Executive Committee Meeting Minutes – July 16, 2008

 

President Rosemary Boland convened the July Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Scranton Federation of Teachers on Wednesday, July 16, at 12:10 P.M.

 

Members present: R. Boland, J. Gammaitoni, P. McDonough, G. Mulrine, P. Festa, K. Waltz, J. Baldauff, D. Walter, M. Byron, A. Geiger, K. Opshinsky, A. Trapani, J. Vitris, J. Zaleski, K. Kays, K. Beckwith, M. Wazowicz, M. Doran.

Excused: V. Wojnar

 

President Boland called the meeting into Executive session for the purpose of discussing Contract Negotiations.

 

At 2:00 P.M., a COPE meeting was convened.  A motion was made by M. Wazowicz and seconded by P. Festa that COPE pay for the Executive Committee, as a group, to attend the City of Scranton Democratic Committee Family Picnic slated for August 3, 2008 at Nay Aug Park.  Motion passed.

 

President Boland announced that AFT COPE would reimburse travel and other expenses incurred by her as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention being held in Denver in August.  A motion was made by G. Mulrine and seconded by J. Vitris that the SFT COPE sends a check to AFT COPE for expenses with the expectation of reimbursement from AFT COPE.  Motion passed.

 

A motion was made by P. Festa and seconded by K. Kays to adjourn COPE.  Meeting adjourned at 2:05 P.M.

 

The Executive Committee Meeting reconvened at 2:05 P.M.  The minutes from the June meeting were reviewed.  A motion to accept the minutes was made by J. Vitris and seconded by A. Trapani.  Motion passed.

 

Secretary/Treasurer P. McDonough provided a brief Treasurer’s report.  He also announced the Mr. John Feldman, Financial Director of the AFT, will be conducting the annual audit of the SFT in September.

 

A motion to adjourn was made by G. Mulrine and seconded by P. Festa.  Meeting adjourned at 2:10 P.M.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

SFT Executive Committee Meeting – August 1, 2008

 

President Rosemary Boland called the meeting to order at 12:30 P.M.

 

Members present: R. Boland, J. Gammaitoni, K. Waltz, M. Wazowicz, J. Vitris, A. Trapani, J. Baldauff, M. Byron, M. Doran, V. Wojnar, M. Loftus, P. Festa, J. Zaleski, G. Mulrine, K. Beckwith

 

Excused: A. Geiger, D. Walter, P. McDonough, K. Kays

 

President Boland reported on the status of several upcoming arbitrations.  She explained that even though these arbitrations had been filed several months ago, dates for these arbitrations are assigned by the Arbitration Board and not in our control.

 

President Boland put the Executive Committee into an Executive Session.  The Fact Finders Report was the point of discussion. President Boland explained the findings, in detail, to the Executive Board.  By a unanimous vote of those present, the Fact Finders Report was rejected.

 

Other issues discussed – a question concerning the recent teacher selection process was mentioned by J. Zaleski. President Boland addressed this issue.

 

A General Membership Meeting of the SFT is scheduled for Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 12:30 P.M. at Scranton High School.  An Executive Committee meeting of the SFT will be held at 10:00 A.M. on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at the SFT office.

 

A motion to adjourn was made by G. Mulrine and seconded by P. Festa.  Meeting adjourned at 2:30 P.M.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

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General Membership Meeting – August 19, 2008

 

A General Membership Meeting of the Scranton Federation of Teachers was held on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at Scranton High School.  The meeting was called to order at 12:30 P.M. by President Rosemary Boland.

 

President Boland led those assembled in the Pledge of Allegiance.  She then introduced the following guests:  Atty. Thomas Jennings, Atty. Marc Gelman, Mr. Jewell Gould, AFT, Mr. Mark Bostick, AFT, Ms. Shelly Snyder, AFT-PA.

 

A motion to dispense with the reading of the Secretary’s Minutes was made by B. Boland and seconded by K. Secor.  Motion passed.

 

A motion to dispense with the Treasurer’s Report was made by K. Secor and seconded by S. Rybitski.  Motion passed.

 

President Boland and Secretary/Treasurer P. McDonough presented a PowerPoint presentation focusing on the recent Fact Finder’s Report.  President Boland stated that the Fact Finding is a part of Act 88, an act which outlines the negotiating process.  This presentation lasted about one hour.

 

The following resolution was made and seconded:  I move that the officers and members of the SFT Executive Committee be authorized to call for a strike of the SFT at a date that they select.

 

After discussion, the question was called by K. Secor and seconded by B. Boland.  The motion passed overwhelmingly.  K. Secor then made a motion for a unanimous vote.  This motion was seconded and then passed.

 

President Boland reminded the assembly that the next scheduled School Board meeting would be on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008.  She asked the membership to assemble at the IBEW building at 6:15 P.M. and en mass walk up to the Administrative Building.

