The Price of Failing to Work with the AFT--$2500 per Promotion

We know that AFT members have been promoted more rapidly than 4C’s members, but until 2006, their superior contract language also benefited them by providing for a minimum dollar value per promotion--$2500.

While we were receiving one extra step, worth about 2 1/2% per promotion, they were receiving multiple steps in order to achieve the required minimum $2500 value for their promotions.

From the 1992 merger through 2006, two things happened.

First, management tried to take the $2500 promotion language away from the AFT and replace it with our single step language.

Second, our current union leaders did nothing. For fourteen years, they did not make any contract demand for the 4C's to receive promotions worth a minimum of $2500. Our current union leaders refused to join with the AFT in this battle. They refused to fight for us.

In a 2006 arbitration decision, the AFT lost their $2500 minimum dollar value for promotion. Management’s strategy of whipsawing the two unions’ contracts worked.

A strong 4C’s union would have worked to whipsaw management so as to get a minimum dollar value per promotion for our members too. Instead, our leaders watched from the sidelines and the members of both unions suffered.

How did we benefit from watching the AFT lose this fight? Could the fact that our current union leaders have received all of their available promotions be why they took no interest in improved promotion language for the rest of us? Were they unwilling to admit the superiority of AFT contract language? We don’t know the answers to these questions. Here is what we do know:

The members of the New Leadership Slate pledge to work with any and all potential allies to get our members the best possible contract language.

NEXT: Our Missing Job Security