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. Our main concern is to see to it that everyone has the proper information in to the Board and that the RIF is done in accordance with 18a. We have already been assigned an attorney through NJEA to assist our leadership with the numerous issues we see with this RIF and the company handling the seniority lists.

PLEASE WEAR BLACK ON WEDNESDAY IN TO SHOW SOLIDARITY. REMEMBER THE
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING: 2:45PM AND THE BOE MEETING: 6:00PM.

Pc: Michael Zajac, Recording Secretary

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 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.

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. The grant requires a 20% increase in our contact time with students; which equates to OVER 36 INSTRUCTIONAL DAYS. The Board can’t negotiate OUR expired contract, yet they moved forward with a grant application that requires MANDATORY NEGOTIABLE ITEMS which have serious financial ramifications on this school district that CAN”T be funded.

In closing, we are headed for extremely tumultuous territory. We have a Board majority that DOES NOT respect us. The State DOES NOT respect this profession. It is extremely IMPERATIVE that EVERY APEA member read our memos, newsletters, professional journals and website, asburyparkea.net. Again, as always, we will keep the membership informed of our progress step by step. Remember, Ben Franklin stated, “We must hang together, gentlemen…else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.” This is truly a time for EVERYONE to stand together.

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. This quote by Ben Franklin is more important now more than ever: “We must hang together, gentlemen…else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.” This is truly a time for the APEA to stand together.

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.

Once again, we have created an APEA Action Team to mobilize the Association for possible action(s) during the year. We are still looking for representatives from each building. Please submit your name and your respective building if you are interested in assisting with this team to either John or Sean. As always, we will keep the membership informed of our progress step by step. Remember, Ben Franklin stated, “We must hang together, gentlemen…else, we shall most assuredly hang separately.” This is truly a time for the APEA to stand together.

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.

From: John Napolitani, President

Re: Negotiations

Date: January 28, 2008

Our contract with the Board of Education still has approximately 18 months left. The APEA Executive Committee would like to be prepared to begin negotiations in the fall. To do this, we must create a negotiations package to present to the Board. Therefore, we have created the makeup of the Negotiations Committee. This committee will be responsible to survey the members and prepare a proposed package to be negotiated with the Board of Education by the Negotiating Team in all areas of member welfare and general working conditions. The committee will be formed as follows:

A total of nine (9) teachers: One representative from each building (APHS, APIS, TMS, BES, AMS) for a total of five (5), one (1) representative from the nurses, one (1) representative from guidance, one (1) representative from the CST, and one (1) representative from the facilitators/coaches. We need representatives from the following areas of support staff: one (1) custodian, one (1) maintenance, one (1) paraprofessional, two (2) secretaries (board office and individual buildings), one (1) security guard, one (1) cafeteria worker, one (1) representative from the ITC and one (1) representative from the athletic coaches.

If you are interested in this committee, please fill out the bottom of this form and return it to me at Bradley Elementary no later than Monday, February 11, 2008. If you are in a unit that is not mentioned, please forward your name, number, position, and building to Peter so that we make sure you are part of the survey.

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Name: __________________________________ Position to be Filled: ____________________________

Location: ________________________________ Email/phone: __________________________________

Pc: Gena Proctor, Recording Secretary
Paul Murphy, Corresponding Secretary

This meeting is for the sole purpose of finding out the facts of what happened in each individual building. We have been getting conflicting reports of how the situation was handled last Wednesday. It is our responsibility to see to it that our members are represented as well as safe. The APEA Executive did not have any input into the decision making process last week that resulted in the school district being shut down for two days. It is our hope, that this meeting will afford us the opportunity to gather the facts and present them to the Superintendent.

