Tag Archives: teacher
Examples of Teachers Aided by the CIT Model
Can you give examples of individual members that have been aided by Goyette & Associates representation?
When solving individual membership issues it varies greatly. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call for our labor representative to make administration aware of an issue and they can successfully diffuse a situation within minutes. In other situations, when the possibility of someone’s job or more importantly someone’s credential was in jeopardy our labor representative jumped to support and guide our members in addition to meeting with administration to successfully resolve these issues.
I'm a Teacher, Not a Lawyer
How has your association been helped by having a professional representative guiding you through a contract negotiations?
As a professional educator, my education and training has prepared me for being an effective teacher, however it never prepared me for how to successfully represent employees at disciplinary hearings in danger of losing their jobs or how to prepare and negotiate a comprehensive labor agreement. G&A has brought to the negotiating table an experienced and polished professional negotiating staff and labor attorneys who are experts in their fields and at the top of their game.
A Testimonial From One of Our Teachers
What is it like to have the CIT Model working for your association?
Horizon Certificated Employee Association has retained Goyette and Associates since June of 2009. In this relatively short time, G&A has provided our association and its members many comprehensive and competent services by professional representatives including attorneys, professional labor negotiators and access to survey and research departments.
It is great having a multiple labor representatives and attorneys dedicated to our association, its members, and our school. Their intimate knowledge of how our school operates in addition to the understanding the nuances of our labor agreement have changed the dynamic between our school’s administration and our association. In three years G&A has provided exceptional representation for countless grievances, coordinating and overseeing multiple fair association elections, filed several unfair labor practices, provided representation during disciplinary hearings, assisted in the monitoring of school budgets, accounting and business practices in addition to coordinating contract negotiation preparation guidance and successful contract negotiations. G&A’s labor representative assigned to our association provides at a minimum weekly contact regarding personnel issues and any outstanding issues between our association and our school’s administration.
The most impressive aspect of the service provided by G&A is the personal connections they have made with our membership, our association’s executive board, and maybe even more importantly is the mutual bridge of trust, honesty and respect that they have built with our school’s administration and human resources department. The impact of this positive relationship building has had an immeasurable effect on our members, our communication and problem solving with administration, and as a result a better more effective school.
How would you be able to cut teacher’s dues so drastically?
Currently, as a member of CTA, you must pay whatever CTA and NEA set as their dues. Because CTA is essentially a monopoly when it comes to representing public school teachers in California, the dues have predictably risen higher and higher – without any noticeable increase in services to the members.
The CIT Model returns to the teachers of each district the right to set their own dues.
An independent teachers’ association can set dues comfortably at half of what they are currently paying under the CTA model and still get professional representation in the bargaining process and to cover all contract enforcement and individual disciplinary matters. The professional services can be provided by a law firm such as Goyette & Associates that specializes in representing California public employee associations. These services can be provided to associations with memberships that range from a few dozen teachers to several thousand.
The cost of hiring professionals to handle the core services that the association needs is about 20-40% of the total dues currently being paid. That leaves 10-30% of current dues for the association to use for general administrative costs, other member services and local political action – or whatever the association chooses to do. That still leaves 50% of current dues to be returned to the individual teachers – call it the CTA dividend.
Don’t believe that a labor law firm actually costs less than CTA? It’s true, by a lot! Ask around. Police officers, firefighters, and other public employees pay as much as 80% less than teachers and routinely receive professional labor and legal representation that far outweighs what CTA provides.
Decertification From a Teacher's Union Sounds Complicated. How Does It Work?
The decertification process is simple and can easily be accomplished by any group of teachers who are interested in making it happen. Here are the basic steps:
The First Step: File a Petition
The First step is to file a showing of interest petition that shows at least 30% of your bargaining unit wants to have a decertification election. The petition itself is not complicated and any number of forms will work. Here are 2 examples of petitions that work just fine. * link pending
The timing of the petition is important. The petition must be filed in a twenty-nine day window that is 90 to 120 days prior to the expiration of your MOU. For example, if your CBA (otherwise known as your MOU or Memorandum on Understanding) expires on June 30th, the petition must be filed sometime during the month of March.
The Second Step: The Election
Once the petition has been filed, PERB will review it and contact you regarding scheduling and election. PERB will conduct a ballot election where a simple majority determines the outcome the ballot typically includes the names of both the incumbent union and the new petitioning employee organization.
The Third Step: You’re Up and Running
Since the majority of the teachers in your Association voted to be independent, you are now up and running. Your G&A support team and their lawyers will be there to help you through every step along the way.
If I want to know to know more about the decertification process, where do I look?
Good Question. The whole decertification process is determined by State Law. The Educational Employees Relations Act (EERA) governs employee relations within the public school systems of the State of California. The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) administers and enforces the EERA including all decertification elections. The EERA is contained in Government Code Section 3544, et al. The PERB website also has a lot of useful information. That website is http://www.perb.ca.gov
How will we know if we are doing it right?
We will be here to help you and advise you through every step of the process. We have successfully decertified dozens of units from large Unions. We won’t leave you to do this on your own. Call us at 888-993-1600 now, to learn how to make a huge difference to the teachers in your district or email us here. But Hurry!… if your contract expires this year or next- timing is critical.