BFT chief negotiator Dan Bennett has mentioned in negotiations and at board meetings and today on their bargaining update that our group spread lies on Facebook, telling teachers that the raise last year was going to be a bonus. We are re-posting the exact post today and letting teachers once again make up their own minds. Brevard Teachers for Change November 15, 2013 · Yesterday afternoon at school, all teachers received an email from Richard Smith via Joy Salamone stating that the board had imposed the $1300 but teachers would be voting Monday morning on the contract. Several of us were confused by this information and many principals were informing teachers that contract voting would be handled much differently than it had in the past. Many of us that belong to CFPEA were uncertain of the details and began to do some research. We learned that BFT was advocating a No vote and there were people saying that teachers might be making a big mistake by voting no. We researched state statute 447 and we began to grow uneasy about voting no on this money. We were also confused that the paper kept mentioning a 4.5% raise, yet our email clearly stated $1300. We decided that the only person that could answer our questions was Joy Salamone. These are the emails between she and Kim Hunt. We want all teachers to read carefully and discuss and share and make their own decisions. Dear Joy, There are several teachers that are unclear about the vote Monday. Could you please answer these questions? 1) Is there any reason to vote if this has already been imposed, as the email stated yesterday? 2) We are being told that since it is imposed the $1300 will not be retroactive and we could receive as little as $600. 3) An imposition means that the $1300 will not be included in our salary next year and will be open for negotiation in June. Some teachers are quoting 447 and saying that a no vote could be a real problem. We are hopeful that you can clear this up immediately so that we can be informed voters on Monday. Thank you for your time, Kim Hunt Kim, I am sorry for all the confusion—let me try to help: 1—the only thing that is imposed right now is what teachers will vote on—a true imposition cannot and will not happen unless teachers vote no 2—of course it is retroactive as it is $1,300 annually therefore, we owe it retroactively. 3-- It is true that an imposition means these dollars are not guaranteed past this fiscal year if the Board has to impose the language. If the language is imposed by the Board it can only be imposed through the current fiscal year which ends June 30. if teachers vote yes then the language becomes part of the contract and no further action need take place. I hope this helps Joy Salamone, Director Human Resources Services/Labor Relations Brevard Public Schools I had one more question for Joy. I wanted to know if administrators were going to be receiving a much larger chunk of the governors money than the teachers were. This was my next email question. Thank you for your response. I have one more question because the information in the newspaper was very confusing. Teachers are getting 1300. Are all other employees getting 1300 or 4.5%? Joys response to me made me realize that BFT had made a huge mistake once again. Every employee group is getting 4.5% for 2013-2014 –BFT asked the Board to take our first offer where we put 3% in every cell of the teacher salary schedule and take the dollars used in our offer to give every teacher the same amount of money instead of adding 3% as we had the 1.5% given July 1 to all . So everyone else will be getting 3% in the salary cells if our offer is implemented. Please read and share. Talk among all teachers. Are you happy with this representation? BFT is still telling all teachers to vote no. Are you willing to lose the $1300? We may be unhappy and we certainly are angry to learn that the governors money is being used to give administrators triple what will be given to us, but are you ready to take a chance? Last year we were shut down when we asked BFT to give us some time to discuss the vote and explore other options. We wanted to vote no but they told us that the 1.5% was too important. Now they are telling us to vote no and show how unhappy we are and we will be risking ever seeing the $1300 after June 30.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 23:30:49 +0000
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