Letters to the Editor

Teachers' Union President Blames BOE for Contract Delays

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Recently I read a Letter to the Editor by Pat Petaccia regarding the Parsippany-Troy Hills Education Association’s leadership and I feel the need to respond since I am the person she was referring to. I need to set the record straight because, evidently, Mrs. Petaccia does not have a clue what she is talking about. It is true that the PTHEA had been without a contract for the past two years. What is not true is Mrs. Petaccia’s assumption that it is due to the teachers’ unwillingness to compromise. What is true is that the Board of Education would not come to the table to negotiate. It was not until we discussed filing an unfair labor practice that they finally sat down with us. It took many months to sit down and discuss the issues. It was…

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Robert J

5:14 pm on Tuesday, February 19, 2013

John, It is true that there are trade unions (usually referred to as worker's council) i in communist countries. Those unions, however, are state-controlled and owned by the government, so they do not act the same as they do in democratic countries. Independent trade unions were created to balance power between labor (workers) and management (companies or state agencies) and helped to create …   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Parsippany Teachers' Union Needs New Leadership, Says Resident

Let your neighbors know what you are thinking on the issues.

I would like to clarify what happened at the Parsippany Board of Education meeting on Jan. 24. During the public portion of the meeting I started to read a prepared statement regarding teacher contracts and apparently the Parsippany teachers and their union rep, Parsippany-Troy Hills Education Association President Judy Mayer did not appreciate my opinions. They began commenting from the audience and it became noisy, I got frustrated, lost my place and in talking about contracts I asked if there was a termination period (two years waiting for a contract—when do negotiations cease?). Then, again with a lot of commotion behind me, I said something along the line of "Let the teachers walk out." It was at this point that Mayer and most of the …

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After Two Years Without, Teachers Get Their Contract

Board of Education announced its ratification of a new pact with Parsippany educators.

Parsippany teachers are feeling "disrespected" no more. At its meeting Tuesday night at Parsippany High School, the Board of Education by unanimous vote approved a memorandum of agreement between itself and the Parsippany-Troy Hills Education Association. The pact was ratified by the union Feb. 6. Among the provisions: The news was hailed by the many educators in blue PTHEA shirts in attendance. Intervale School counselor Donna O'Donnell, once informed that the contract had passed, shouted, "Yay!" "I'm very happy," Doreen Worthington, a third grade teacher at Intervale, concurred. "I'm just so glad it's over." The teachers also hailed the school board's decision to kill member James Carifi's plan to amend district policy 5111, to eject or …

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