Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for February 12, 2002 UPDATE: NEGOTIATIONS & MERGER

Bargaining teams for the CAT and the Board of Education met last night from 5:30 p.m. to 7:50 p.m. The session opened with a TA of Section 3.1 (Notification of Assignment).

The Board team stated that their "Top Ten" list presented at the last session would stand as is...no changes. This reduced the final list of negotiable items to twenty (20) - actually 18, since two of their selected items also appeared on the CAT list. And...the TA of 3.1 made it 17.

"Ho Hum" you say? Well, I guess you just had to be there! Considering that negotiations began on June 5th and that the first TA did not take place until December 17th...OVER 6 MONTHS LATER!...you'll just have to excuse our excitement at being able to bring focus to the job at hand. BUT...that is NOT to say that final agreement is in sight...

The CAT team then presented its promised counterproposal for Section 3.8 - Involuntary Transfer. Much discussion and a couple of caucuses followed as the two sides expressed their respective concerns. The Board team wanted the administration to have the freedom to pick applicants or make transfers based on "qualifications". The CAT team expressed its concern that the "freedom to pick" had led to numerous grievances in the past as employees cried "foul", alleging that "picks" had been made on the basis of "personalities" and/or in "retaliation" for union activities. The CAT team stated that the only way that the Association could accept language on "best qualified" would be the development of specific criteria - defining what those qualifications would be. After some exploration of that topic (and seeing the difficulties inherent in such a task), the CAT team (again, in the interests of expediting negotiations) proposed going "back to book" on Section 3.8 AND Section 3.4 (Voluntary Transfer). The Board team agreed to this proposal...reducing the number of outstanding items to 15...plus the salary schedule.

The two teams began discussing Section 3.11 - Working Conditions. The CAT team expressed a concern that some teachers are routinely required to forfeit their scheduled planning time for required staff meetings. No agreement was reached, but the Board team promised to explore the matter prior to the next scheduled negotiations session...which is Tuesday, February 19th.

MERGER:

As previously advertised...the MERGER ELECTION is TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19TH...BEFORE/AFTER SCHOOL. Do not forget your commitment to the teachers' assistants. Yes...most of us will have to make a special trip that day...a break in our normal routine...but the reward is worth it! So...MAKE PLANS NOW...Report to the Cairo JUNIOR High School library before you report to work on Tuesday or immediately upon dismissal! Remind others...take someone with you!!!

Again...See you there!