgewater-Raritan Schools & Union Work towards Ratifying Labor Agreement

Information obtained on condition of anonymity from sources with knowledge of the labor negotiations between the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education (BR-BOE) and the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA) indicates that the agreement in progress consists of two contracts covering a period of four years. 

Union President Steve Beatty at the  10/09/12 BR-BOE Mtg.

The first-year agreement is “comprised of a one-year contract covering July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 with a 0% increase and no change in language.” 

(Readers of The View from Bridgewater may recall that 2011-2012 represents the year in which the BR-BOE and the Administration in their budget presentations to the public at the time cited that they were “Coping with a massive decrease in state aid,” and that the budget “assumes no salary increases.”)

The second agreement calls for “A three-year contract covering July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2015 with increases of 2.9%, 2.9% and 2.9% and language changes and additions.”

 The language changes and additions referred to above address general membership issues; an increase of 1.5% for substitute teachers for 2014-2015; protective clothing for service employees, same as that for Grounds employees; no change in contract language for assistants; an upward adjustment to full work days for high school teachers on mid-term and final exam days under certain conditions. 

Contract language further stipulates that high school “teachers who teach five periods will have one lunch period, one prep period, one duty period and one tutorial period.”

In addition, “All stipends are frozen from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2014,” after which, as of “July 1, 2014, all stipends increase by 1.5%.”  

(Stipends are payments in addition to salary and benefits for work performed outside of the classroom, such as for coaching and other after-school-related duties.)

What appear to be the only remaining hiccups preventing the BREA from submitting its final data to the BR-BOE for a vote and ratification by the latter are two salary guides; namely, one for secretaries and another for maintenance workers.  Some tweaking of salary language may also need to be finalized. 

In a Tuesday, October 2^nd memo to “BREAMembers,” Mr. Steve Beatty, the Association President, disclosed that “We received word at 4pm today that the board has not accepted the secretary and MLS guides . . . ,” adding “. . . we cannot vote on a contract with guides that are in dispute and being corrected. . . ,” continuing with, “. . . we are attempting to have these guides corrected by our NJEA staff. . . ,” and, “. . . they must be checked by our team, sent to the boe’s attorney for review, and ultimately the board’s team for acceptance.”

Brd. President Evan Lerner at the 10-09-2012 Board Mtg.

In his follow-up memo on Wednesday, October 3^rd, subsequent to a meeting of the BREA at the Middle School that afternoon, Mr. Beatty advised his membership that “We will be posting the minutes from the meeting, including the questions, answers, and comments on our website, www.b-rea.org very shortly if any who could not attend would like to read for themselves what was talked about.” 

Additionally, he advised that, “We will also post the full version of the proposed contract as soon as we have a final copy – most likely within the next few days. . . , adding that “Lastly, we hope to have the two remaining salary guides worked out within the next few days for review and posting.”

“Once this is all accomplished, we will call for the ratification vote, to be conducted by ballot in each building.” 

In outlining how the timing for this is likely to proceed, Mr. Beatty explained that, “We are looking at a vote sometime during the week of the 15^th (of October).  This will give everyone a chance to fully digest the proposed changes and ask any further questions before the vote.”

Now you have an idea of how this process works.  And you should not hold back your admiration for the BREA President who appears to have been keeping his constituency fully informed about the status of contract negotiations. 

But do you sense a problem here?  What about the other constituency?  What about you, the Bridgewater and Raritan residents and taxpayers who have been kept largely in the dark by your representatives on the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education, while the other constituency – the BREA membership (I find no fault here) has been duly informed each step of the way.

Yes, Yes – I know!  I’ve heard it all before from BR-BOE leadership.  Let me paraphrase it:  “You’ve elected us to represent you and, if you don’t like it, you can vote us out next time around.”

That, in my view is not a proper attitude, because, as you can see from this post, contract information is being fully vetted among the BREA’s membership – as I completely believe it should be, because, simply put, it needs to know.

However, there is another major stakeholder – you, the Bridgewater and Raritan tax-paying public – which deserves equal knowledge about final, down-the-stretch data concerning these long-running negotiations because, ultimately, you are the group to which the bill will be mailed.

There has been full disclosure for one party, but not for the other.

Note:  (The only significant update proffered to the public by the Board of Education Negotiating Team was a set of Frequently Asked Questions posted on the Schools’ web site five months ago on May 10, 2012.)

(Click on any image for an enhanced view.)