Hi Everyone -
We had our meeting with the school board last night. Our attendence was moderately good. I believe that there were 50 of us there at the beginning and between 20 and 30 who managed to sit through the 1:10 excutive session. I would have prefered Standing Room Only, but maybe that will come in the future.
We made our comments to the board, Mr. Charles Goodmacher our NEA UniServ and Mr. Eduardo Holguin, our NEA-NM President also addressed the board. The board members seemed in general to be favorably inclined to grant our request for voluntary recognition. Dr. Cockerham recommended not granting voluntary recognition until at least after receiving confirmation from the Public Employee Labor Relations Board that we had met the burden of 30% of the employees wanting collective bargaining.
Board members Joann Salazar and Joe Romero both made comments that indicated they would look favorably on recognizing us voluntarily pending confirmation from the PELRB. There was some talk about creating a local public relations board, Mr. Holguin spoke about that, questioning why we might want to spend a lot of money we don't really have to duplicate something that is available to us all for free, 30 miles away. We shall see where that goes.
On the whole, I was favorably impressed with the reception we recieved by the board and am hopeful that we will be engaged in collective bargaining in the near future. We still need people to do some training. Espanola-NEA is paying the registration fee, and $25 towards expenses (per day) for the first training in Santa Fe (6/15-16) and $100 a day for the second training in Ruidoso (6/22-23). The Santa Fe training is more about building our local and employee rights, the second is more about collective bargainging.
To register for the retreats: go to http://fd2.formdesk.com/NEA-NM/sar1santafe for the Santa Fe training or http://fd2.formdesk.com/NEA-NM/sar2ruidoso for the Ruidoso bargaining training.
I missed the conversation that went on regarding when recognition might be an action item - there was some talk about then next board meeting 6/6 and other talk about a special board meeting on 6/13. I will try and sort this out and post it here.
Thank you to all who showed up last night, and thank you all for your membership and support. Please consider reaching out and being more active. This is how we build success, one member at a time.
Brian
ps. To stay connected over the summer, email home email addresses to espanola.nea@gmail.com and chech this blog regularly.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Hi all –
This is just a reminder – TOMORROW at Carlos F. Vigil Middle-High School – We, that is Espanola-NEA is meeting with the District School Board to discuss their option of voluntarily recognizing us as the exclusive bargaining agent for the EPS employees. They will be looking for us to present good, sound reasonable reasons for them to do as we ask.
I can think of no better reason than 400+ employees, in a Standing Room Only meeting, all of us asking them to do so.
Please Be There!
4 pm, CFVMHS Auditorium
Wednesday, 5/23/2007
Thank you – I hope to see you there.
Brian
Brian Every
President Espanola-NEA
United We Bargain - Divided We Beg!
Please note emails with this signature and the replies are considered public communications.
505-753-7357 x503
espanola.nea@gmail.com
http://espanolaeducators.blogspot.com
This is just a reminder – TOMORROW at Carlos F. Vigil Middle-High School – We, that is Espanola-NEA is meeting with the District School Board to discuss their option of voluntarily recognizing us as the exclusive bargaining agent for the EPS employees. They will be looking for us to present good, sound reasonable reasons for them to do as we ask.
I can think of no better reason than 400+ employees, in a Standing Room Only meeting, all of us asking them to do so.
Please Be There!
4 pm, CFVMHS Auditorium
Wednesday, 5/23/2007
Thank you – I hope to see you there.
Brian
Brian Every
President Espanola-NEA
United We Bargain - Divided We Beg!
Please note emails with this signature and the replies are considered public communications.
505-753-7357 x503
espanola.nea@gmail.com
http://espanolaeducators.blogspot.com
Friday, May 11, 2007
Meeting Minutes and Letter to Super and Board President
Minutes from last nights meeting - (Letter to the Superintendent and Board President follows)
May 10, 2007 4:30 P.M.
Española Valley High School Room 503
The regular monthly meeting of the Española NEA was duly called to order by Brian Every, president.