 

A motion to adjourn was made by S. Rybitski and seconded by B. Roditski.  Motion passed.  Meeting adjourned at 2:25 P.M.

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Executive Committee Meeting of the Scranton Federation of Teachers

August 30, 2008

 

The Executive Committee met on Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 8 pm to review negotiations after a day long session with the District ended without the prospect of a contract.

 

Present at the meeting were:  R. Boland, J. Gammaitoni, P. Festa, G. Mulrine, P. McDonough, M. Loftus, A. Trapani, K. Waltz, K. Kays, D. Walter, K. Beckwith, M. Byron, M. Doran, J. Zaleski, M. Wazowicz, K. Opshinsky,Vince Wojnar.

 

President Boland reviewed the District’s offer.  She explained that the negotiation team dismissed the District’s negotiators, telling them that the District would have to do better or the SFT would strike beginning Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 7 am.

 

President Boland then asked for a motion to authorize the strike.  Mary Doran made the motion which was seconded by Kathy Waltz.  The motion passed unanimously.

 

There was a discussion of strike rules and meeting with building representatives and strike captains.

 

There was also a discussion of a press release.  A motion to talk to the press was made by Gary Mulrine and seconded by Marty Wazowicz.  A unanimous vote followed.

 

President Boland informed the Executive Committee that they should be available on Monday.

 

A motion to adjourn was made by Amy Trapani and seconded by Jennifer Zaleski.  All voted in favor and the meeting adjourned at 9:00 pm.

 

Respectively submitted,

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Executive Committee Meeting of the Scranton Federation of Teachers

September 1, 2008

 

The Executive Committee convened at the SFT Office at 10:00 am on Monday September 1, 2008 while the SFT lead negotiators met with the District’s team at the Administration Building.

 

Present at the meeting were:  R. Boland, J. Gammaitoni, P. Festa, G. Mulrine, P. McDonough, M. Loftus, A. Trapani, K. Waltz, K. Kays, J. Baldauff, D. Walter, K. Beckwith, M. Byron, M. Doran, J. Zaleski, M. Wazowicz, K. Opshinsky, J. Vitris, Vince Wojnar.

 

Midway through talks, our negotiators returned to the office and President Boland called the Executive Committee into Executive Session.

 

President Boland reviewed the District’s offer and discussions followed as to priorities for the SFT to pursue.  After much deliberation the Executive Committee directed the SFT chief negotiators to maintain our demands in a number of areas.

 

With a clear understanding of the Executive Committee’s wishes our negotiators returned to the Administration Building.

 

Our team returned to the SFT office at 5 pm to inform the Executive Committee that the District was studying our latest proposal and would like to continue talks at 4:30 pm on Tuesday at the IBEW building.

 

Once again the Executive Committee was asked to be on hand while negotiations continued on Tuesday.

 

The Executive Committee was dismissed at 6 pm.

 

Respectively submitted,

 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Executive Committee Meeting of the Scranton Federation of Teachers

September 2, 2008

 

The Executive Committee convened at the SFT Office during negotiations on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 at 4:30 pm.

 

Present at the meeting were:  R. Boland, J. Gammaitoni, P. Festa, G. Mulrine, P. McDonough, M. Loftus, A. Trapani, K. Waltz, K. Kays, J. Baldauff, D. Walter, K. Beckwith, M. Byron, M. Doran, J. Zaleski, M. Wazowicz, K. Opshinsky, J. Vitris.

 

Positions were exchanged between the SFT’s chief negotiators and the District.

 

At 9:30 pm, our team reviewed its positions, explained them to the Executive Committee and asked for the support of the Committee in submitting our final best offer to the District.

 

The Executive Committee gave its support and the final offer was given to the District at 9:45 pm.

 

At 10:45 pm the District returned, informing our negotiators that the District accepted our offer with the caveat that nothing could be implemented for this Friday’s checks.  After that, however, all monetary and health care agreements would be in full effect.

 

The Executive Committee was informed that the strike had been averted and that we had a tentative agreement.  The Committee stayed while finishing touches and proofreading took place.

 

Since the process took a fair amount of time, the Executive Committee was dismissed and asked to reconvene on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 3:30 pm in the Union office to consider the contract settlement and recommendation to the General Membership for ratification.

 

Respectively submitted,

 

 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Executive Committee Meeting – September 3, 2008

 

The Executive Committee of the Scranton Federation of Teachers was called to order by President Rosemary Boland at 3:30 P.M. on Wednesday, September 3, 2008.

