2010 September | American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, AFL-CIO

American Federation of Teachers Endorses Potosnak

September 28, 2010

Congressional candidate Ed Potosnak and AFTNJ President William Lipkin

On Monday, the New Jersey chapter of the American Federation of Teachers voted to endorse Ed Potosnak, Democratic Candidate for New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. Potosnak, a high school chemistry teacher who taught in Bridgewater and a part time lecturer at Rutgers University for over a decade, has made improving education a centerpiece of his campaign. Potosnak has advocated for increased federal and state commitment to public schools. Potosnak’s opponent, Congressman Lance, voted against the Education, Jobs, and Medicaid Assistance Act, which paid down the deficit while providing $268 million to New Jersey schools to retain or rehire 4,000 New Jersey teachers, as well as hiring more nurses, firefighters and police officers.

Students, union rally for raises

September 27, 2010

By Joshua Rosenau, Staff Writer
Monday, September 27, 2010 00:09

Students and faculty protested the University’s financial policies Friday on the steps of Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus before the annual address of University President Richard L. McCormick.

The rally served as a platform for speeches by leaders of the University’s labor unions and the Rutgers University Student Assembly. Most of the speakers hit on topics like the faculty wage freeze and the rise in fees and tuition passed to students.

Renegotiating the Newark School System

September 27, 2010

[...]
NTU Not NJEA

It’s important to note that this is the Newark Teachers Union, an arm of the American Federation of Teachers and quite separate and apart in both philosophy and governance from the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) that has become Christie’s favorite political target.

The NTU actually supported the Christie administration’s failed Race to the Top application, which included many of his boldest reforms, a point sometimes lost in Christie’s near-open warfare with the NJEA over the application.

“We’re willing to open the dialogue and do what needs to be done,” said Joseph DelGrosso, the NTU’s president of the past 15 years. “I’m not willing to give up on unionism, but we’re willing to have management meet us half-way.”

Perth Amboy Federation Race/Walk for the Cure

September 25, 2010

Perth Amboy Federation
Perth Amboy Teachers
Race/Walk for the Cure

Rutgers 1 Coalition Asks Management: ‘Got Ethics?’

September 24, 2010

Rutgers 1 Coalition
Prioritize Education
Asks Management: “Got Ethics?”

NTU Creates Global Village

September 03, 2010

Newark Teachers Union
Joe Del Grosso
NTU Creates Global Village

KFT rally against staff layoffs

September 01, 2010

Kean Federation of Teachers
KFT
Picket Against Staff Layoffs

Ledger Article on Layoffs Quotes KFT’s Castiglione and URA’s Millerand

September 01, 2010

-from http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/kean_rutgers_to_lay_off_employ.html

Most of New Jersey’s colleges found ways to make cuts without eliminating employees. Yesterday, several schools — including the New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey City University, the College of New Jersey, Montclair State, William Paterson, Rowan, Ramapo, Richard Stockton and Thomas Edison State College — said they had no plans for layoffs.

At Kean University, officials said the 26 layoffs are a last resort and will not include faculty or campus police.

“The administration asked the union to agree to forgo at least one mandated raise in order to avoid layoffs. That request was denied,” said Stephen Hudik, a Kean spokesman.

James Castiglione, president of the Kean Federation of Teachers, denied his union was asked to forgo raises. He said Kean is laying off staff because the university’s bloated bureaucracy is draining the budget. Union members plan to picket the campus entrance today to protest the cuts.

“This is really a problem of mismanagement of university resources,” Castiglione said.