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Schools

Wantagh Teachers Upset Over Contract Negotiations

WUT and Board of Education presidents give their perspective on the ongoing contract negotiations in the Wantagh School District.

Frustrated and upset because of working without a contract the last half year, over 150 members of the Wantagh United Teachers (WUT), clad in their gray shirts, attended Thursday evening’s Wantagh Board of Education meeting in a show of cross support solidarity. The WUT has been in negotiations with the district since their contract expired on Jun. 30 of last year.

According to Wantagh Board of education president Jean Quinn, the district and the WUT have been involved in negotiating a collective bargaining agreement, which began on March 2, 2010. The two parties have met in 12 separate sessions, but have not been able to make an agreement.

The WUT and Wantagh school board have now declared impasse, which means that neither party has been able to come to a mutual contract agreement. The union and the district have another meeting scheduled next week, this time with a third party mediator. However, the mediator is non-binding, so if one party does not like the terms they are not forced to accept them.

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Speaking on behalf of the district teachers, WUT President Tom Vereline explained that the group came to the meeting held at with a “mixture of sadness and anger.”

“Anger because despite repeated attempts on the [Wantagh Teachers’] part to reach common ground, the board has shown no desire, whatsoever, to reciprocate,” he said. “Anger because there are board members who would seek to remove benefits that we have earned, while they themselves earn better benefits through their own unions.”

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Vereline also said that the union is very aware of the current economic climate and that early on in the negotiations they were open to taking a three-year settlement that was the lowest in Nassau County.

The district, along with many others throughout Long Island, have received grim financial news over the past few months. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed a 2 percent tax cap, which would limit the revenue a local school district would received from property taxes. According to many officials, this could have severe impacts on budgets.

“At this time, the facts that we know are that the teacher retirement system and the employee retirement system payments have increased 33 percent and 39 percent respectively,” said Quinn. “We are losing at least $1.4 million in state and federal aid, and the governor is proposing a 2 percent tax cap. The Board of Education and central administration are examining budget cuts that will be painful.”

Quinn also explained that other areas under consideration for budget cuts could be, but are not limited to, a "Princeton Plan," class size, staff and faculty reductions and consolidation.

Another big source of tension for the evening regarded the two parties working together during the negotiating process. The WUT claims that the school board and central administration have been taking a hard-line approach with all of the current bargaining units, including the teacher aids, clericals, monitors, nurses and teachers. Vereline continued by saying that they were all just looking for a “fair contract.” The clericals, aids and monitors are also close to going into impasse, he said.

“If you were an outsider looking in, what would you conclude- what seems more likely?” he said. “That all five bargaining units, acting independently, were being unreasonable or this board was being unreasonable.”

Former Wantagh Board of Education trustee Christopher Wendt discussed during the meeting the actions the board takes to honor and thank the teachers throughout the year, including welcome ceremonies for new teachers, recognition for attaining high degrees and retirement celebrations.

“It is painfully obvious that the situation that we have here tonight- the stress and tension- is really not the way it is in Wantagh most of the time,” Wendt said. “There are things that need to be addressed and we can better do that if we are all going in the same direction."

Quinn emphasized that they were committed to working with the union in order to reach an agreement that is fair for both the employees and the local residents who bear the tax burden.

“Our main goal is to continue to support our students academic endeavors while taking into consideration the economic difficulties our community is facing,” Quinn said.

After the meeting, Vereline explained that the district has a difficult time filling positions for clerical workers because they are so low paying. “One of the clericals figured out the raise they were offering and she saw that it was only 17 cents a day,” he said. “That is not a living wage.”

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