North Bergen teachers take pride in working together for the good of our students and in standing up for each other. We hope to convey that spirit of cooperation to our students, knowing that collaboration with their peers will play a part in their future success whether in higher education or at work.
That is one reason I was very surprised and dismayed to read Larry Wainstein’s letter on Saturday, March 11th, taking credit for being the voice of the teachers of North Bergen and for helping to bring the contract negotiations to an end. The North Bergen Federation of Teachers’ (NBFT) negotiating team and the Board of Education’s negotiating team had been meeting regularly since January of 2016 at the time of the February 15th Board meeting attended by Mr.Wainstein. The negotiations were very long and at times very contentious and had reached a stalemate towards the end of January 2017.
During the course of the negotiations the NBFT initiated many actions to put pressure on the Board to continue working toward a resolution of the negotiations. Some of those actions included handing out flyers informing the townspeople that the teachers were working without a contract, showing solidarity with the NBFT’s negotiating team by wearing blue on designated school days, and finally having over 250 teachers attend the February Board of Education meeting. At that meeting I, in my capacity as president, spoke on behalf of the teachers and clerks, not Mr. Wainstein.
We thank the many community members who answered our call to reach out to the Board and ask them to reach a fair settlement with us. No one individual can rightfully claim credit for bringing complex negotiations to a settlement–it is the result of people who care putting aside their personal agendas and working together to focus on students instead of politics.
Elizabeth Lynch, President
North Bergen Federation of Teachers
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