Neither rain nor wind could dampen the spirits of those there shouting their support of public employees throughout the nation on February 25, 2011. Though the news reports claimed there were 3,100 umbrellas, there were far more people than umbrellas. 

In May of 2010, the Negotiations Team of AFT Local 1904 started negotiations with the administration regarding the creation of the Cali School of Music. After months of intense negotiations, a tentative agreement was reached on February 22, 2011. 

We would like to thank our colleagues in the Cali School of Music who worked with Local 1904's Negotiating Team during these negotiations.  Without their involvement a satisfactory agreement could not have been achieved. In our view, the agreement preserves the contractual rights of Faculty and Professional Staff in the Cali School.

The text of the entire agreement is on the union's website (click here to view). Some of the key elements include the agreement that the position of Associate Director for Faculty (ADF) has been established in lieu of a Department Chairperson. The duties and responsibilities of the ADF as specified in the agreement are similar to those of a Department Chairperson and are virtually identical with regard to personnel actions.  

The Local has also reserved the right to negotiate procedures, where contractually appropriate, for conducting personnel evaluations of unit members within the Cali School of Music as they arise.   

Richard Wolfson, President AFT Local 1904

I write this having just returned from the Trenton rally supporting our brothers and sisters in Wisconsin and state workers around the country who are fighting for fair collective bargaining rights and negotiated agreements.

Our Governor has unlimited resources and the bully pulpit to get out his message. Increasingly, he has taken to the national stage to trash Labor, with particular venom reserved for teachers' unions. We have a collective voice through sympathetic media outlets and lobbying efforts. But that's not enough. As individuals, we need to take every opportunity to educate others: through conversations at our dining tables with friends and relatives, and elsewhere wherever we interact with the public.

The attacks on Labor and collective bargaining in Wisconsin, Ohio, and ultimately here in New Jersey, are nothing short of attacks on the middle class. We didn't cause our current fiscal problems but Republican governors want to balance state budgets with our losses. They refuse to rescind tax breaks for millionaires, while decimating school budgets and reducing our health-care benefits and increasing premiums. They failed to make the required payments to state pension funds, while we had to accept deferred raises and furlough days.

We bargained in good faith for our hard-earned contracts, but the other side doesn't know the meaning of the phrase "good faith" or that a contract comes with responsibilities for both sides. Their ultimate agenda is to break the backs of Unions. This is not the time to sit back, comforted by the protection of tenure and multi-year contracts. It's time to support our brothers and sisters in Labor everywhere.

In solidarity-

The Assembly Budget Committee will take input from the public on Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget in three public hearings this month in northern, central and southern New Jersey. The public hearing in northern New Jersey will be held on Wednesday, March 16 at 9:30 a.m. at MSU's University Hall Conference Center. The focus will be on education, higher education and local government issues.

- Author unknown