The Trenton Times published the following article on June 10, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Trenton teachers rally at school board meeting, demand new contracts

By Bridget Clerkin/The Times of Trenton 
on June 10, 2013 at 8:48 PM, updated June 10, 2013 at 10:40 PM

TRENTON — Members of the teachers union who have been working without a settled contract for a year demanded a conclusion to negotiations during a protest at the school board meeting tonight.

Dressed in red as a sign of solidarity and carrying signs reading, “No contracts, still working,” and “New contracts now,” members of the Trenton Education Association said the district has been dragging its feet in settling a new contract at the same time that is has been hiring additional administrative employees over the past year, leaving teachers feeling uncertain about their future salaries, benefits and positions.

“We’re offended that the district continues to create administrative positions making over $100,000 per year and refuse to settle with the teachers on the front lines,” union member Janice Williams said. “We’re doing this because we love the children. We want and need to be ready to teach them in September. All we want to do is sit down and talk.”

The impasse in negotiation occurred despite the board’s allocation of $400,000 last year for the Lawrence law firm Parker McCay to help broker a deal between the 1,060-member union and the district, union leaders said.

TEA Vice President Dave Winogron told the board that that same amount of money would be enough to hire nine new teachers and teach more than 220 children. He said he was unsure how much of that money was actually spent on contract negotiations.

After union speakers pleaded their case during the meeting, Superintendent Francisco Duran said the board is very interested in pinning down a final agreement. The union’s last contract expired in June 2012.

“We know that it’s very important to have a contract negotiated, and we will work as expeditiously as possible,” he said.

“We want you to have a contract. We want that to be in place.”

Around 130 union members gathered outside the building hour before the meeting started.

Once inside the meeting room, they protested with the call and response, “What do we want?” “Contracts!” “When do we want them?” “Now!”

“We’re wondering why teachers have taught an entire year of 2012-2013 without a negotiated contract,” union President Naomi Johnson-LaFleur said.

“Our teachers have come in early, we’ve gone home late. We’ve spent thousands of dollars of our personal funds to make sure that students receive the best education that we can provide them.”

“In good faith, we’ve come to work daily and worked diligently with all of our children,” Johnson-LaFleur said.

“We’ve have endured a tremendous lack of supplies, have been cooperative with redistricting, with school reconfiguring, with deterioration of schools, in dangerous working conditions, and we have no contract.”

Johnson-LaFleur said the board has met with union heads five or six times in the past year. She would not give details of the talks or say what the union or board were asking for in negotiations. When asked how close the two groups had come to brokering a deal, Johnson-LaFleur laughed.

“That’s my answer to that question,” she said.