Letter to the Editor: Summit Teachers Union Continues Intransigence

As a former President and six year member of Summit’s Board Of Education, I am not surprised to see the continued intransigence of the Summit Teacher’s Union. Chris Christie is certainly right on this issue-“teachers unions have an unfair advantage at the bargaining table”. What they typically do is make unreasonable demands and then basically hold our children as collateral.

Their position can be summed up as follows: “Well, either meet our demands, or school may just not open as scheduled”.

Currently, I have read that the Union and the B of E are meeting this month for continuing negotiations. With a 2% cap on real estate taxes we can assume that the Union is looking for its ‘normal” 4% raise, while at the same time paying minimal amounts for their soaring health care costs. Without State legislation, the teachers would still be paying ’zero’ for health care premiums, and now have to pay 1.5 percent of salary—wow—most companies do subsidize healthcare costs for workers but employees typically pay 25 percent to 30 percent of premiums—this 1.5 percent is a small percentage of premium no matter if you have an individual or family plan.

In terms of co-pays they also have a real bargain. When I was on the B of E negotiating committee around 2005, we wanted to raise copays from $3 to $5 to $10—this while most people were paying $25 to $40 co-pays. The Union was totally outraged and organized picketing outside the B of E meetings in protest. They said “the B of E is taking away our benefits”. A bit of an exaggeration to say the least as they were paying next to nothing for healthcare.

With the current negotiations it must be fairly obvious to the Union that total B of E costs cannot go up more than the 2 percent cap and yet they make unreasonable/unrealistic demands. One possible reason is that the Union negotiators are generally the senior teachers.  The inevitable layoffs that would result due to the 2 percent cap would not affect them, but rather the younger staff that do not have seniority. Less senior teachers should stand up to this Union before it’s too late.

Generally teachers seem to know little about the negotiations, except what the Union elects to tell them. Currently the Union is telling some staff that the B of E wants to delay negotiations and hold their money! Another joke on the staff—hold the money and earn 0 percent interest on a Money Market account? Why? I am sure the B of E would love to settle, but with the unrealistic Union demands, how can it?? The Union must either reduce demands for a raise to 1.5 to a max 2 percent, plus increased payments for healthcare – or layoffs, and increases in class size will be the result. A result that Summit teachers as a group, I believe, would not support. After all, Summit schools are a great place to work!

Summit teachers as a whole are a great group of people who put in extra time, and great effort to help our children reach their educational potential. However, the Union has kept them generally ‘in the dark’ about the financial realities of life. While people everywhere are hurting with layoffs and salaries being frozen, as well as paying more for healthcare, the Union negotiates as if everything is great — after all, Summit is a rich town. Right?

And remember, this is the same Union that refused to reduce salary increases by even one penny when the State suddenly cut Summit’s aid by over $2 million about one year ago, while other Unions in our geographic area did make concessions — this to me was a shameful act showing a lack of a “partnership” with the families of Summit.

Overall, I hope that some reasonable teachers, both with and without seniority will get involved and make the Summit Teacher’s Union an organization that speaks for all teachers and is a reasonable partner for the B of E and the families and children of Summit. The intransigence and attitude of entitlement has to come to an end.

Harry Olsen