AFT, Local 212

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A Message From Local 212 President Michael Rosen:

August 4 , 2006

I hope you are enjoying the summer. We have been very busy at Local 212.

You are probably aware that the administration provided the news media with inaccurate information regarding faculty salary and benefits. As recently as July 26, a columnist in the Journal Sentinel repeated the inflated and erroneous figures!

The administration inflated the average salary for faculty by almost $20,000 more than the real figure ($73,000) computed by the Wisconsin Technical College System. It also underestimated administrative salaries by $20,000! The correct information is available on our website: general fact sheet :: WTCS District Salary Information

This misinformation resulted in the predictable response by conservative commentators and Republican legislators: negative criticism of the college and its faculty.

There are only two possible reasons for the administration’s action: either gross incompetence or a misguided attempt to negotiate the contract through the media by making the faculty and staff look bad.

If it was incompetence, someone should be held accountable. The Cole team has multiplied the money spent on public relations by previous administrations, yet this was nothing if not a PR disaster.

If it was an attempt to bargain with 212 in the press, the administration needs to rethink its approach.

Its actions have hurt MATC, the students and communities we serve but have done nothing to change Local 212’s approach to negotiations.

Many of the college's top administrators are outsiders with no previous experience with unions. But even they should know that America has collective bargaining laws that govern negotiations. We bargain at the negotiating table not through the media! No other administration in the history of the college has tried to gain leverage at the table by providing negative information about the college to the media.

These actions have not changed Local 212’s approach. We have spent much of the summer advocating for the college with legislators and the news media. We believe in MATC, and we won’t join the administration in a gutter game of tearing down the college to score points against the people we’re negotiating with.

Speaking of the real negotiations, I am sad to report very little progress over the summer. While the administration did drop many of its proposals, the most egregious ones remain.

Your bargaining teams have made many proposals to the administration that could save the college millions of dollars. These proposals have been rejected or ignored. The administration seems more interested in publicly attacking its employees to score political points with conservative politicians than in saving real dollars. This is unfortunate, but it’s the reason we have made no progress.

Our goal is to achieve a negotiated and voluntary settlement. We have identified a number of areas where we think we can work with the administration to generate savings without undermining educational quality or professional standards. The administration needs to decide if it wants to play games with the college and its educators’ lives, or if it wants to work collegially to address real issues.

Despite the lack of progress, we are confident that reason will eventually prevail. Your continued support of your bargaining teams is critical to reaching a fair settlement to all our contracts.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. I’ll see you at Coordination Day.

Michael Rosen, President

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