If you are unable to attend, but you have concerns that need to be addressed, please write them down and give them to your head building Representative. The names below are the head reps for the:

High School – Michael Zajac
Middle School – Lynn Librizzi
Bangs Ave. – Meg Watkins
Thurgood – Donna Puryear
Bradley – Maureen Casey
AMS – Mary Leone
Board – Gena Massey
Maintenance – Bobby Hansen
ITC – Steve Brill
Project Helps and the Annex – Send concerns to John Napolitani at Bradley

This meeting should not last longer than 45 minutes with only one topic: Wednesday, October 18, 2006. This will be for the sole purpose of gathering information to be presented to the Central Office. If you would like to email us your concerns, you can do so at jnapolitaniasburyparkeanet or shamiltonasburyparkeanet.

Our new salaries should be in effect by the October 15, 2006 payroll run. For 12 month employees, they will receive retroactive money back to July 1, 2006. Summer hourly stipends as well as activity money will also be retroactive back to July 1, 2006. 10 month employees will receive their pay increase effective the begininng of the school year.

Contract booklets can not be printed until athletic guides have been reconstructed. There will be a committee in place to work on this aspect of the contract. While this is going on, the APEA Negotiating Team will be reviewing proofs of the contract booklet to make sure that everything is correct and in place. This process will not happen overnight. We will, however, work as quickly as possible to see to it that this is done in a timely manner. We can not put a timeline on this until we receive our first set of proofs from the BOE attorney.

In the interim, the APEA Executive will be coming around to each building during next month to discuss any questions about the contract and any other issues that you feel need to be addressed. Notices will be sent out in advance so that you can plan accordingly. We look forward to seeing you at these building meetings.

From the APEA Negotiating Team, we thank each and every member in this Association for placing your confidence in our decision making process. It was not an easy process, but well worth the outcome. We are definitely on the road to correcting a lot of the defects that were in the contract.

THERE IS ALSO A BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING THIS SAME EVENING IN BRADLEY ELEMENTARY ALL PURPOSE ROOM AT 6:00PM. WE ARE URGING ALL OUR MEMBERS TO ATTEND THIS VERY IMPORTANT MEETING TO SHOW OUR UNITY AS AN ASSOCIATION. STRENGTH IS IN NUMBERS.

I ask each every member to be patient. The ways will justify the means and we ALL need to stick together. There was an excellent show of support by the Association for “UNITY.” We need to keep it up! Together, we will be able to accomplish anything. This Association is finally getting strength and support in many ways. I have the utmost confidence that everything will work out in the best interest of the staff, the community and most importantly, the children.

Therefore, we need your support once again. We are asking everyone to attend the next board meeting the week that we are back to school. The tentative date is set for Thursday, September 7, 2006, at Bradley Elementary School. There will be a General Membership/Ratification meeting held the same day in the Asbury Park High School Auditorium at 3:30PM. We will be able to answer any questions about the contract as well as anything that pertains to our Association. We will be asking all members to attend the Board of Education meeting at Bradley immediately following the General Membership/Ratification meeting.

I want to thank each and every person that attended the Board meeting on Thursday evening. That was an execellent show of solidarity during this very difficult time. There is a lot of turmoil and ultimately we will prevail.

One main aspect that several Association Members have been asking about is whether or not we have maintained our current level of benefits. Well, the answer is yes!!! With all the discussion in the state about wanting to cut teachers pensions, salaries and health benefits, this is a major accomplishment.

There will be details to follow and a date set for a ratification of this contract the week we get back to school.

We remain positive with this process and would advise you if we felt differently. Yes there have been some times during this process that we have been frustrated, but we will continue to remain focused on what is in the best interest of the entire Association. These negotiations are never completed overnight, which could rush a delicate process; and you should expect nothing less than that from our Negotiating Team. We will spend as much time as it is necessary over the summer to see to it that this completed soon and properly.

We want to express our thanks and appreciation to the entire membership for your patience during this process. It has not been easy, and we will continue to keep you up to date on this web site with any new details. As you are aware, our contract only expired 10 days ago. Hopefully, we will be able to give you an update in the very near future as to when we will have the agreement to present to the entire membership for review, discussion, and ratification.