In attendance were Lucille Martinez-Holguin, Edward Holguin (President NEA-NM), Brian Every, Michael Lapcevic, Michael Trujillo, Michael Throne, Damon McGinn, Rebecca Caudill, Karen Martinez, Theresa Chavez, Beverly Averitt, John Reese and Eileen Ulibarri.
New Business:
· John Reese is working on updating our local membership roster into a data base.
· NEA-Española filed on Monday with the State Labor Board to become the sole bargaining agent for Española School employees.
· The card drive was extremely successful. So far 77% of the employees have opted to have Española NEA as their Collective Bargaining agent.
· CVMS has returned very few cards. We are hoping that someone at that school is getting the cards signed.
· Brian Every is e-mailing a letter to the School Board members and the Superintendent on Friday, May 11, 2007. He will be informing them of the petition to be the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district and giving them the opportunity to accept us as the bargaining agent.
· We are on the School Board agenda on the 15th of May. We are asking for as many of our members as possible to attend this very important meeting.
· We still need to set up a committee for Employee Rights to ensure that the agreements we reach will be enforced. Anyone interested in being on this committee please e-mail Brian Every.
· July 9, 2007, has been set for CB training at the local level.
· Lucille Holguin made a motion to allow a $100 per day per diem for the Ruidoso training on Collective Bargaining, pay for registration for the Ruidoso and the Santa Fe trainings with a budget allocation of $25 of SAR training. The motion was seconded by Rebecca Caudill. Motion passed.
· Brian is looking into the possibility of renting a large van for transportation to Ruidoso.
· The following individuals have volunteered to help on the Bargaining Team or the Support team; Eugenia Cornelius, Lucille Holguin, Paulette Lopez, Beverly Averitt, Michael Trujillo, Michael Lapcevic, Brian Every, Andrea Schelter, Michael Throne, Rebecca Caudill, Janelle Guitierrez, Eileen Ulibarri, Laurel Fain, Pat Littlefield, and Karen Martinez.
Michael Throne moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Brian. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 P.M.
Letter to the Superintendent and Board President -
Superintendent David Cockerham
And President Andrew Chavez, Board of Education
Española Public Schools
714 Calle Don Diego
Española, NM 87532
Friday, May 11, 2007
Superintendent Cockerham and President Chavez:
The Española – National Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association – New Mexico is hereby notifying the Española Public Schools that this Monday, May 7, 2007 we filed a Petition for Certification as the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district.
We presented authorization cards from a vast majority (seventy percent) of the employees in the district wide bargaining unit to the State of New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB), along with the petition. Since Monday, additional cards have been collected, so the final tally of signatures from district employees asking for recognition of our Association as their bargaining agent will exceed seventy-five percent of the employees eligible to be included in the unit. The PELRB will be in touch with the district regarding the filing.
It is our sincere hope that our new collective bargaining relationship will be a major positive step toward increasing student achievement for our district’s students.
We are asking that the Española Public Schools voluntarily recognize the certified and classified school employee positions listed in the petition for the purposes of collective bargaining. Some districts have taken this step through action at their board meetings, then communicating such action to the PELRB. In the absence of voluntary recognition, we ask that the school district agree to a petition card count showing the Espanola-NEA majority status.
We ask that voluntary recognition from the School Board of Espanola-NEA be an action item at your next Board meeting. We also ask for time on the agenda both during the discussion on the action item and during public comment so that our leadership and interested employees may speak to the issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Every
President, Espanola-NEA
Note – Hard copies of this letter to follow via USPS
May 10, 2007 4:30 P.M.
Española Valley High School Room 503
The regular monthly meeting of the Española NEA was duly called to order by Brian Every, president.
In attendance were Lucille Martinez-Holguin, Edward Holguin (President NEA-NM), Brian Every, Michael Lapcevic, Michael Trujillo, Michael Throne, Damon McGinn, Rebecca Caudill, Karen Martinez, Theresa Chavez, Beverly Averitt, John Reese and Eileen Ulibarri.
New Business:
· John Reese is working on updating our local membership roster into a data base.
· NEA-Española filed on Monday with the State Labor Board to become the sole bargaining agent for Española School employees.
