{"id":7107,"date":"2011-07-16T16:51:47","date_gmt":"2011-07-16T16:51:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theredphoenixapl.org\/?p=7107"},"modified":"2011-07-16T16:51:47","modified_gmt":"2011-07-16T16:51:47","slug":"ogden-teachers-other-unions-rally-for-collective-bargaining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/2011\/07\/ogden-teachers-other-unions-rally-for-collective-bargaining\/","title":{"rendered":"Los maestros de Ogden y otros sindicatos se movilizan para exigir la negociaci\u00f3n colectiva."},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ogden \u2022<\/strong> Wearing red T-shirts and waving black-and-white signs, an estimated 800 people rallied in Ogden\u2019s Liberty Park on Thursday to protest the city school district\u2019s decision to not negotiate a contract with its teachers union.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those joining the crowd were not just members of the Ogden Education Association (OEA). Standing alongside Ogden teachers were educators from Washington County to Logan and a range of union members, including teamsters, machinists, federal government employees, plumbers and the AFL-CIO. They rallied around a common cry: Preserve collective-bargaining rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Some of these politicians want to silence the voice of teachers. In fact, they want to silence the voice of all workers,” said Greg Johnson, an executive committee member of the National Education Association who flew in from Oklahoma to speak at the rally. “If they\u2019re successful, there will be no strong voice to stand up and fight for the middle class. \u2026 And there will be no one to stand strong for the students in our classrooms.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Ogden School District notified teachers that they must sign individual contracts by 4 p.m. Wednesday \u2014 or forfeit their jobs. Classes in Ogden are scheduled to begin on Aug. 24.<\/span><\/p>\n

The district\u2019s demand followed a breakdown in negotiations on a contract agreement for last school year, prompting the Ogden Board of Education to refuse to negotiate with OEA on a 2011-12 contract.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s an ultimatum and it\u2019s wrong,” said Jenny Brown, president of the Ogden chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union, which serves Internal Revenue Service workers. “Our teachers are everything. \u2026 Without these teachers, we wouldn\u2019t have been able to get the jobs we\u2019ve gotten.”<\/span><\/p>\n

After Thursday\u2019s rally, hundreds of Ogden teachers and their supporters marched to district offices a block away to deliver nearly 100 questions that teachers want answered about the contract before they sign. Ogden Superintendent Noel Zabriskie said in an interview Thursday that the district would do its best to answer those questions before Wednesday, when teachers must return the contracts. Half of Ogden\u2019s 700 teachers already have signed contracts, he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The district also has announced that, in two years, it will begin replacing raises based on experience, known as “steps,” with raises based on performance \u2014 a move it hopes will improve education in Ogden classrooms. The OEA does not oppose merit pay but has been wary of the district\u2019s plan because the specifics have not been decided. That plan is not part of the 2011-12 contract.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the rally, Ogden kindergarten teacher Kaye Strong called the district\u2019s contract ultimatum “bullying at its finest.” Many expressed frustration with the district\u2019s approach.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Fear, compulsion, force, those things never, never \u2014 and I teach history \u2014 they never produce good results,” said Doug Stephens, president of the Ogden Education Association, at the rally. “I say again to the Ogden School Board, let\u2019s return to the table. Let\u2019s work together.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephens has called on the board to restore collective bargaining for this school year and into the future. And a thousand people have signed a written petition echoing that request. About 750 of those signatures were gathered at Thursday\u2019s rally. More people are signing online at www.utahsfuture.org\/petition.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the decision not to negotiate this year\u2019s contract is a “done deal,” said Ogden Board of Education President Don Belnap in an interview Thursday. He disagreed, however, with complaints that the board is stripping teachers of their collective bargaining rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve never said we would not resume collective bargaining. It\u2019s part of the new contract [that bargaining resume next year],” Belnap said. “We just reserve the right to determine who we\u2019re going to collective-bargain with. Why does it have to be the OEA leadership?”<\/span><\/p>\n

Belnap said the board wants to negotiate with “all teachers,” not just members of the association. The OEA reports that about 500 of the district\u2019s 700 teachers belong to its ranks.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We\u2019ve chosen to move on in a positive direction, giving our employees a [1.6 percent] cost of-living increase, because we care about them and know we\u2019ve had some tough times,” Belnap said. “We care about our teachers. We want them to be happy.”<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the third consecutive year the district has not funded steps, but it did make some adjustments to the schedule that resulted in an additional raise for most teachers. The district\u2019s total cost for salary increases is $864,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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