UFT leader
shares negotiating tips
Weingarten: Timing, strategy, patience key to good
contracts
By DEBORAH A. MILES
Addressing a full crowd at the 24th Annual PEF Convention
in Buffalo, United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President
Randi Weingarten drove home the message that UFT and PEF
rely on each other to build sophisticated strategies and
bipartisan support in contract negotiations.
“I want to thank PEF for being with us when we had
to fight for our contract,” Weingarten said.
“We will stand together, shoulder-to-shoulder, for
fights in the future.
“Your membership is like mine — people who are
very smart, savvy and sophisticated, and they know
something when they see it, like getting the best
contract,” she said.
Referring to a three-year battle for a new contract for
UFT members, Weingarten advised the audience to hold out
— “because at some point, management will need
a contract more than you.” Her strategy won a
negotiating landmark with annual raises of 6 to 8
percent. The contract was ratified by 94 percent of UFT
members.
“No one strategy in our sophisticated world
works,” she said. “The teachers in New York
City were totally demoralized because their salaries were
25 percent below the salaries of teachers in the suburbs.
That had to change. In my heart of hearts I knew if we
had to go on strike, we would go on strike, even with the
penalties.”
Patience a strategy
Along with strategy and patience, Weingarten said timing
is an essential tool for contract success.
“Patience is a learned commodity. Patience,
sometimes, is as important as giving a fiery speech,
because ultimately you need to know and see when you can
exploit opportunity. And the flip side is, when you see
an opportunity, take it,” she said.
Sharing the details of her recent negotiation strategies,
Weingarten listed other key elements for success. She
explained the importance of alliance-building community
outreach and how to build public support through paid
advertising.
“You can’t get your message through on a
consistent basis unless you do paid advertising,”
she said.
Make allies in both parties
Weingarten stressed the importance of making allies with
people in the Legislature in both political parties.
“If we don’t make our issues bipartisan,
it’s too easy for one party to go after you,”
she said.
“Making an endorsement of somebody doesn’t mean
being in lock-step with them,” Weingarten added.
“We have the right — in fact, it is a tradition
of militant unions — to hold our elected officials
accountable in every respect.
“We will fight the governor tooth and nail to make
sure the services in New York State are the delivered the
way they should be, and not the way his other supporters
want them,” she said.
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Union sticks with Pataki,
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Benson pledges: No more
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Hallum: Strict fiscal
controls, methods paying off
UFT leader shares
negotiating tips
Convention delegates adopt
eight resolutions
Delegates amend PEF
Constitution
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You Said It: Member's
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Member Mobilization: Div.
240 awards
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Nurses' Station: Convention
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Health Notes: Flex
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Member Mobilization:
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Program & Travel Corp
Union Matters
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Early retirement window
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member’s suspension at DOH
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Member honored for her
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PEF endorses 7 more
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