· The card drive was extremely successful. So far 77% of the employees have opted to have Española NEA as their Collective Bargaining agent.
· CVMS has returned very few cards. We are hoping that someone at that school is getting the cards signed.
· Brian Every is e-mailing a letter to the School Board members and the Superintendent on Friday, May 11, 2007. He will be informing them of the petition to be the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district and giving them the opportunity to accept us as the bargaining agent.
· We are on the School Board agenda on the 15th of May. We are asking for as many of our members as possible to attend this very important meeting.
· We still need to set up a committee for Employee Rights to ensure that the agreements we reach will be enforced. Anyone interested in being on this committee please e-mail Brian Every.
· July 9, 2007, has been set for CB training at the local level.
· Lucille Holguin made a motion to allow a $100 per day per diem for the Ruidoso training on Collective Bargaining, pay for registration for the Ruidoso and the Santa Fe trainings with a budget allocation of $25 of SAR training. The motion was seconded by Rebecca Caudill. Motion passed.
· Brian is looking into the possibility of renting a large van for transportation to Ruidoso.
· The following individuals have volunteered to help on the Bargaining Team or the Support team; Eugenia Cornelius, Lucille Holguin, Paulette Lopez, Beverly Averitt, Michael Trujillo, Michael Lapcevic, Brian Every, Andrea Schelter, Michael Throne, Rebecca Caudill, Janelle Guitierrez, Eileen Ulibarri, Laurel Fain, Pat Littlefield, and Karen Martinez.
Michael Throne moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Brian. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 P.M.
Letter to the Superintendent and Board President -
Superintendent David Cockerham
And President Andrew Chavez, Board of Education
Española Public Schools
714 Calle Don Diego
Española, NM 87532
Friday, May 11, 2007
Superintendent Cockerham and President Chavez:
The Española – National Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association – New Mexico is hereby notifying the Española Public Schools that this Monday, May 7, 2007 we filed a Petition for Certification as the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district.
We presented authorization cards from a vast majority (seventy percent) of the employees in the district wide bargaining unit to the State of New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB), along with the petition. Since Monday, additional cards have been collected, so the final tally of signatures from district employees asking for recognition of our Association as their bargaining agent will exceed seventy-five percent of the employees eligible to be included in the unit. The PELRB will be in touch with the district regarding the filing.
It is our sincere hope that our new collective bargaining relationship will be a major positive step toward increasing student achievement for our district’s students.
We are asking that the Española Public Schools voluntarily recognize the certified and classified school employee positions listed in the petition for the purposes of collective bargaining. Some districts have taken this step through action at their board meetings, then communicating such action to the PELRB. In the absence of voluntary recognition, we ask that the school district agree to a petition card count showing the Espanola-NEA majority status.
We ask that voluntary recognition from the School Board of Espanola-NEA be an action item at your next Board meeting. We also ask for time on the agenda both during the discussion on the action item and during public comment so that our leadership and interested employees may speak to the issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Every
President, Espanola-NEA
Note – Hard copies of this letter to follow via USPS
Meeting Minutes and Letter to Super and Board President
Minutes from last nights meeting - (Letter to the Superintendent and Board President follows)
May 10, 2007 4:30 P.M.
Española Valley High School Room 503
The regular monthly meeting of the Española NEA was duly called to order by Brian Every, president.
In attendance were Lucille Martinez-Holguin, Edward Holguin (President NEA-NM), Brian Every, Michael Lapcevic, Michael Trujillo, Michael Throne, Damon McGinn, Rebecca Caudill, Karen Martinez, Theresa Chavez, Beverly Averitt, John Reese and Eileen Ulibarri.
New Business:
· John Reese is working on updating our local membership roster into a data base.
· NEA-Española filed on Monday with the State Labor Board to become the sole bargaining agent for Española School employees.
· The card drive was extremely successful. So far 77% of the employees have opted to have Española NEA as their Collective Bargaining agent.
· CVMS has returned very few cards. We are hoping that someone at that school is getting the cards signed.
