Members of the Maryland Professional Employees Council (MPEC) met with Scott Jensen, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (DLLR), January 16th for the first of several sessions intended to establish a Labor Management Committee (LMC) in the department.

The LMC is intended to resolve workplace conflicts between employees and management through a cooperative process. As a result of a provision included in the contract negotiated by MPEC, LMCs may be initiated by employees in any state agency.

Public schools should be made safer without turning them into armed camps, Louisiana Federation of Teachers President Steve Monaghan told a legislative committee meeting in the aftermath of a horrific school shooting in Connecticut.

List Of Unresolved Items Substantially Reduced And
Compromise Reached On Teacher Voice

LANGHORNE, PA (January 16, 2013) — Representatives of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers and the Neshaminy School District met this evening for the first bargaining session of the new year. The majority of the session was spent working to refine a list compiled by the Federation of 69 items that are either unresolved or required clarification. During the face-to-face discussions, the parties mutually agreed that more than a third of the items on the list could be considered resolved based on developments at the previous meeting on December 18^th. 

Through the state mediator, the parties exchanged proposals addressing the sensitive and heavily publicized debate over teacher voice on school committees. After extensive discussion between both teams, the Federation and District reached a tentative agreement on language that settles the issue. According to NFT leaders, the language required mutual compromise. 

“We were absolutely unwilling to agree to anything that completely compromised the professional voice of our members in decisions that affect our students and our day-to-day work,” said NFT President Louise Boyd. “The language we settled on clearly removes any reference to ‘equal say’ and makes it clear that the District has final decision-making authority, but it preserves the critical role of teachers in school-based decision-making.”

“Board President Webb has assured us repeatedly that he recognizes and respects the meaningful input of staff in our District,” said Boyd, “and the language we ultimately agreed to is a reflection of that viewpoint. Now we hope to keep moving things forward.”

The parties scheduled another bargaining meeting for Thursday, January 24^th.

HESP is the only Union to hold a Non-Instructional Consultation seat in HISD for:

Team Onteora joined 9,000 other walker on October 21st at the Woodbury Commons. District-wide, T-shirt sales raised more than $600, with additional donations totaling $300. As always, thanks for all of the support!

The Legislative  Conference  will be held in February 2, 2012 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.                           Legislative Office Building... 210 Capital Ave...Room 1D...  Hartford Ct .  Please RSVP  to Teri @ 860 257 9782 ... Breakfast and Lunch provided.

mtg_sign_hank_sessa.pdfRetirement Preparations with Hank Sessa February 13, 2013 in the Middle School library 3:45 pm.

In 1989 the North Dakota Public Employees Association took a bold step and affiliated itself with the American Federation of Teachers. It was a bold step, then, taken in the right direction, combining resources, voices and manpower together, to become a more powerful force, and one that could effectively promote the well-being of all its members.

On Feb. 2, 2013, delegates representing all of our chapters across the state will gather for a special Delegate Assembly in Bismarck, and will again have the opportunity to strengthen our union and change history  by voting to merge with the North Dakota Education Association to form North Dakota United.

The November elections are behind us and I think I speak for all of us when I say that I’m not going to miss the campaign commercials.

However, with the legislative session just around the corner, I am going to miss some public employee champions who will no longer be serving in the chambers of the Capitol.