Now is the time to bargain the contracts we deserve
The negotiations for our new contracts this spring are the chance to complete the work that started a year ago when so many of us campaigned to elect the first pro-education majorities to lead state government in a decade. We cannot let this almost once-in-a-generation opportunity get away.
As I write this, Gov. Tim Walz and the leaders of the House and Senate are planning a multi-billion-dollar increase in spending on education from preschool to college. But it won’t matter if we don’t get our contracts right this spring.
If we accept status quo contracts, it won’t matter.
If we allow punishing working conditions to continue, it won’t matter.
If don’t retain today’s educators and recruit tomorrow’s, it won’t matter.
We must come together to negotiate contracts that improve lives and change the trajectory of our profession.
Educators are stretched too thin to do our jobs. We cannot give the time and care our students need when classrooms are overcrowded and understaffed with education support professionals.
We cannot provide a well-rounded education when there aren’t enough educators to offer band, art, technical education and the other classes that bring joy and meaning to so many students.
It breaks our hearts to see students with obvious mental health needs unable to access overwhelmed and under-resourced mental health teams.
We’re losing too many promising young educators who can’t pay their bills on a district paycheck and we’re preventing too many veterans from retiring on their own terms because of an unfair and insufficient pension system.
Now is the time to express our collective power at the bargaining table to make life-changing improvements in the lives of educators and students.
Now is the time to express our collective power at the bargaining table to make life-changing improvements in the lives of educators and students. Our union is here with its resources and expertise to help you make it happen.
We can’t change 12-percent inflation in the past two years, but we can negotiate for more than 2% and 2% contracts this year.
It is a fact that the state’s per-pupil spending is down 20 percent in 20 years after inflation, but in 2023 we can influence how the new money will rebuild our worksites.
Nearly four of every 10 Minnesotans with a teaching license aren’t teaching anymore – but we can change the trend.
This is a bargaining season to be bold, to know our worth, to demand respect, to use all our skills, to harness the power of collective action and to win the contracts we deserve.
While the Legislature is still in session, it is too soon to accept at face value administrators who say there’s no money.
As bargaining season begins in earnest, Education Minnesota locals can grow stronger together by promising to hold one another accountable. Do not settle too quickly or for less than you’re worth because it will hurt every local still negotiating. The first 50 settlements this year will set the bar for every other local.
And most of all, do come together as educators from across worksites and regions to bargain for contracts that reflect the urgency of the moment and the commitment of our elected officials in the value of public education and the people who deliver it.
Now is the time to demand the best contract you’ve ever ratified.
Together,
Denise Specht
Twitter: @DeniseSpecht