· Brian Every is e-mailing a letter to the School Board members and the Superintendent on Friday, May 11, 2007. He will be informing them of the petition to be the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district and giving them the opportunity to accept us as the bargaining agent.
· We are on the School Board agenda on the 15th of May. We are asking for as many of our members as possible to attend this very important meeting.
· We still need to set up a committee for Employee Rights to ensure that the agreements we reach will be enforced. Anyone interested in being on this committee please e-mail Brian Every.
· July 9, 2007, has been set for CB training at the local level.
· Lucille Holguin made a motion to allow a $100 per day per diem for the Ruidoso training on Collective Bargaining, pay for registration for the Ruidoso and the Santa Fe trainings with a budget allocation of $25 of SAR training. The motion was seconded by Rebecca Caudill. Motion passed.
· Brian is looking into the possibility of renting a large van for transportation to Ruidoso.
· The following individuals have volunteered to help on the Bargaining Team or the Support team; Eugenia Cornelius, Lucille Holguin, Paulette Lopez, Beverly Averitt, Michael Trujillo, Michael Lapcevic, Brian Every, Andrea Schelter, Michael Throne, Rebecca Caudill, Janelle Guitierrez, Eileen Ulibarri, Laurel Fain, Pat Littlefield, and Karen Martinez.
Michael Throne moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Brian. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 P.M.
Letter to the Superintendent and Board President -
Superintendent David Cockerham
And President Andrew Chavez, Board of Education
Española Public Schools
714 Calle Don Diego
Española, NM 87532
Friday, May 11, 2007
Superintendent Cockerham and President Chavez:
The Española – National Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association – New Mexico is hereby notifying the Española Public Schools that this Monday, May 7, 2007 we filed a Petition for Certification as the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district.
We presented authorization cards from a vast majority (seventy percent) of the employees in the district wide bargaining unit to the State of New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB), along with the petition. Since Monday, additional cards have been collected, so the final tally of signatures from district employees asking for recognition of our Association as their bargaining agent will exceed seventy-five percent of the employees eligible to be included in the unit. The PELRB will be in touch with the district regarding the filing.
It is our sincere hope that our new collective bargaining relationship will be a major positive step toward increasing student achievement for our district’s students.
We are asking that the Española Public Schools voluntarily recognize the certified and classified school employee positions listed in the petition for the purposes of collective bargaining. Some districts have taken this step through action at their board meetings, then communicating such action to the PELRB. In the absence of voluntary recognition, we ask that the school district agree to a petition card count showing the Espanola-NEA majority status.
We ask that voluntary recognition from the School Board of Espanola-NEA be an action item at your next Board meeting. We also ask for time on the agenda both during the discussion on the action item and during public comment so that our leadership and interested employees may speak to the issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Every
President, Espanola-NEA
Note – Hard copies of this letter to follow via USPS
May 10, 2007 4:30 P.M.
Española Valley High School Room 503
The regular monthly meeting of the Española NEA was duly called to order by Brian Every, president.
In attendance were Lucille Martinez-Holguin, Edward Holguin (President NEA-NM), Brian Every, Michael Lapcevic, Michael Trujillo, Michael Throne, Damon McGinn, Rebecca Caudill, Karen Martinez, Theresa Chavez, Beverly Averitt, John Reese and Eileen Ulibarri.
New Business:
· John Reese is working on updating our local membership roster into a data base.
· NEA-Española filed on Monday with the State Labor Board to become the sole bargaining agent for Española School employees.
· The card drive was extremely successful. So far 77% of the employees have opted to have Española NEA as their Collective Bargaining agent.
· CVMS has returned very few cards. We are hoping that someone at that school is getting the cards signed.
· Brian Every is e-mailing a letter to the School Board members and the Superintendent on Friday, May 11, 2007. He will be informing them of the petition to be the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district and giving them the opportunity to accept us as the bargaining agent.
· We are on the School Board agenda on the 15th of May. We are asking for as many of our members as possible to attend this very important meeting.
