Monroe Township Federation activists Corine Stark and Rosemarie Panto join Seth Anderson-Oberman and Tim Haresign in Trenton, Monday, March 4. The group testified in favor of legislation to protect workers in school districts and in higher education when subcontracting is proposed.
Rosemarie said, “Most of my colleagues live in town, as I do, and many have children in the school system. I started working in the district 17 years ago when my daughter and son were both students there. I work with some paraprofessionals who have been in the district for more than 30 years and we are part of the community there.
As our current contract expires and we go back into negotiations, the threat of privatization looms and undercuts our ability to bargain on equal terms with the district. We saw that despite community opposition, our colleagues in neighboring Winslow Township were outsourced after they voted down a contract that offered a 1/3 cut in pay.
I question whether services there have improved for the students as we are the ones who know the kids—their families, their scholastic history—so we are able to meet them at their level and work with the teachers to get the best possible results.
This legislation would provide protection for our members in contract. Our district has already subcontracted out for substitute teachers and we lost consistency from substitutes who we knew from around town, would see on a regular basis, including some who were parents of township students as well.”
Several versions of the subcontracting legislation are now circulating in the Senate. AFTNJ will be monitoring proposed amendments and continuing to advocate for fair measures that protect workers from subcontracting.