The CPS School Board
will vote on the HH Policy (Collective Bargaining Policy) at the 10/10
meeting. Here is a sample letter to email or send School Board Members
of reasons why to vote in favor of Policy HH Version 1.
As a voting taxpayer, make sure to add a personal piece of information on how Collective Bargaining affects you.
Date
Dear Members of the Columbia
Public School Board,
My name is (type
in your name here), and
I teach/ I am employed at (type
in your school. Type in the grade or subject you teach or type
in your job title or job description.)
I am also a proud member of Columbia Missouri National Education Association.
I understand that on Tuesday,
October 10th, you will vote to decide how teachers will select how they
will be represented at the bargaining table, as we take legal steps
to have collective bargaining in our district. I am writing to
say that I am in support of having a democratic election in which employees
select a single organization as their exclusive bargaining representative.
Why am I in favor of this vote?
An exclusive representative (HH1) is legally empowered to represent
all employees in their bargaining unit which is: teachers who are members
of the bargaining organization, teachers who are members of other organizations,
and teachers who belong to no association. This means by law, the
exclusive organization in not allowed to arbitrarily ignore a meritorious
grievance or process it in a perfunctory fashion, regardless of membership.
This means that the exclusive organization will represent all
on issues such as working conditions, transfers, PIPs, terminations,
etc.
The policy written by MSBA
is asking that there be multiple representation at the bargaining table
(HH2) Multiple organizations at the bargaining table requires
each organization to hold a vote of their members on the proposed agreement,
non-members are not permitted to vote on ratifying the proposed agreement.
This means that the multiple representation plan will leave teachers
who do not belong to any organization unrepresented!
It is time for teachers in
Columbia to speak through a united collective voice at the negotiation
table to discuss not only salaries, but working and learning conditions
and educational policies with district administration. The result
of negotiations are reduced to writing, ratified by a democratic vote
of the teachers and school board and then become an agreement that is
binding on both parties.
Please vote to allow teachers
to select a single representative at the bargaining table. The
exclusive representation is an inclusive representation!
Sincerely,