Union representation for CNMI teachers

I sought the help of the Guam Federation of Teachers Union and the American Federation of Teachers because of the CNMI’s State Board of Education’s opposition:

* BOE’s effort to prevent me from communicating with teachers and pressing me to stop writing in the newspapers, violating my “appointment & civil rights.”

* BOE’s refusal to grant me membership on board committees that develop policies affecting teachers.

* BOE’s refusal to allow the BOE Teacher Rep to participate in matters of concerns presented by teachers, such as the Hopwood incident and school visits for the implementation of PRAXIS, which is one of the main reasons for a BOE Teacher Rep in the Constitution. (Note: Only 3 percent of PSS teachers have taken PRAXIS to date)

* BOE’s refusal to address “formal request” made by the BOE Teacher Rep. It took 10 months for BOE to give the BOE Teacher Rep and teachers a meeting and, even then, nothing was accomplished.

* BOE’s attempts to have me removed from the Board with frivolous complaints and
public sanctioning over “personal matters.”

* BOE’s refusal to consider a request that is more than a year old for teachers to be given “permanent contracts.”

* BOE’s overall opposition to “collective bargaining” even though every teacher in America already exercises his or her right to bargain. The CNMI is again the only exception to national policy.

I have respect for my fellow BOE members and they are good people, but I’ve been trying for years to change the outdated ideologies and methodologies of most the CNMI State Board members, with the exception of only one. The focus of the board still remains on maintaining the “status quo of power” which is not to share ownership of PSS with all the stakeholders. The board hasn’t shown me any progress in addressing any of the desires for change that come from the community, from within the PSS organization, or the government.

The need for a union to represent teachers is very clear when you look at the efforts of BOE to silence the Teacher Representative, which included trying to get the governor to remove me. They refuse to listen to the research and logic I presented on the matter of collective bargaining and they failed to comprehend the lessons that history has taught us all about employer-employee relations that gave birth to unions.

The board had many opportunities to deal fairly and in good faith with teachers without a union but they chose to try and intimidate me and not deal with the teachers at all. In effect, BOE forced teachers and myself to seek the services of a union in order to be treated fairly and bargained with in good faith. The union is BOE’s own doing and if attitudes don’t change it could be their undoing in the next two elections. All I can say is, “I told you so” because I did inform BOE of the teacher’s options but I guess they thought I was just bluffing. I also don’t have any intention of trying to deal with this board under the present conditions for another three years and no one is going to “sweet talk” this board into doing anything they don’t want to do.

A meeting will be held this Saturday, March 19, at 9am, at the Kagman Community Center to start signing up teachers for membership in the CNMI Teachers Union that will be under the Guam Federation of Teachers, which is under the American Federation of Teachers. Mr. Matt Rector, president of GFT; Tim Fedenko, VP; and Tob Baum, organizer, will be here to orient and sign up teachers for the CNMI Teachers Union. The moment a teacher signs up, they will be protected by the AFT & GFT. I hope this will dispel all the fear that is running through our school system and provide the needed confidence to unite CNMI teachers for a better future. The dues for the union will run about $15 dollars per pay period.

CNMI teachers have missed seven 5-percent “within-grade increases” in the past 12 years. Teachers that have been in the system for the past decade have missed 35 percent of their salary in wage increases over the past decade. The government is taking care of the other government employees; a union will assure teachers of annual pay raise (one pay increase alone will more than cover the cost of your union dues).

For more details about the union, teachers can check out AFT.org(or)GFT.Union.com. There is strength in numbers and I hope that all teachers will now come out of the woodwork if they truly want to influence the educational process and take control of their own destiny in the work place. I realize that “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” I’ve gotten teachers to the water and this is a win-win opportunity and teachers shouldn’t let this “historic” opportunity slip away. All teachers, one union, one direction.

Ambrose Bennett
Teacher Representative