 

Members present: R. Boland, P. McDonough. J. Gammaitoni.G. Mulrine, K. Waltz,

A. Geiger, J. Baldauff, D. Walter, P. Festa, J. Zaleski, M. Doran, A. Trapani, J. Vitris,

V. Wojnar, K. Opshinsky, K. Beckwith, M. Wazowicz, M. Byron, M. Loftus, K. Kay

 

Secretary’s Report

 

Secretary/Treasurer P.McDonough distributed several copies of the minutes from various dates to the Committee.  Members were asked to read these minutes.  The following motions were made-

            Motion to accept the minutes from the meeting of July 16, 2008 was made by G. Mulrine and seconded by A. Geiger.  Motion approved.

            Motion to accept the minutes from the meeting of August 1, 2008 was made by A. Geiger and seconded by J. Zaleski.  Motion passed.

            Motion to accept the minutes from the meeting of August 30, 2008 was made by K. Waltz and seconded by M. Wazowicz.  Motion approved.

            Motion to accept the minutes from the meeting of September 1, 2008 was made by V. Wojnar and seconded by P. Festa.  Motion approved.

            Motion to accept the minutes of the meeting of September 2, 2008 was made by K. Opshinsky and seconded by M. Wazowicz.  Motion approved.

 

President Boland announced that she would be taking advantage of the contractual provision for Executive leave for the school year of 2008-2009.  The committee discussed the announcement and understood that President Boland would be acting as full time SFT President.

 

President Boland announced that the SFT had received many calls of congratulations concerning the contract settlement – calls were received from John Tarka, Jewel Gould, Pat Halpin Murphy and Ted Kirsch.

 

President Boland at this time declared the meeting to be in an Executive session.

Contract settlement details were discussed.

 

The following motion was made by K. Beckwith and seconded by P. Festa – I move to recommend the tentative contract settlement signed on September 2, 2008 to the general membership for ratification.

 

Motion was accepted with a unanimous vote of the Executive Committee.

 

The ratification meeting was then scheduled for Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 3:00 P.M. at Scranton High School.

 

Motion to adjourn was made by K. Waltz and seconded by G. Mulrine.  Meeting adjourned at 6:00 P.M.

 

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General Membership Meeting – September 7, 2008

 

A General Membership Meeting of the Scranton Federation of Teachers was held on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 3:00 P.M. at Scranton High School.

 

President Rosemary Boland called the meeting to order at 3:10 P.M.  Those in attendance was led in the Pledge of Allegiance by President Boland.

 

A motion to dispense with the reading of the Minutes was made by K. Secor and seconded by L. Kurpis.  Motion carried.

A motion to dispense with the Treasurer’s Report was made by Bob Boland and seconded by M. Coyne.  Motion was approved.

 

President Boland, at this time offered special thanks to the following for their work during the SFT’s recent contract negotiations – P. McDonough, M. Loftus, J. Gammaitoni, P. Festa, G. Mulrine, L. Babarsky, B. Chamoni, J. Chickillo and the entire Executive Committee.

 

President Boland gave a brief update of the status of the Paraprofessionals’ Contract negotiations.  She made note that the paras needed the membership’s support in order to get their contract completed.  At this time, the membership showed their support for the paraprofessionals of the Scranton School District.

 

At 3:30P.M., a PowerPoint Presentation began.  This presentation presented all pertinent details of the tentative agreement reached between the Scranton Federation of Teachers and the Scranton School Board.  In addition to the slide show, members received color coded papers addressing the following – language changes in the contract, health care plan changes, hourly rate changes and compensations for class coverage changes, salary changes, coaches’ salaries and club hours.

 

During this presentation, it was noted that all aspects of contract changes were presented, that overall, this was a balanced contract with a consideration for all, and attention was paid to surveys from the previous school year.

 

Then, a motion was made to ratify the contract by many members and seconded by many members.

 

President Boland announced that at this time there would be an intermission for members to review the information they had received.  Secret ballot voting would be held and would end at 5:45 P.M. Finally, tabulation of the votes would take place.

 

The contract agreement was ratified by the membership.  The official vote count for ratification was  563 Yes,  30 No, and 1 Abstention.

 

A motion to adjourn was made by K. Secor and seconded by many members.  Meeting adjourned at 6:00 P.M.

 

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Executive Committee Meeting – September 17, 2008

 

The Executive Committee Meeting of the Scranton Federation of Teachers was held on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 3:50P.M.  The meeting was called to order by President Rosemary Boland.

 

Members present:  R. Boland, J. Gammaitoni, D. Walter, P. Festa, P. McDonough, K. Waltz, M. Byron, V. Wojnar, A. Trapani, J. Vitris, M. Wazowicz, J. Zaleski, K. Beckwith, K. Opshinsky, A. Geiger, J. Baldauff, M. Loftus, K. Kays, G. Mulrine, M. Doran

 

President Boland began a COPE meeting at 3:50 P.M.  Political matters were discussed at this time pertaining to the upcoming Presidential and Congressional elections.  A motion to adjourn this meeting was made at 4:00 P.M.  Motion was approved.

