Newark Teachers Association

New Agreement Ratified

February 9, 2010

Both the Newark Teachers Association and the Newark Unified School District have ratified the three-year successor agreement good through June 30, 2012.  Please see the NTA Press Release and Argus Article by clicking on their respective links.  Thank you to all NTA members for their sacrifices, as we seek a working relationship with the District to remain fiscally solvent.  The agreement is in the process of being printed, and once it is, all unit members will receive a copy.

February Focus of the Month:

Layoffs and Non-Reelection

February 1st, 2010

This month's focus is on layoff issues, such as your rights, timelines, and legal requirements.  These are critically important if you receive a layoff notice in March, and what to do in the event that you wish to challenge the layoff.  For a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) on this issue, please click on the "Monthly FAQ" tab, then on "Safety Issues".  Also, click on the "Monthly FAQ" tab to access any of the prior month FAQs.

Arbitration Settlement on Salaries Reached

October 19, 2009

Miss the general meeting on Monday, October 19?  NTA and NUSD have reached an agreement on unpaid salary increases for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school years.  Here is a summary of the agreement:

Background 

• In the 2007-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement, the parties agreed to increase the bargaining unit salaries by statutory COLA, whether or not that COLA was funded by the State. 

• The District did increase the salary schedule by 4.53% during the first year of the agreement in accordance with this contract language.

• During the 2008-2009 school year, the State budget had significant cuts, the District did not receive a COLA, and the District’s funding was cut by $1 million.

• During the 2008-09 school year, the District did not increase the salary schedule as negotiated.

• In October 2008, the NTA filed a grievance on behalf of the membership and after this grievance was denied by the District, NTA moved the grievance to arbitration

• The 2009-10 Funding for the District was cut an additional $4.7 million dollars, $1.7 million of that being a one-time cut. 

• The District and the Association met in settlement meetings during the 2008-09 school year in an attempt to resolve the grievance prior to an arbitration hearing. 

• On Friday, September 25, 2009 the parties came to a settlement agreement on the arbitration. 

Arbitration Settlement Summary

• The District sustained the Association’s grievance, agreeing that the contract had been violated when the District did not increase the member’s salary schedule by 5.66% in 2008-09 and 4.25% in the current school year. 

• Due to the State budget cuts and the District’s financial concerns, the parties have agreed to defer the payment of the negotiated salary increase to the future.  When the District again receives funded COLA from the State, this increase will be added prospectively to the unit member’s salary schedules. 

• This process will continue until the debt of  2008-09 and 2009-10 COLA is repaid. 

• In addition, any member who was employed during the 2008-09 school year but leaves the district prior to full implementation of the settlement regarding the 2008-09 COLA, is eligible for payment of the 2008-09 COLA at the time and at the percentage received by the membership. 

NTA Representative Council Passes Budget

September 14, 2009

The Newark Teachers Association Representative Council unanimously passed the 2009-2010 Preliminary Budget at its September meeting.  The budget keeps local dues at their current levels, while cutting 18% of expenditures due to losses in dues revenues from the layoff process last school year.

To view a copy of the budget, click here or click on the "Contract and Documents" tab on the left and scroll down to "NTA Budget".

NTA Announces New Meeting Format

September 14, 2009

Representative Council meetings of NTA will have a new feel this year.  Representatives will be focusing on a key issue each month, then forming a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that typically come up surrounding that issue, and finally have discussions around those issues with the rest of the membership.

The issue for the month of September is Class Size (Article 8 of the NTA/NUSD Agreement).

To view a list of the key issues by month, and to view common FAQs, click here or click on the "Monthly FAQ" tab on the left.