· We still need to set up a committee for Employee Rights to ensure that the agreements we reach will be enforced. Anyone interested in being on this committee please e-mail Brian Every.
· July 9, 2007, has been set for CB training at the local level.
· Lucille Holguin made a motion to allow a $100 per day per diem for the Ruidoso training on Collective Bargaining, pay for registration for the Ruidoso and the Santa Fe trainings with a budget allocation of $25 of SAR training. The motion was seconded by Rebecca Caudill. Motion passed.
· Brian is looking into the possibility of renting a large van for transportation to Ruidoso.
· The following individuals have volunteered to help on the Bargaining Team or the Support team; Eugenia Cornelius, Lucille Holguin, Paulette Lopez, Beverly Averitt, Michael Trujillo, Michael Lapcevic, Brian Every, Andrea Schelter, Michael Throne, Rebecca Caudill, Janelle Guitierrez, Eileen Ulibarri, Laurel Fain, Pat Littlefield, and Karen Martinez.
Michael Throne moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Brian. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 P.M.
Letter to the Superintendent and Board President -
Superintendent David Cockerham
And President Andrew Chavez, Board of Education
Española Public Schools
714 Calle Don Diego
Española, NM 87532
Friday, May 11, 2007
Superintendent Cockerham and President Chavez:
The Española – National Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association – New Mexico is hereby notifying the Española Public Schools that this Monday, May 7, 2007 we filed a Petition for Certification as the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district.
We presented authorization cards from a vast majority (seventy percent) of the employees in the district wide bargaining unit to the State of New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB), along with the petition. Since Monday, additional cards have been collected, so the final tally of signatures from district employees asking for recognition of our Association as their bargaining agent will exceed seventy-five percent of the employees eligible to be included in the unit. The PELRB will be in touch with the district regarding the filing.
It is our sincere hope that our new collective bargaining relationship will be a major positive step toward increasing student achievement for our district’s students.
We are asking that the Española Public Schools voluntarily recognize the certified and classified school employee positions listed in the petition for the purposes of collective bargaining. Some districts have taken this step through action at their board meetings, then communicating such action to the PELRB. In the absence of voluntary recognition, we ask that the school district agree to a petition card count showing the Espanola-NEA majority status.
We ask that voluntary recognition from the School Board of Espanola-NEA be an action item at your next Board meeting. We also ask for time on the agenda both during the discussion on the action item and during public comment so that our leadership and interested employees may speak to the issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Every
President, Espanola-NEA
Note – Hard copies of this letter to follow via USPS
Minutes from last nights meeting - (Letter to the Superintendent and Board President follows)
May 10, 2007 4:30 P.M.
Española Valley High School Room 503
The regular monthly meeting of the Española NEA was duly called to order by Brian Every, president.
In attendance were Lucille Martinez-Holguin, Edward Holguin (President NEA-NM), Brian Every, Michael Lapcevic, Michael Trujillo, Michael Throne, Damon McGinn, Rebecca Caudill, Karen Martinez, Theresa Chavez, Beverly Averitt, John Reese and Eileen Ulibarri.
New Business:
· John Reese is working on updating our local membership roster into a data base.
· NEA-Española filed on Monday with the State Labor Board to become the sole bargaining agent for Española School employees.
· The card drive was extremely successful. So far 77% of the employees have opted to have Española NEA as their Collective Bargaining agent.
· CVMS has returned very few cards. We are hoping that someone at that school is getting the cards signed.
· Brian Every is e-mailing a letter to the School Board members and the Superintendent on Friday, May 11, 2007. He will be informing them of the petition to be the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district and giving them the opportunity to accept us as the bargaining agent.
· We are on the School Board agenda on the 15th of May. We are asking for as many of our members as possible to attend this very important meeting.
· We still need to set up a committee for Employee Rights to ensure that the agreements we reach will be enforced. Anyone interested in being on this committee please e-mail Brian Every.
· July 9, 2007, has been set for CB training at the local level.
· Lucille Holguin made a motion to allow a $100 per day per diem for the Ruidoso training on Collective Bargaining, pay for registration for the Ruidoso and the Santa Fe trainings with a budget allocation of $25 of SAR training. The motion was seconded by Rebecca Caudill. Motion passed.
