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PITTSBURGH  FEDERATION  OF  TEACHERS

Update to PFT Members

Monday, July 17, 2006

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2006-07 Collective Bargaining for Teachers & Other Professional Employees,
Paraprofessionals, and Technical-Clerical Personnel

The early steps of the negotiations process have begun for three PFT-represented bargaining units --- Teachers & Other Professionals, Paraprofessionals, and Technical-Clerical Personnel --- whose agreements expire June 30, 2007. The PFT Negotiations Team had much input from the membership during the past negotiations process. This input was gathered from numerous conversations with members, building meetings, Building Representative and membership meetings, surveys that were completed collaboratively at schools, and as a result of many day to day situations that have been experienced by our members.

Additionally, a negotiations survey has been prepared and is accessible on the PFT website (www.pft400.org) for all professional personnel --- regular teachers, pupil services professionals (counselors, social workers, nurses, psychologists, etc.), special education teachers, full-time-substitute teachers, and all other teachers/professionals represented by the PFT --- at all elementary schools, K-8 schools, middle schools, senior high schools, special, post-secondary, and educational center schools. Paraprofessional and technical-clerical personnel will receive a separate survey.

As you are aware, with assistance from Jewell Gould and John Abraham of the American Federation of Teachers, our national organization, a very thorough study of the School District’s finances was done during the last year and a half. The PFT and AFT continue to scrutinize all aspects of the school district’s financial circumstances. We are prepared to participate again in very involved and tough negotiations.

Again, the survey for Teachers and Other Professional members is on the PFT website (www.pft400.org) and can be completed on-line. If you do not have internet accessibility, please call the PFT office (412-431-5900), and a copy of this survey, along with a postage-paid return envelope, will be mailed to you.

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Staffing Update * July 2006

As the last round of postings and selections ends, the PFT believes it to be important to provide each member with the latest information regarding staffing --- and to correct some of the rumors that are circulating through the school system.

After the last selections come in on July 19th, we expect there will still be a considerable number of teachers, especially in the areas of elementary certification, who will continue to be displaced. At that point, the district’s Human Resources department will compile the list of vacancies that opened after the June 22nd posting and will begin to offer positions to the rest of the displaced teachers. Human Resources will most likely be offering a person one or two choices. In the event a teacher is still displaced and Human Resources offers only one choice, the teacher should always ask the question “Do I have any other options?” That question may prompt Human Resources to offer another choice or two.

In the event that after going through this process and there are still displaced teachers and there are no vacancies remaining, Human Resources will then identify the most junior people in each certification area where there are still displaced teachers. Human Resources will then determine the number of furloughs necessary to accommodate the more senior displaced teachers. In that event, the most senior remaining displaced teacher will displace the most junior, who will then become furloughed, and the second most senior will displace the second most junior, and so on, until all displaced teachers are placed.

We expect that this process will take place by August 1st, as furlough notices must be sent at that time. The areas of concern continue to be Elementary, Health and Physical Education, Business, Industrial Arts, Vocational Education, Family Consumer Science, Art, and Music.

The PFT is working diligently with the school district to identify every available vacancy, including leaves of absences, to minimize the number of potential furloughs.

Paraprofessionals are also affected by the right-sizing plan. We anticipate that there will be several EAIIIs who will have to go to classroom assistant positions and that there will be three paraprofessional layoffs, all in the matron classification. While this number is troubling, it is a considerable improvement over the much larger paraprofessional furlough numbers that were projected in early June.

Some Common Questions about Staffing

1. I heard that if I am not placed by Human Resources by August 1st, then I will be furloughed, regardless of my years in the school system.

   
   Furloughs are strictly done by certification and system seniority. This mandate is not only in the PFT collective bargaining agreement, but also in the School Code.




2. I was selected for a position, but I was told that a more senior teacher can come along and take my position if he or she prefers it.

   
   The only way a more senior teacher can take a position is if the junior teacher is junior enough to be furloughed, and that a more senior teacher needed to be placed. Displaced teachers have to go to vacancies first, and only if there are no remaining vacancies will the furloughing process begin.




3. I am going to be at an ALA and I understand that I am exempt from any furlough.

   
   As indicated above, furloughs are strictly done by certification and system seniority. It doesn’t matter where one teaches.




4. How can there be hiring in one area, if there are layoffs in another?

   
   It all comes down once again to certification and available vacancies. For example, this year there will be hiring in English, Social Studies, Math, and, possibly, Special Education.

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AFT Rules on Request for Investigation

In late May, a PFT member wrote to AFT Secretary Treasurer Nat LaCour and requested that the national union conduct an investigation concerning an alleged violation of PFT By-laws during the mail-in ballot ratification of the Teachers and Other Professionals contract. The April 21st ballot tabulation revealed that PFT members voted 1547 to 870 to ratify the new contract. The member complained to AFT that PFT leadership did not provide adequate information about the contract proposals prior to the vote.

When such a request is made by a local member, the AFT conducts a preliminary investigation to determine whether or not a full investigation is warranted. AFT contacted the PFT leadership, who provided the national organization with the requested background information and answered specific questions about the PFT By-laws and the recent ratification process.

In a July 5 letter, Mr. LaCour writes that, “For procedural and substantive reasons… AFT finds that there is not sufficient cause to proceed to a full investigation… and that PFT complied with the By-laws concerning the ratification.” Mr. LaCour indicates that “It is evident that PFT met both the spirit and intent of its By-laws provision to inform its membership about changes to the contract.”

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Labor Day Parade

Have you registered for the Labor Day Parade yet? Join your PFT colleagues for a Steeler ticket raffle, prizes, food, t-shirts, and fun --- BUT BEST OF ALL --- JOIN US IN SOLIDARITY!

In the 2005 Labor Day Parade, the Allegheny County Labor Council named the PFT “Best Overall Union”, with more than 400 marchers! Help us retain that title this year by joining us with your family and friends at the 2006 Labor Day Parade. Register for the September 4 event online at www.pft400.org, or by calling the PFT at 412-431-5900.

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John Tarka                Rufus Jordan                 Mary VanHorn                  Sherman Shrager

President                   Vice-President               Vice-President                  Vice-President

George Gensure         Sylvia Wilson                 Nina Esposito-Visgitis

Staff Representative    Assistant to President     Staff Representative

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