I am not now, nor have I ever been a member of a union (or any political party), so I cannot claim to understand exactly how a union operates.
It is my understanding — and anyone can correct me if I am wrong — that a union’s members are supposed to protect each other’s best interests, or in present-day parlance, to “have each other’s back.”
I think some members of the Marlboro Township Education Association (MTEA) now feel as if their fellow union members stabbed them in the back rather than having their back.
The MTEA represents the Marlboro K-8 School District’s teachers, instructional assistants, bus drivers and bus aides.
To recap actions of the past few months, the Marlboro Board of Education, in order to close a projected $3 million to $4 million deficit in the 2011-12 school year budget, was making plans to lay off all of the district’s instructional assistants (teachers’ aides) and some bus drivers and bus aides, and to hire outside agencies to provide those services to the district at a lower cost.
School district employees who were facing the prospect of losing their jobs on June 30, and parents who spoke in support of them, pleaded with the board members to do whatever they could to save those positions and to keep the people who hold them as employees of the district.
Last week it was announced that the MTEAhad voted in favor of significant pay cuts for the instructional assistants, bus drivers and bus aides. Missing from the list of people who will help to absorb the pain are Marlboro teachers.
The average pay cut to be taken by the instructional assistants, bus drivers and bus aides beginning July 1 is 30 percent. A woman who called me said she is a Marlboro school bus driver and will be taking a 40 percent pay cut.
It remains unclear how big a pay cut each of the affected groups is taking. In addition, those 189 employees will now have to pay for health coverage for their family members. That family coverage was previously provided by the district.
It is also unclear which members of the MTEAvoted on the memorandum of agreement that reduced the pay for some union members, but not all. Did the teachers vote on the deal? The woman who called me claiming to be a bus driver said the teachers did vote on the agreement.
If that is true, one could assume it was easy for the teachers to vote to accept the deal since it will not cost them a dime. In fact, Marlboro teachers will receive a raise in the 2011-12 school year.
Teachers also outnumber the bus drivers, bus aides and instructional assistants so if they voted, one might say the outcome of the vote was in the bag.
When a News Transcript reporter tried to ask specific questions about the MTEA vote, union President Robin Zegas declined to answer those questions.
Zegas’ response to our reporter was to offer the same comment she had previously provided to another newspaper.
That comment was, “In these economic times and jobs so hard to find, by signing this memorandum of agreement, now at least the three units can decide for themselves if they want to stay as Marlboro employees or work elsewhere. They now have the choice of what is best for them, not (to) be given one option, an outsourcing company.”
Gee, that is a great answer from your union president — now you can decide if you want to remain an employee in Marlboro. It is not exactly a resounding endorsement of one’s worth to the collective cause.
The MTEA members pay their dues and elect their leader. I cannot compel a union’s president to reveal details of how any vote or union business was conducted.
If some MTEA members are unhappy with the union’s leadership, they should do something about it or say something about it, publicly or privately.
I feel bad for the Marlboro employees who are facing a significant loss of income and the additional expense of purchasing health coverage for their family members, but as I told that woman on the phone, “Your union screwed you.”
I heard no argument from the other end of the phone, just sobbing.
Mark Rosman is the managing editor of the News Transcript. He may be reached by email at [email protected].