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October 26, 2004


Dear Faculty:

In a year of political spin, the Archdiocese of New York has decided to put its own spin on a situation which affects the education of the children in our classrooms.

You were recently sent a letter informing you of the “generous” offer the Archdiocese has made to its dedicated Faculty. They tell you that, as always, they have no money and are being very generous in their offer of a 7% raise over the next three years. They tell you that raising the medical contributions are just and reflect an increase in their overall costs. Here, however, is what they do not tell you. They don’t tell you that the average teacher in the system with a Masters Degree makes $37,000 a year. They don’t tell you that the offer is only 4% over three years. The step they talk about is built into the system and when they tried to remove it a few years ago the law said they could not do it. It is also important to note that one third of our teachers do not receive a step increase (after 16 years in the system your step stops). As for the medical increase, they are asking teachers who make $37,000 a year to supplement the rising costs of the religious community. The Diocese’s own documentation shows that the rise in medical expenditures is a direct result of the growing needs of an aging clergy. We believe that these dedicated individuals should receive the care they deserve, but why should teachers making $37, 0000 a year have to pay for it?

We have again asked the Diocese to give the teachers a pension deserving of the career they chose. In fact, at the conclusion of the last strike, we made it clear that pensions would be a priority. Despite the fact that the pension committee has not yet determined the feasibility of such an increase, the Diocese has said there will be no increase in the pension.

As to the issue that the Diocese has no money, it is about time that the truth about their wealth be revealed. Not in generalities but specific examples that may come as a surprise to many. The Archdiocese of New York is the single richest landholder in the country. Their property holdings go well beyond their religious institutions. When a crisis occurs in the Diocese, they can always find the money. Here are two examples of what we mean. The Diocese of New York has paid over 12 million dollars in lawsuits regarding abuses by the clergy. Where did the money come from? They are currently in the process of selling St. Ann’s Church in Manhattan for 15 million dollars. According to published reports, this money is designed for lawsuits. They have the money for lawsuits but nothing for education. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We will continue to show faculty and parents that the cost of a quality education is the responsibility of an extremely wealthy Diocese who can find money for lawsuits but none for education. If this Diocese continues their cry of poverty, we will continue to expose their lies.

We, as dedicated teachers, want to stay in the classrooms. The strike of 2001 should not be repeated if at all possible. However, a Diocese, which cries poverty and asks teachers to take less pay than the previous year while simultaneously raising tuition costs, is provoking a repeat of 2001. Call the Archdiocese (212 -371-1000) and ask them why they have money for lawsuits but no money for education and teacher salaries.

Lay Faculty Association

This article originally appeared at:
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/columnists/ny-nybres244017650oct24,0,5903028.column?coll=ny-ny-columnists

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Image of ignorance of Catholic Church
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By: Jimmy Breslin

October 24, 2004

At the beginning of the Alfred Smith dinner on Thursday night, an event for Catholics with money and the attitude of money, which means Al Smith wouldn't have been allowed in the door, the cardinal of New York, Edward Egan, strode imperiously into the Waldorf-Astoria towers entrance.

Mary Ann Perry reports that she attempted to give the cardinal a flier for Catholic teachers, who were picketing across the street.

Ms. Perry reports, and others report seeing the same thing, that the cardinal walked by her with a cold glance. He was going upstairs, where he would pose gloriously in a red cape and I guess his big ring.

I am unsure of the precise details because I was across Park Avenue with the crowd of teachers. We were in these metal pens that the police use in an attempt to eliminate free expression by the nonrich. In this case, the pens were erected on behalf of the cardinal and his Catholic Church.

The people in the pens were distinguished from the church in that they were of the Catholic religion, based on the Life of Christ, and the cardinal's church is a branch of a Roman corporation.

The scene of the teachers in the darkness in pens across the street and the substantial walking to dinner under bright overhead lights was the most accurate picture of the Roman Catholic Church at this time. It showed the dumb arrogance, the foolish stupidity, the blank indifference of an organization about to lose all.

They cannot pay their own schoolteachers, but the church bosses want the thrill of dominating a country.

The Catholic Church has been trying with all its silent might to influence the national election. These old white-haired fat bishops and cardinals want the issue of abortion to determine the leadership of a country. That means vote for Bush.

