CONTRACT NEGOTIATION UPDATE FROM EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING AND OUR CONTRACT PREDICTIONS

We learn from Nick Bacon's Executive Board minutes that the UFT might be very close to finalizing an agreement on a new contract. 

The ICE blog predictions:

• When will the contract be finalized?

The new contract should be settled by the end of May or beginning of June at the latest so members can vote on it before school ends. If it isn't settled by early June, this may last a while. 

The terms:

• Salary increases that won't come near keeping up with inflation

It looks like the Union is accepting the pattern set by D 37 as the basic framework for the UFT settlement but that maybe the UFT negotiators could, as Randi Weingarten used to say, eke out some more dollars out of the pattern for UFTers. For those who don't know, these are the DC 37 financial terms which are for a roughly 5 and a half year contract:

The salary increases:

May 26, 2021: 3.00%

May 26, 2022: 3.00%

May 26, 2023: 3.00%

May 26, 2024: 3.00%

May 26, 2025: 3.25%

May 26, 2026: 0%

The contract ends on November 5, 2026.

• Healthcare givebacks 

On healthcare, UFTers will most likely be voting to accept whatever the Municipal Labor Committee agrees to on healthcare. For those who have forgotten, the MLC is an umbrella group of City unions that does weighted voting so the UFT and DC 37 control it as the largest two unions. We have a petition out so retirees and active UFTers can vote on any significant healthcare changes as per the UFT Constitution. This is the DC 37 language on healthcare from their Contract Summary Sheet:

Healthcare: 

continuation of premium-free health plans provided for by the MLC health agreement.

• Non financial terms-Working conditions?

This is where it gets tricky. Read from Carl Cambria's update to the Executive Board:

Gone from teaching our own members to going out to the public and showing all the extra work we have to do. Today, began interacting with the community. We do not have time in the workday to get everything done that we have to get done. 

Further down:

The more difficult partner in all of this is the DOE—whatever they’re calling themselves now—getting them to focus/engage with us on topics on the table. 

Basically, my take is that the UFT has agreed on the basic financial terms of a contract with the City but the Department of Education is not budging on making any changes to the micromanagement UFTers have been enduring for two decades since Joel Klein took over as Chancellor under Mayor Bloomberg.

We learn from the leaflets the UFT is sending out to the public that the Union is focusing on teachers being overworked. Is the UFT attempting to improve the professional period and/or the extended time provisions of the contract? We shall see. If the DOE just says no to the UFT's demands, what is our answer? (Please don't say surrender.)  These are discussions that should be taking place in the schools. 

The complete minutes of the report on contract negotiations that was given at Monday's Executive Board:

Carl Cambria: Negotiation update. 

Those of you at DA heard Mulgrew talk about the governance meeting that happened that morning. Positive meeting in that City came ready to respond to each of our general demands. Not everything was a yes, some yes, maybe, no, there was a willingness to come out at a quicker pace to head into Spring. Internally, we started in June. In October, we had our big 500 meeting. Subcommittees have been meeting. Had teach in in Jan. In Feb, we passed demands across the table to the DOE (full gen). That’s also when we wore green with DC37. In March, we continued – did we? – yes, grade in. Today, leafletting has begun. There’s been an escalation of intensity. So now, we’ve created an intense negotiation schedule for May. Exact dates to come. May action as well, increasing intensity. Over course of month, going to try and whittle down as much as possible, so that we’re in a position to get this contract set for ratification ASAP. City is more ready to do that than DOE. They have their pattern and uniform pattern set. That part of the negotiation is now less intense. We’re having some debates on exact amount of value and how that applies to the UFT. That’s what we’re focused on in May. These leafletting campaigns will help get DOE to start to work with us on workplace stuff. Leafletting is at a crucial time, heals of that governance meeting, May intense – we’ll finish that to know if we’ll have an agreement for the summer or not.