Update from Doug on 3/17/20………

Fellow AAEA Members,

As we continue to navigate the unfamiliar waters of the current situation, I wanted to share some information with you.

First, as an AAEA member, you will continue to get paid throughout all school closures.  I sent out the language from the Pennsylvania School Code that guarantees this last week.  Do not be confused by what Dr. Prijatelj sent out concerning the need for unemployment after two weeks of pay.  Unfortunately for some of our very valuable educational support staff, they are not covered by the School Code language.  His message was meant for various employees outside of the AAEA.

Second, we must be prepared to make up any and all of these missed days.  Even though PDE and Governor Wolf have declared that the minimum 180-day school year will be waived, it does not mean that make-up days will not be added to the school year.  Current state law mandates that schools cannot extend past June 30, however.

Third, in the interest of social distancing, we will not be holding the initial meeting of the Solidarity-Settlement Team on Thursday as planned.  Once the dust begins to settle, we will figure out how to resume our efforts to settle a fair contract.

Finally, speaking of contract negotiations, we have cancelled our scheduled session for this evening.  At our last bargaining session on February 27, we made some progress on a few language issues in our proposal.  The process has been slow but steady.  As stated earlier at the outset of negotiations, please don’t be tempted by the rumor mill.  Building reps were already given a list of issues that we included in our proposal, but we have yet to share the specifics of the district’s proposal.  As you may have found out from your building reps, we plan to release much more specific information at our AAEA General Membership meeting.  If you have gotten wind of any of the specifics of the district’s proposal, it certainly does not mean that we are going to accept them.  We will accept or reject a final tentative agreement as a union.  Be assured, however, that those that have volunteered to work on your behalf in this process are doing so with EVERY MEMBER’S best interests in mind.  The members of the negotiations committee and the table team will not even bring bad deals your way.  They will continue to work as long as it takes to secure a fair deal that propels us towards our short- and long-term goals.  At our last Executive Committee meeting, we voted to change the date of the General Membership meeting to April 22 instead of April 29.  Obviously, we will continue to monitor the current situation to determine if further changes need to be made, but you should mark your calendar so that you can attend.

As always, if you have any specific questions or needs, please feel free to contact me via email ([email protected]) or by phone (814-207-5580).  I suddenly have a great deal of free time on my hands, so do not think that you are a bother.

Please take care of yourself and your family throughout this situation.

In solidarity,

Doug