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| Expired contracts impact 70,000 NYSUT members August 31, 2006 ALBANY, N.Y. August 31, 2006 - New York State United Teachers President Richard C. Iannuzzi said 378 of NYSUT's local unions will begin the school year working under the terms of expired labor agreements. Iannuzzi said 209 local teacher unions and 169 NYSUT-affiliated unions representing cafeteria workers, bus drivers, teacher aides and teaching assistants and other professionals will be working under the terms of expired contracts. In addition, faculty at eight community colleges across the state are starting the year with expired contracts. The expired contracts impact more than 70,000 NYSUT members. "Our members are professionals who care about their students and their schools," Iannuzzi said. "Even with expired contracts, our members will still do their jobs, and do them well. But there is a profound sense of disappointment in those districts where school boards fail to recognize the contributions of teachers and school professionals." Iannuzzi noted that, while the number of expired contracts was fairly typical, the number of educators impacted by those expired contracts was significantly lower than in previous years because most of NYSUT's larger locals have current agreements in place. Of the 209 expired teachers' contracts, 142 expired this year; 42 expired last year; 25 contracts expired in 2004; and one local has been without a successor agreement for four years. About 10 contract settlements were reached over the summer months, but have not been ratified yet. Among 169 school-related professionals' locals with expired contracts, 94 lapsed on June 30, 50 have been expired for one year and 25 have been expired for two years. These numbers do not reflect the contract status of the former NEA/NY locals that are joining NYSUT September 1 as part of the unification between NYSUT and NEA/NY. "Coming to terms on a new contract is far more difficult today than just a few years ago," said Iannuzzi, a former local president on Long Island. "Higher health care costs, fuel costs and changes in accounting rules are creating huge financial stress, particularly for small and rural school districts. But the good news is that most of these contracts are newly expired, and we're confident that most of the issues in these contract negotiations can be resolved relatively quickly. We'll get there." Iannuzzi also cited the state's failure to resolve the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit and its failure to provide adequate funding for poor rural and small city districts upstate as factors in the number of unresolved contract negotiations. NYSUT represents 575,000 teachers, school-related professionals, academic and professional faculty in higher education, professionals in education and health care and retirees. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association and the AFL-CIO. -30- |
CONTACT: NYSUT Media Relations and Communications. (518) 213-6000, Ext. 6313. E-Mail: mediarel@nysutmail.org. |
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