CB Update

Hi Everyone -

As usual there is a lot going on, and nothing happening all at the same time. Our bid for collective bargaining is on schedule - the school board has decided to form a local labor board. This does not stop or slow down our bid for CB at all as I understand it. What does slow us down is their refusal to voluntarily grant us bargaining rights. This is OK. We have a meeting on the 21st of June at the PELRB where an election date will be set. This will most likely be sometime in August or September. The big deal on the election will be to get everyone to vote. It will be a secret ballot vote, just as all other elections are. The election will most likely be overseen by the County Clerk's office.

It is very important when we get to the election that EVERYONE VOTE! So please, when election time rolls around...make sure everyone you know goes and votes. This is your constitutional and legal right here in NM to engage in Collective Bargaining. Naturally I am hoping you will vote in favor of Espanola-NEA being your exclusive bargaining agent, but I would rather that you voted no, than you didn't vote at all.

So that is where we are now. I will know more after the meeting at PELRB and will give an up date by next weekend. I would love to get the update posted on Thursday but I will be en route to Ruidoso for more NEA Training...Collective Bargaining training actually, and am writing this while at an NEA training learning about employee rights and due process. I will try hard to be at the board meetng this coming Wednesday, but I don't expect to be asked or allowed to speak.

I hope to see some of you there regardless. We need the board to see that we are there and that we care. After all, we are the experts in education...that is what our degrees say.