Both the Bush and Kerry campaigns are running Tip O'Neill campaigns: All politics is local. They make appearances on local issues and have commercials aimed at specific groups. The Catholic bishops have a national issue, abortion. And this is what they want of a nation that has itself in a war that we appear to be losing. That is some commander in chief, this Bush. It looks like we're losing to Iraq. We come with unlimited bravery and planes and tanks and artillery and the people in Iraq run around in rags and sandals and they are winning. Nobody does well in the other guy's neighborhood. But we are against abortions.

There have been 39 American soldiers killed since Oct. 10, and who knows how many hundreds had their arms and legs blown off. The cardinal did not make one mention of the carnage. Bush is against abortion, so everything is all right.

And that is the Catholic example of a leader in time of crisis. Some cardinal. His Al Smith dinner called for white ties and tails. The man who established his church walked in sandals and rags. Some church. The only time Christ showed any anger was when he chased the money changers out of the temple. Now they were having a night devoted to money.

Meanwhile, the leaflet on Thursday night that the cardinal looked upon with disdain said that the teachers were being offered a 1 percent pay raise. As nearly all the teachers earn $35,000 or thereabouts, the raise doesn't do much for them. The rest of the offer from the cardinal was health care payment adjustments that would cost a teacher $2,400 a year.

In the Waldorf kitchen, a Local 6 union guy washing dishes from the dinner gets $34,000 a year, with full medical benefits for themselves and family, and a pension of $1,250 a month.

Over in the pens, Gertrude Zagarella, 70, said she had been teaching Catholic schoolchildren for 49 years and she now earns $43,973. She teaches at St. Paul's on East 108th Street. "First grade," she was saying. "That's all I ever do. I did second grade only one year. We get public school teachers in on Title One. One teaches reading for a couple of hours. She gets $80,000. That's between us and the regular public school job. The other on Title One does math. She gets $69,000."

"Why do you stay?" I asked her.

"Love. But they say they have no money to pay us. Where do they get it to pay for these molesters?"

A woman next to her, Edwina Dunne, 73, said, "I taught 30 years. I get a pension of $583 a month."

Gertrude Zagarella works in a place where the Catholics are desperately weak. The Catholics usually can't be near anybody of color. She has in her class Latinos, African-Americans, Muslims and maybe even the odd white. The Muslims in first grade come across the smartest, and that is something that will cause whites everywhere to gnash teeth. And Gertrude Zagarella to beam. On the dark street across from the Waldorf, she waved her union placard.

Copyright (c) 2004, Newsday, Inc.

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This article originally appeared at:
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/newyork/columnists/ny-nybres244017650oct24,0,5903028.column?coll=ny-ny-columnists

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To LFA Members

           Our students need us right now, perhaps more than ever. Many of them lost relatives and friends during the tragic day of terror on September 11, and many more are having a hard time understanding and coping with the situation. There are many teachers, as well who lost loved ones.

            For these reasons the LFA Executive Council is postponing any work stoppages. We are deeply grateful for the large number if you who took to the picket lines during that last morning of innocence for America. We proved to the Archdiocese our strength and solidarity, and we now must practice the dedication and compassion that made is all enter the teaching profession in the first place.

             The Executive Council is also very grateful to the principals at our high school who, when we called them that tragic morning to tell them we wanted to return to the classrooms, were, with one single exception gracious, thankful and welcoming. It has been rather amazing to see that many of these principals actually quietly support our struggle for a better deal for our teachers. They know that the Archdiocese should be doing more to support the schools and offset higher tuitions, but of course they are in no position to say this publicity. The one sad exception was the principal at Archbishop Stepinac High School, who refused our offer to suspend the strike. In such a situation as that of September 11, pride should never rule the heart, and conscience should never be forsaken.

             For now, let us put aside that which divides us, for the sake of our students. There is a time for everything, and this is a time for healing. The time to struggle again will come, and we will be ready, with clear hearts and purity of intention

-The LFA Executive Council

A letter to LFA members

By Anthony Cusimano, Sc.-Treas.