· Brian is looking into the possibility of renting a large van for transportation to Ruidoso.
· The following individuals have volunteered to help on the Bargaining Team or the Support team; Eugenia Cornelius, Lucille Holguin, Paulette Lopez, Beverly Averitt, Michael Trujillo, Michael Lapcevic, Brian Every, Andrea Schelter, Michael Throne, Rebecca Caudill, Janelle Guitierrez, Eileen Ulibarri, Laurel Fain, Pat Littlefield, and Karen Martinez.
Michael Throne moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Brian. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 P.M.
Letter to the Superintendent and Board President -
Superintendent David Cockerham
And President Andrew Chavez, Board of Education
Española Public Schools
714 Calle Don Diego
Española, NM 87532
Friday, May 11, 2007
Superintendent Cockerham and President Chavez:
The Española – National Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association – New Mexico is hereby notifying the Española Public Schools that this Monday, May 7, 2007 we filed a Petition for Certification as the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district.
We presented authorization cards from a vast majority (seventy percent) of the employees in the district wide bargaining unit to the State of New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB), along with the petition. Since Monday, additional cards have been collected, so the final tally of signatures from district employees asking for recognition of our Association as their bargaining agent will exceed seventy-five percent of the employees eligible to be included in the unit. The PELRB will be in touch with the district regarding the filing.
It is our sincere hope that our new collective bargaining relationship will be a major positive step toward increasing student achievement for our district’s students.
We are asking that the Española Public Schools voluntarily recognize the certified and classified school employee positions listed in the petition for the purposes of collective bargaining. Some districts have taken this step through action at their board meetings, then communicating such action to the PELRB. In the absence of voluntary recognition, we ask that the school district agree to a petition card count showing the Espanola-NEA majority status.
We ask that voluntary recognition from the School Board of Espanola-NEA be an action item at your next Board meeting. We also ask for time on the agenda both during the discussion on the action item and during public comment so that our leadership and interested employees may speak to the issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Every
President, Espanola-NEA
Note – Hard copies of this letter to follow via USPS
May 10, 2007 4:30 P.M.
Española Valley High School Room 503
The regular monthly meeting of the Española NEA was duly called to order by Brian Every, president.
In attendance were Lucille Martinez-Holguin, Edward Holguin (President NEA-NM), Brian Every, Michael Lapcevic, Michael Trujillo, Michael Throne, Damon McGinn, Rebecca Caudill, Karen Martinez, Theresa Chavez, Beverly Averitt, John Reese and Eileen Ulibarri.
New Business:
· John Reese is working on updating our local membership roster into a data base.
· NEA-Española filed on Monday with the State Labor Board to become the sole bargaining agent for Española School employees.
· The card drive was extremely successful. So far 77% of the employees have opted to have Española NEA as their Collective Bargaining agent.
· CVMS has returned very few cards. We are hoping that someone at that school is getting the cards signed.
· Brian Every is e-mailing a letter to the School Board members and the Superintendent on Friday, May 11, 2007. He will be informing them of the petition to be the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district and giving them the opportunity to accept us as the bargaining agent.
· We are on the School Board agenda on the 15th of May. We are asking for as many of our members as possible to attend this very important meeting.
· We still need to set up a committee for Employee Rights to ensure that the agreements we reach will be enforced. Anyone interested in being on this committee please e-mail Brian Every.
· July 9, 2007, has been set for CB training at the local level.
· Lucille Holguin made a motion to allow a $100 per day per diem for the Ruidoso training on Collective Bargaining, pay for registration for the Ruidoso and the Santa Fe trainings with a budget allocation of $25 of SAR training. The motion was seconded by Rebecca Caudill. Motion passed.
· Brian is looking into the possibility of renting a large van for transportation to Ruidoso.
