Political Action – Herman Merritt, Director
Will the New Year Bring News on Contracts?
2012. As a new year begins, it is a time of hope. Hope that this will be the year that we can resolve some of the impediments that are keeping us from moving forward.
CSA’s last contract with the Department of Education expired on March 5, 2010. Last November, the NYS Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) declared our negotiations with the DOE at an impasse. This places a neutral mediator at the table to assist in negotiating a fair contract. Because of the Triborough Amendment to the Taylor Law, the terms of the expired contract remain in effect until a new contract is signed.
Our Day Care members have not had a new contract since June 30, 2006, and there are no negotiations taking place now. All of our energy is focused on fighting the implementation of EarlyLearn-NYC, the city’s plan to overhaul city-subsidized child care. We agree with the goals of the program to raise the academic and developmental standards in the centers but the new proposal also calls for centers to pay nearly 7 percent of the operating cost as well as all employee health care costs. Many of the centers will not be able afford to pay these additional costs and we fear that some of them may be forced to close. This is a protracted struggle that we are waging and will continue to wage.
Looking ahead: Our agenda at the City Council includes making sure that funding is continued for the Executive Leadership Institute (ELI). Over 7,000 CSA members have been served by ELI since it was founded in 2002. We received full funding for this school year despite the massive cuts to the city budget, which included layoffs of city employees. The best lobbying we can do for ELI is for you to continue to support the program by your attendance.
We also actively supported legislation that requires the reporting of the existence of PCBs in schools to the school community with a timeline for its removal. These bills were passed by the Council and will be signed by the Mayor.
CSA continues to support the Respect for All Initiative designed to focus all city schools on the importance of promoting respect for diversity and fostering inclusive learning environments for their students. February 13-17, 2012 has been designated Respect for All Week in NYC.
There are many other issues not directly related to education that we support because they impact on the children and families that we serve. We support the city Living Wage Bill that ensures a minimum $10 per hour wage for workers at businesses renting from city-subsidized developments. We are working with the City Council to ensure the safety and protection of the city’s water supply if hydrofracking is approved.
In recent months, we have been attending rallies and marches demanding economic fairness and calling for the extension of the Millionaires’ Tax. We were told that there were commitments not to raise any taxes and there were no avenues for additional revenue. Because of Occupy Wall Street’s activities, which threw a light on the nation’s income disparity, as well as organized labor’s work, Gov. Andrew Cuomo presented comprehensive tax reform that increased revenue by nearly $3 billion. Thank you to those who rallied, marched and wrote letters to make this happen
Contact Herman Merritt at herman@csa-nyc.org.
This column is reprinted from the January 2012 issue of the CSA News.
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