BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — The failure of a state-appointed super-conciliator to resolve a 19-month-long labor dispute between the Board of Education and district teachers union has left local officials and union heads considering their next move.
Disagreements over several issues — including salaries, proposed changes in the union insurance plan and how much the Ridgewood Education Association’s 547 members should contribute toward their health insurance premiums — have contributed to a breakdown in the negotiations, which began five months before the last contract expired on June 30, 2015.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-trustees-teachers-remain-at-odds-as-school-year-looms-1.1651097
The teachers will squeeze the high school senior, parents will panic and the board will cave.
There are few “support Ridgewood Teachers” signs. There is no groundswell of support. Facebook postings are politely ignored.
It is not that we believe that we have the best teachers, we just need to get our kids into college in spite of the teachers.
The REA doesn’t want to settle – the longer they drag this out the longer they keep the terms of the expired contract without having to make any fresh compromises with overburdened Ridgewood taxpayers. It’s in their interest not to settle because settling will involve compromise, something the NJEA/REA doesn’t want. Abject greed.,.
Simply put..People will sell and move..lock in gains here and bank that result into a lower taxed town and in some cases another State.Boomers will avalanche out of here in the next 5 years.School issues costs and declining standings are a ticking time bomb..
Hint to all the seniors looking for letters: go visit your bosses, intern employers, faith leaders, volunteer leaders. They speak more about your true character than these union hacks. I always write letters of recommendation for friends, associates, employees, etc. because I’ve see the subject in action – not just in theory.
Our teachers are behaving disgracefully. And, you know if and when a K is reached they will argue for retroactive raises for the period of time they have been working without one. Yes, it is to their advantage to continue this way and hold the HS kids/parents as hostage. Really wish they would all move on if they are so unhappy.
REA should NOT settle on the teachers and union terms, there is no inflation which means no cost of living raise. As health care cost continue to rise so should copays by the teachers. Welcome to 2016 not 1950.
Abject greed, yes, but also callous indifference to the urgent needs of their current students. It’s not just seniors but students in their Freshman, Sophomore, and Junior years who are now suffering the consequences of their radicalized teachers’ malfeasance and non-feasance.
The teachers contract is just as relevant to the future of Ridgewood as overdevelopment and repealing ordinance 3066
The teachers will want retroactive raises (and will get them) but they WILL NOT want to pay the retroactive health insurance premiums that they would owe (and sadly they will not have to pay them).
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I hope they strike and we bring in replacement teachers…
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See all those Facebook posts supporting teachers? Neither did I.
Oh no 5:38, they have been getting the annual wage increases as per their expired contract, the terms of which remains in force until a new contract is signed. Make no mistake, they’re working under the terms of the expired contract. Basically, they’re trying to hold out to prevent higher pension and health benefit premium contribution rates under Chapter 78, P.L. 2011 which was signed into law, effective June 28, 2011. It’s all very calculated, signing a new contract would mean compromise on these issues which they don’t want. Pure greed.