 

President Boland called the Executive Committee into an Executive session at 4:00 P.M.

 

This session ended at 4:45 P.M.

 

During the rest of the regular Executive Committee meeting, the following matters were discussed:

            The new 3 tier drug prices and deductible will begin November 1, 2008.  This Nov.1 deductible goes until Dec. 31, 2008.  A new deductible period will begin Jan. 1, 2009 and end on Dec. 31, 2009.

A question was asked about retirees and the effect of the new health care terms of this contract on them.  President Boland stated that you retire under the terms of the contract that is in effect at your retirement date.  The District will be sending new Health Insurance rates as usual to the retirees at the start of 2009.

 

G. Mulrine mentioned the problems of overbooking at Scranton High School the night of their Back to School Night and asked about what could be done to avoid this in the future.

 

V. Wojnar brought the correcting of the 4Sight tests by Math and English teachers at the High School to the Board’s attention.  President Boland stated that this was supposed to have been corrected by Mr. King.  Mr. Gammaitoni would speak to Mr. Paris about this issue.

 

K. Kays made a motion that the Executive Board give President Boland the authority to set dates for General Membership Meetings.  This was seconded by J. Gammaitoni.  Motion was approved.  Membership meetings will be held in November, February, March and early May.

 

A Fall Party date was set for Saturday, October 18, 2008 from 6 to 10 at St. George’s Hall on Keyser Avenue.  Further details would be going to the schools.

 

A motion to adjourn was made by J. Gammaitoni and seconded by P. McDonough.

Motion was approved.  Meeting adjourned at 5:00 P.M.

 

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Executive Committee Meeting – September 29, 2008

 

 

A meeting of the Executive Committee was called to order by President Rosemary Boland at 3:35 P.M. on  Monday, September 29, 2008 at Scranton High School.

 

Members present: K. Kays, M. Loftus, K. Waltz, G. Mulrine, J. Gammaitoni, M. Doran, R. Boland, P. Festa, P. McDonough, M. Byron, A. Trapani, J. Vitris, D. Walter,

J. Baldauff, J. Zaleski, M. Wazowicz, K. Beckwith, K. Opshinsky, A. Geiger

Excused: V. Wojnar

 

President Boland stated that a Powerpoint presentation of the new Para professionals Contract would be shown at their meeting.  A motion was made by K. Waltz and seconded by P. Festa that there would be a unanimous motion of recommendation for the paraprofessional contract.  Motion passed unanimously.

 

The date of the Fall Party was changed to  Friday, October 24, 2008 due to a booking conflict.  A motion was made by J. Gammaitoni and seconded by G. Mulrine that the cost of the party is $10.00 for active and retired members and $15.00 for guests. The total cost of the party is $25.00 and $15.00 will be paid by the SFT Treasury.

 

A motion was made by P. Festa and seconded by K. Beckwith to nominate Jennifer Telesco to complete the term of Bob Montgomery on the Executive Committee.  Motion passed.

 

General Membership meeting dates for the 2008-2009 year will be-

 

Wednesday,  November 12, 2008                                Wednesday,  February 18, 2009

 

Wednesday,  March 11, 2009                                      Wednesday,  May 6, 2009

 

President Boland gave a brief update     on outstanding grievances at Armstrong School, Bancroft School and Morris School. 

President Boland also reminded everyone that school computers should only be used for school business.

 

A motion to adjourn was made by K. Waltz and seconded by J. Baldauff.  Meeting adjourned at 4:00 P.M.

 

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Paraprofessional Contract Ratification Meeting – September 29, 2008

 

The meeting of the Paraprofessionals of the Scranton Federation of Teachers for the purpose of Contract Ratification was held on Monday, September 29, 2008 at 4:00 P.M. at Scranton High School.

 

The meeting was called to order at 4:05 P.M. by President Rosemary Boland.  Secretary/Treasurer P. McDonough acknowledged the work of the Executive Committee and in particular J. Vitris and A. Trapani in obtaining a tentative agreement.  Mr. McDonough also stated that legal representation was present at all negotiating sessions.

 

A PowerPoint presentation was given addressing this tentative contract agreement showing language changes, health care information, salaries and other issues.  Members also received color coded papers with this information.

 

President Boland summarized the presentation by stating that there were significant language changes, significant rate changes for health care insurance, changes for hourly rate, changes in the retirement incentive and a change in the life insurance policy.

 

A motion to ratify the contract was made by many and seconded by many.

 

A secret ballot vote was then taken to ratify the contract with the following results:

 

                                    69 Yes                                     4 No

 

Motion to adjourn was made and seconded by several members.

 

Meeting adjourned at 5:40 P.M.

 

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