      It has always been annoying to myself and other members of the LFA leadership when the Archdiocese tries to :blame: the tough decisions our Executive Council makes on one member: Henry Kielkucki. Lately you've been bombarded with such lies, in a feeble attempt to fracture our unity. Therefore, let me assure you" Henry Kielkucki has never tried to dominate our discussions and decisions. We are very independent group of individuals, and our decisions are reached in a democratic manner.

     Your leadership does have some common goals: significantly raising our teachers' salaries, achieving a supplemental pension based in teachers contributions, braking free of the "pattern bargaining" that has traditionally condemned us to the raises of three percent or less that the elementary teachers receive. and a few other important issues

     The letters you have received from Archdiocesan Chief Negotiator Paul Ward would be laughable if they weren't so devious. Mr Ward has twisted the truth about what has really happened during our negotiations, and is a true "wolf in sheep's clothing" in his attempts to portray himself as a negotiator with your best interests at heart. His real agenda is to delay you until he reaches an anemic deal with elementary teachers, then force that deal upon us -as always. To this end he will brake the law by negotiating in bad faith and distributing forms for our members to resign from the union. Do those who consider signing these forms realize that, beyond losing currents and future union benefits, they will also lose the weight to vote on the contract? For those upset about us discussing penalties for those who cross the picket line, you must know that any union that has ever conducted a successful strike has, unfortunately, had to invoke the same penalties: otherwise, the spirit of those who maintain the picket line might be damaged.

     When we defeated the Archdiocese's obsession with the terrible "Mission Statement" several years ago, we did it by sticking together and by putting strong but legitimate pressure on it. We are convinced that we must do the same now to win a fair and honorable contract, and we are convinced that the timing is good. Those in attendance at our meeting September 4 were convinced of the same after the long meeting, and proved it by voting 122-22 for the strike. No one in the room that might wanted a strike, and many came prepared to vote against it. But when you look at our history, and when you listen to how negotiations have gone this years, you are left with the inescapable conclusion that a work stoppage is our most potent tool to make the Archdiocese understand how serious we are.

     Now it is up to you. I urge you to think long-term. Whatever pay we may lose by walking the picket line we will fight to win back by achieving much better raises than usual. And perhaps in three years, when we again return to the bargaining table, we will not be subjected to the divisive shenanigans of the Archdiocesan negotiations, because we will have proven to them that such tactics do not work.

     I pray for a just settlement to our contract, and I ask you to pray for the same. And I pray that we stay united, for we can only fail if we allow ourselves to be divided.

In unity,

Anthony Cusimano

Secretary-Treasurer

NEGOTIATIONS: Thursday, December 13th

On Thursday, Dec 13th at 4:30 p.m., the Diocese through the Mediator, gave us a proposal similar to that of the FCT. It's funny how the Diocese say they bargain in good faith when the parents received this proposal before we did. The proposal called for raises of 3%, 3% and 5% over three years, with no increase in medical contributions. It said nothing about pension. We asked the Mediator to set up an all day meeting on Saturday to hammer out the agreement and get our teachers back to school on Monday. On Friday at 2 p.m. the Mediator set up the meeting and gave us various ideas on how to settle the dispute. The location was decided but at approximately 5 p.m. the Diocese cancelled the meeting.

We quickly called the high ranking members of the labor community to assist us in this struggle against the Diocese that obviously wants to break this union. On Tuesday, Dec. 18th, the labor community will hold a press conference supporting our struggle against the Archdiocese. Never before in the history of our Union has labor taken such a supportive roll in our cause. This declaration will be as powerful to our cause as our victory will be in the State Labor Board. We are so thankful for this support. On Thursday a concert will be held in NYC to raise money for our striking teachers. We've already had a tremendous response for participation in this event. We know the monies will be very helpful to our members during this trying time.

Fellow teachers, this struggle was about better wages, a better pension, and respect for who we are and what we do. Until yesterday we thought we had made progress in two of those areas. After yesterday we realized they have no respect for their teachers. Fellow teachers, we must stay strong. We are doing all we can to get you back into the classroom and/or to get you money to continue the struggle. Remember, that unless this struggle is concluded in a fair and just manner the Diocese will never return your strike money to you. It is your money and you must get it back. We are holding a delegate's meeting on Sunday to discuss the situation. We have asked the delegates to bring a few people with them who might have questions about the current situation. We are also making plans for a general membership meeting in the near future.