To: All Asbury Park Education Association Members

From: APEA Negotiations Team

Date: March 30, 2010

Re: Negotiations

The APEA Negotiations Team has a meeting scheduled for May 12, 2010, with the fact finder to begin the next process of our contract talks. In an effort to obtain a contract without going through the long and arduous process of fact finding, our team has since met with the Board to try to mediate a resolution to these stalled contract talks.

To begin, we met on Wednesday, March 10 and Monday, March 22, 2010. These discussions lasted over 4 hours and 2 hours respectively. We have managed to cut down the amount of issues that separate our two teams. Our team met last week to discuss several options that we have as an Association.

With the recent headlines from the newly elected governor, he is requesting that ALL local associations take a pay freeze for the 2010/2011 school year. With that in mind, once the budget talks are finished at the Board of Education level, our team will be making a decision on what avenue to approach. Our latest talks were amicable and we are keeping all options open.

In closing, keep in mind, that our team will only present the most viable and equitable contract to our membership. Our goal is to settle this contract before the end of the school year. However, our main focus at this time is going to be the BOE budget and the potential 80 layoffs within our district.

Last night at the Local President’s meeting a member asked that we send a list to all local presidents of legislators who have been helpful by speaking up in caucus to raise concerns about the pension and benefits bills. The list is below.

Pleas contact thse legislators immediately.

Thank you.

• Assemblywoman Linda Stender – thanks! (lone vote against pension bills in the committee): AswStendernjlegorg  (AswStendernjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Nelson Albano: AsmAlbanonjlegorg  (AsmAlbanonjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Herb Conaway: AsmConawaynjlegorg  (AsmConawaynjlegorg)  
• Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein: AswGreensteinnjlegorg  (AswGreensteinnjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo: AswGreensteinnjlegorg  (AswGreensteinnjlegorg)  
• Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman: AswWatsonColemannjlegorg  (AswWatsonColemannjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Pat Diegnan: AsmDiegnannjlegorg  (AsmDiegnannjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Joe Cryan: AsmCryannjlegorg  (AsmCryannjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman John McKeon: AsmMcKeonnjlegorg  (AsmMcKeonnjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Al Coutinho: AsmCoutinhonjlegorg  (AsmCoutinhonjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone: AsmChiapponenjlegorg  (AsmChiapponenjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Vincent Prieto: AsmPrietonjlegorg  (AsmPrietonjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Tom Giblin: AsmGiblinnjlegorg  (AsmGiblinnjlegorg)  
• Assemblywoman Elease Evans: AswEvansnjlegorg  (AswEvansnjlegorg)  
• Assemblyman Gary Schaer: AsmSchaernjlegorg  (AsmSchaernjlegorg)  
• Assemblywoman Joan Voss: AswVossnjlegorg  (AswVossnjlegorg)  
• Assemblywoman Connie Wagner: AswWagnernjlegorg  (AswWagnernjlegorg)  

The APEA Executive Committee is holding two (2) General Membership Meetings on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at the Asbury Park High School Auditorium at 2:45pm and 4:00pm, to accommodate ALL staff members. We are requiring EVERY APEA MEMBER to attend one of these extremely important meetings. NJEA Representatives will be in attendance to assist OUR local and answer additional questions.

The purpose of these meetings is to discuss Contract Negotiations, Professional Development, and any other pertinent items. We will also hold an election for the District Wide Professional Development Committee during this meeting. It is IMPERATIVE that you make very effort to attend. Neither the Executive Committee, nor the Building Reps. will be able to give you “private” meetings to discuss the direction of this school district or negotiations. We have moved our negotiations to FACT FINDING, which is EXTREMELY SERIOUS. This is a time to show our SOLIDARITY.

We are also asking that you begin to attend the Board of Education meetings beginning Wednesday, January 27, 2010. All Board meeting dates are listed on the district wide website. Our presence in this district is NECESSARY if you have any desire to receive a fair and equitable contract.

We look forward to seeing you at these meetings.

