Teachers To Vote on Contract Today

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The New York Sun

After almost three years without a contract, city teachers will learn today if they have voted to accept a tentative deal reached with the city.


A simple majority is needed from ballots cast by the United Federation of Teachers’ members – including teachers, school nurses, and secretaries – to seal the deal. The union members, more than 100,000 strong, have been working without a contract since June of 2003.


Both the union’s executive board and the delegate assembly, a body of teachers representing all city schools, have already given the contract a thumbs-up.


Today, the contract will move into the final stages when the American Arbitration Association begins tallying the secret ballots at their headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. While the contract is expected to pass easily, the union president, Randi Weingarten, has continually said that she is “cautiously optimistic.”


After a protracted standoff, Ms. Weingarten and the city’s labor commissioner shook hands following an all night bargaining session early last month. Hours later, she sauntered into City Hall alongside Mayor Bloomberg and the schools chancellor, Joel Klein, who after planting a kiss on her head, declared the day a win-win for the city.


Not all the teachers agreed.


The new contract calls for a 15% pay hike over 52 months in exchange for several work reforms. Among other changes, teachers would be assigned to hallway and cafeteria patrol, report to school two days earlier, and work 10 minutes longer each day.


A small but vocal group of teachers protested outside the Brooklyn Marriott last month when the delegates voted overwhelmingly to accept the proposal.


Taking its cue from history, the union leadership is not taking anything for granted. In 1995, the then-president of the United Federation of Teachers, Sandra Feldman, negotiated a five-year contract with Mayor Giuliani. In a surprise move, the full membership rejected that contract even after both the executive board and the delegate assembly approved it.


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