Some Things I Just Don’t Understand

I read this post on MaryBeth Hertz’s blog the other day as was completely blown away.  Her post sums up her feelings/experiences about recent contract negotiations in Philadelphia.  I rarely read about contract negotiations on any of the blogs I follow.  I’m not sure why.  Perhaps everything is just rosy and there’s nothing to talk about or perhaps people just don’t care what going on in their union.  Some people might be in working in a unionized district or are in a position that doesn’t require union membership.  Regardless, posts about union negotiations are few and far between.

I’ve been a pretty active participant in my local union.  I have been a part of the Negotiations Team for our past 4 contracts, serving at the Head Negotiator for the past 2 agreements.  I’m not sure if I’ll continue in the future, but reading about what is happening in other places regarding negotiations is of interest to me.  I’m not going to comment on the agreement itself because I have no background knowledge of the situation, but do question the process of how this contract was ratified.  I hope you read her post, but a few things about what happened just should not have happened.  I simply do not understand:

• Why teachers were given the tentative agreement on the same day they were required to vote.
• Why the turnout to the ratification meeting was so poorly attended.  About 14,000 didn’t show up.  Do people not care about their working conditions?
• Why the meeting was scheduled the night before grades were due. This is probably the worst night besides a Friday to do this.
• The “vote” to ratify the contract was done by those in attendance saying “Aye” or “Nay”  - WHAT??   Is there not a formal procedure, outlined in the bylaws, for contract ratification?
• Why paper ballots were handed out and then not used?  Or were they?
• Why the membership did not make this a bigger issue (the ratification process, not the contract itself).

If the leadership of my local union tried any of this, there would be a huge uproar.  We aren’t nearly as big as the Philly Public Schools, but believe me, the it would not fly.  There is no way this would occur.  If anything positive can come out of this situation, it’s the fact that the Philly Teacher’s Union needs to come up with a clear, easily understood ratification procedure so teachers don’t feel like they didn’t have a voice or are grabbing their umbrellas as they rush to vote on a future contract.