TO: APEA Membership

FROM: John Napolitani, President
Sean Hamilton, Vice President

DATE: January 19, 2010

The APEA Negotiations Team has attempted to bargain with the Board of Education in good faith, while remaining focused on the issues to settle this contract, we have clearly hit a stone wall. The Board has turned its back on the dedicated staff members of the Asbury Park School District. They used the excuse of the current economic situation, as well as our refusal to sign off on the RTTT grant application NOT to handle their moral and legal obligations to this school district.
With the Board’s posturing in mind, our mediator advised us he recommending to PERC that we move to the next step in negotiations: FACTFINDING.
We need to be VERY clear that this process WILL be very long and drawn out. We may NOT have an initial meeting for at least three months. The process may take more than one year. The comfortable bubble that our profession has been in for decades has finally burst. This is an official call to action by EVERY staff member in this district. Jobs are on the line. There’s no sitting on the side waiting to get a handout from the Board. Tenure WILL NOT protect from the onslaught of the Board. Watch your “P’s and Q’s” because the nitpicking of the dedicated staff is about to begin.

Had we agreed to sign off on the RTTT, our UNION would begin to be dismantled by the State of New Jersey based upon the serious implications this grant will have on our collective bargaining.

TO: APEA Membership

FROM: John Napolitani, President
Sean Hamilton, Vice President

DATE: November 20, 2009

The APEA Negotiating Team had a meeting on Monday, November 16, 2009, at 3:30pm in NJEA Headquarters in West Long Branch. This meeting was held at the request of our mediator, Greg Franklin, who seems to feel that the APEA and APBOE can reach an agreement on our contract.

Several items were discussed, including, prioritizing issues that are important to both the Board and the APEA. The Board finally cut down some of their issues, which will be discussed at greater length at the next meeting. In our opinion, some items are relatively easy to discuss and come to an agreement; while others may require a more lengthy discussion. At this point, we are cautiously optimistic that the Board does not want this to turn in another “Marlboro” situation, where they are poised to go on strike.

However, we are also prepared implement any actions via our “Action Team” that we deem necessary to see to it that we receive a fair and equitable contract for the next three years if we cannot make any progress at the next meeting. As a show of good faith on the part of the Association, we will not take any actions until we feel as though we have exhausted every avenue in negotiations.
As promised, we are keeping the membership informed of our progress step by step.

TO: APEA Membership

FROM: John Napolitani, President
Sean Hamilton, Vice President

DATE: September 30, 2009

The Negotiations Team met with our PERC appointed mediator last Thursday evening at the Board Office. Our team met before our negotiations session to discuss strategy and points that the Board wanted to discuss at the table. The meeting started promptly at 6:00pm and lasted past 11:30pm. At this meeting, all items on the agenda were discussed which included our main points and the Board’s main points.
As we discussed in prior correspondence, our team narrowed our proposal down to six main issues. The Board managed to do the same but had several sub-sections. Their proposal was significantly reduced from the last session, which was a major stumbling block for all our prior meetings.

Things are continuing to move slowly. We agreed to try one more session, which will be scheduled some time in October, to attempt to bring some items to closure. As with most districts in the state that are at this point in negotiations, a major area that we are not agreeing on is the section that has to do with our benefits. A discussion on a salary increase can not even be discussed until the next session because the Board was late producing the scatter grams to the Association. Now that we are in possession of these scatter grams, we can have NJEA analyze it and see what the true cost of people moving through the guide is going to cost the Board over three years.

On behalf of the APEA, I would like to wish all our brothers and sisters that celebrate Passover and Easter, as well as anyone who tunes into our website to have a very blessed and happy holiday. I would also like to say to each and everyone to have a safe and happy spring break. This is a much needed rest for everyone.

With that being said, there will be no updates to our site for approximately 1 week, as we will be on vacation. We will keep everyone abreast of all the issues that affect our Union once we return from Spring Break. I ask that every member stay tuned as we need to stay mobilized for the job cuts that are going to affect our school district. We are having a very important meeting with the Ministerial Alliance and the Parent Listening Project over the break. Together, we are going to combat the Board with these cuts.