· The following individuals have volunteered to help on the Bargaining Team or the Support team; Eugenia Cornelius, Lucille Holguin, Paulette Lopez, Beverly Averitt, Michael Trujillo, Michael Lapcevic, Brian Every, Andrea Schelter, Michael Throne, Rebecca Caudill, Janelle Guitierrez, Eileen Ulibarri, Laurel Fain, Pat Littlefield, and Karen Martinez.
Michael Throne moved that the meeting be adjourned. The motion was seconded by Brian. The meeting adjourned at 5:35 P.M.
Letter to the Superintendent and Board President -
Superintendent David Cockerham
And President Andrew Chavez, Board of Education
Española Public Schools
714 Calle Don Diego
Española, NM 87532
Friday, May 11, 2007
Superintendent Cockerham and President Chavez:
The Española – National Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association – New Mexico is hereby notifying the Española Public Schools that this Monday, May 7, 2007 we filed a Petition for Certification as the exclusive representative for Collective Bargaining with the district.
We presented authorization cards from a vast majority (seventy percent) of the employees in the district wide bargaining unit to the State of New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB), along with the petition. Since Monday, additional cards have been collected, so the final tally of signatures from district employees asking for recognition of our Association as their bargaining agent will exceed seventy-five percent of the employees eligible to be included in the unit. The PELRB will be in touch with the district regarding the filing.
It is our sincere hope that our new collective bargaining relationship will be a major positive step toward increasing student achievement for our district’s students.
We are asking that the Española Public Schools voluntarily recognize the certified and classified school employee positions listed in the petition for the purposes of collective bargaining. Some districts have taken this step through action at their board meetings, then communicating such action to the PELRB. In the absence of voluntary recognition, we ask that the school district agree to a petition card count showing the Espanola-NEA majority status.
We ask that voluntary recognition from the School Board of Espanola-NEA be an action item at your next Board meeting. We also ask for time on the agenda both during the discussion on the action item and during public comment so that our leadership and interested employees may speak to the issue.
Respectfully submitted,
Brian Every
President, Espanola-NEA
Note – Hard copies of this letter to follow via USPS
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Petition Filed!
It is getting to be time to plan the party. I am not a big party person...so I would welcome some volunteers to plan it. Send an email to espanola.nea@gmail.com with Plan Party in the subject line and we will get back to you on doing that!
We filed our petition to the labor board on Monday (5/7) with 70% of all the district employees having signed a card. At that time we did not have all the cards from Hernandez or from CVMS - since then we have gotten the cards from Hernandez - A great big Hurrah! for them with 100% signed. Our unofficial count with them included makes 77.8% in the district and we are still waiting for CVMS - I hope their cards will take us over the 80% mark! We will file an amended petition when we have all the cards we are expecting, so if you have any or know of any just waiting to get to me...please let me know and let's get this DONE!
I want to thank each and every one of you for all of your efforts. We are working hard to make our professional lives fulfilling and enjoyable and it is clear from the overwhelming response to the card drive that everyone wants to make a change.
While 80% (approx) of the district employees are willing to sign a card to help make a change, membership is considerably lower - We need to continue asking people to sign up - we are now in the early enrollment phase for the 2007-2008 school year. Enrolling as a member using the "Early Enrollment" form found at www.nea-nm.org costs nothing for the remainder of this year, but is a commitment to remain a member through the 2007-2008 year at regular membership dues. There are a lot of benefits for being a member, not the least of which is a say in what we bargain for, and whether or not to accept the bargain that is made.
Please ask a non-member colleague to join today.
We filed our petition to the labor board on Monday (5/7) with 70% of all the district employees having signed a card. At that time we did not have all the cards from Hernandez or from CVMS - since then we have gotten the cards from Hernandez - A great big Hurrah! for them with 100% signed. Our unofficial count with them included makes 77.8% in the district and we are still waiting for CVMS - I hope their cards will take us over the 80% mark! We will file an amended petition when we have all the cards we are expecting, so if you have any or know of any just waiting to get to me...please let me know and let's get this DONE!
I want to thank each and every one of you for all of your efforts. We are working hard to make our professional lives fulfilling and enjoyable and it is clear from the overwhelming response to the card drive that everyone wants to make a change.
