Dec 17, 2010

WTU Insists Teachers Should Be Paid !

On Wednesday, December 16 the Washington Teachers’ Union received complaints from members that due to an administrative error teachers and school personnel at Mann Elementary school located at 4430 Newark Street NW would not receive a full paycheck owed them on December 17, 2010. One Mann Elementary school staffer led a valiant effort to try to get teachers their checks on time. Unfortunately many reasonable suggestions to this problem were rejected.

The WTU diligently worked on behalf of our members starting Wednesday and insisted that teachers and school staff should receive a supplemental check prior to going on leave for the holidays. Unfortunately, due to new rules the DCPS payroll office is no longer able to issue supplemental checks within 24 hours.

As a result of the numerous phone calls and emails made by our office to internal DCPS offices and the Office of the Deputy Chancellor, our persistence paid off and Mann school staff did not have to wait until December 23, the date slated for them to receive the other half of their pay. The WTU was able to facilitate our members getting paid effective December 17. I have learned that staff from Mann were called to the school to pick up their supplemental paychecks on Friday evening and could retrieve their checks as late as 11 p.m. In addition, arrangements were made for staff who were unable to pick up their checks on Friday evening to be able to pick up their checks at the school on Saturday, December 18.

This is a happy ending to what could have been a disaster for many staff especially during the holidays. The WTU is happy to have been able to assist in advocating for our members.

Candi Peterson
WTU General Vice President

Dec 12, 2010

New Beginnings

From the desk of Candi Peterson:

December 1 marked a new beginning for me as the WTU General Vice President. During the past two years as the writer of this blog, I have enjoyed confronting stormy subjects on public education with readers by my side on a weekly basis. Topics here ranged from former DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, to performance based excessing, unprincipled principals, inside teacher stories, and "holdover" union officials. I have frequently said this blog was never intended to be a permanent dwelling place and first started out with me trying to dispel myths about the red and green teachers contract proposal and later morphed into an online voice for teachers.

I believe you can’t stand still in one place forever or it becomes a comfort zone. Don’t get me wrong, I'm not through with blogging at least not yet but in my new role- more of my time will be spent seeking resolutions to teachers complaints. After all, that’s what I get paid to do. As I work to earn my sea legs in my new position, I'd be interested in hearing your suggestions on how we can improve the quality of union membership services to teachers and school personnel. Feel free to jot me a line or leave a post here.

In keeping with our campaign promise, the Washington Teacher's Union (WTU) will host a December membership meeting and holiday social on Thursday, December 16, 2010 from 4-7:30 pm. Hope you will join us. Here's the invitation:


WTU Resized Logo
Please join
President Nathan Saunders, Officers, Executive Board Members,
Board of Trustees and Staff

of the

Washington Teachers' Union
for a
WTU General Membership Meeting
and

Holiday Party
St. Francis Hall
1340 Quincy Street, NE
Washington, DC 20017

Music, Food and Fun for All
Free on-site Parking Available
Thursday, December 16, 2010

4:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Refreshments will be served

We hope you will join us to meet the new WTU leadership, celebrate the holidays, and receive your WTU holiday token.

Raffle Drawings for holiday gifts promises to be a welcome treat.

Every teacher that attends our event will be counted towards the WTU's donation of toys for needy children in the district.
RSVP Preferred
Please
RSVP by Tuesday, December 14th,
by email at info@wtulocal6.org or by phone at (202) 293-8600

Dec 5, 2010

Installation of WTU Officers -December 1, 2010

The installation of WTU officers was held last Tuesday, December 1 at AFT's headquarters. Today marks a new beginning for our union. Thanks for all of your calls, emails and kind words of support.