In Tough Times Contracts Can Be Renegotiated

A contract, is a contract, is a contract―until the contract is renegotiated! Then everything should be on the table, and contracts only matter when both sides are willing to negotiate in good faith.

The problem here is the Triborough Amendment. Passed to give public employees a level playing field when they don’t have the right to strike, it maintains the terms and conditions of an expired contract until a new one can be negotiated. At a time when public employees are being asked to give back, unions are using this amendment to stall negotiations.

This tactic has been used at least twice by the Rocky Point teachers’ union in the last ten years. They have been willing to work without a new contract and keep in place all the provisions of the previous contract when it’s to their benefit to do so. Since Rocky Point teachers are currently working under an expired contract, there is no reason they can’t make the concessions needed to allow the district to stay under the tax cap.

As for Miller Place, the current contract doesn’t expire until June 2013. And, legally, the teachers in Miller Place can’t be forced to renegotiate a contract that’s in place. But, for a profession that is already well paid and espouses to be “about the kids,” isn’t there a moral imperative here―to do the right thing even if it’s hard and say, unequivocally, we will renegotiate a contract that’s not sustainable―for the sake of the kids? 

I’m sure you’ve heard people say that renegotiating an existing contract would cause the civil, social and economic cohesion of our society to unravel. But contracts have been restructured without causing the fabric of life to unravel. For instance, last year the Miller Place teachers’ union agreed to an extension of their existing contract. Wasn’t this a change mid-contract? So, here, because it was to their advantage, they had no problem with renegotiating an existing contract.

And let’s not forget the concessions the autoworkers made a few years ago to save GM. The Autoworkers Union agreed to take over health insurance payments not only for working members but also for retired workers. Think of how many school programs could be saved if teachers agreed to do this. Not to mention the relief this would afford to taxpayers. But, here, of course, the contract seems to matter!

So when you go to vote on your school budget this year, the choice is between unaffordable contracts and maintaining programs for the kids―it’s as simple as that.