While 80% (approx) of the district employees are willing to sign a card to help make a change, membership is considerably lower - We need to continue asking people to sign up - we are now in the early enrollment phase for the 2007-2008 school year. Enrolling as a member using the "Early Enrollment" form found at www.nea-nm.org costs nothing for the remainder of this year, but is a commitment to remain a member through the 2007-2008 year at regular membership dues. There are a lot of benefits for being a member, not the least of which is a say in what we bargain for, and whether or not to accept the bargain that is made.
Please ask a non-member colleague to join today.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Card Drive Successful!
Congratulations Espanola-NEA!
While we still have a few errant cards out there waiting to find their way into our hands - we have achieved and surpassed our baseline goal of 60% of the district employees signing the cards.
This is quite an achievement and is making waves or at least ripples across the state. Below is posted the results from all buildings, those in yellow we have the report of the cards being collected but have not yet received them. We have one school we are still waiting on but we hope they will have it all for us by next Thursday as that is the day we intend to call the card drive over, and submit our petition to the State Labor Board. With out that building we still have approximately 72.5% - with that school I hope to pass the 80% mark!
The next step is to present the labor board with our petition for Certification. When they certify it we go to the School Board - where we expect they will accept us as the bargaining agent for EPS employees. We have reason to expect that because all of the candidates at our forum prior to the election said they supported NEA and Collective Bargaining.
The NEXT and LAST general meeting for this school year is next week May 10, 4:30 PM, room 503 at EVHS. Please come, bring more cards if you know of anyone who has yet to turn them in, and give us your input and feedback re what we need to be putting on the table after certification.
Special Kudos to Sombrillo, Chimayo, and EMSE for achieving 100% in the card drive. That means every single eligible employee agreed that Espanola-NEA could bargain for them. A Job Well Done to Los Ninos who had all but one eligible employee signing the cards. There are some seriously dedicated staff!
Please check this space through out the summer as I will try hard to keep you all informed of developments as they occur. This process is likely to take a month or two - before we even start bargaining - and there may come a time when I will need to ask you for some help. I hope you will be there for us.
If I don't see you on Thursday - Have a great summer!
Brian
While we still have a few errant cards out there waiting to find their way into our hands - we have achieved and surpassed our baseline goal of 60% of the district employees signing the cards.
This is quite an achievement and is making waves or at least ripples across the state. Below is posted the results from all buildings, those in yellow we have the report of the cards being collected but have not yet received them. We have one school we are still waiting on but we hope they will have it all for us by next Thursday as that is the day we intend to call the card drive over, and submit our petition to the State Labor Board. With out that building we still have approximately 72.5% - with that school I hope to pass the 80% mark!
The next step is to present the labor board with our petition for Certification. When they certify it we go to the School Board - where we expect they will accept us as the bargaining agent for EPS employees. We have reason to expect that because all of the candidates at our forum prior to the election said they supported NEA and Collective Bargaining.
Abiquiu 73%
Alcalde 74%
Central Office 87%
Chimayo 100%
CVMS 3%
Dixon 82%
EMSE 100%
EVHS 85%
Fairview 87%
Hernandez 67%
JHR 68%
Los Ninos 97%
Mountain View 77%
San Juan 52%
Sombrillo 100%
Velarde 67%
Total 73%
The NEXT and LAST general meeting for this school year is next week May 10, 4:30 PM, room 503 at EVHS. Please come, bring more cards if you know of anyone who has yet to turn them in, and give us your input and feedback re what we need to be putting on the table after certification.
Special Kudos to Sombrillo, Chimayo, and EMSE for achieving 100% in the card drive. That means every single eligible employee agreed that Espanola-NEA could bargain for them. A Job Well Done to Los Ninos who had all but one eligible employee signing the cards. There are some seriously dedicated staff!
Please check this space through out the summer as I will try hard to keep you all informed of developments as they occur. This process is likely to take a month or two - before we even start bargaining - and there may come a time when I will need to ask you for some help. I hope you will be there for us.
If I don't see you on Thursday - Have a great summer!
Brian
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