Contents:
from the President
Report Card Rally
2000 NACST Convention
Keynote Speaker: Sr. Barbar Pfarr
Convention Speaker: Attorney Bruce Endy
State of the Union: NACST President Rita Schwartz
Excerpts from the NCR Coverage of the Report Card Rally
Union Made Christmas Gifts

from the President

  On Sunday November 12, 2000 two busloads of NACST representatives made their way to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington, D.C.  The bus carrying the crowd from the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers left very early from Wilkes-Barre, PA; the second bus from Philadelphia carrying delegates from the Association of Catholic teachers stopped in New Jersey to pick up the group from Camden's Catholic Teachers Union.  The Philly bus also carried very important cargo in its baggage compartment - an 8; by 4' Report Card which was being delivered personally to the country's bishops as they began their fall 2000 meeting.

 Representatives from NACST affiliates in Pittsburgh and Altoona, PA; Columbus, Ohio and Buffalo, New York completed the participants' list at the 1:00 p.m. NACST Rally as the first annual Bishops' Report Card was unveiled.

 The National Association of Catholic School Teachers had a message for the bishops:

 Today, the Bishops from across the country are gathering here to set policy for the Church in America.  Nowhere on the agenda is the issue of Catholic School teachers.  We are here today on behalf of the more than 140,000 elementary and secondary lay teachers across the country to give them a voice, to ensure that they are treated with justice and dignity.

 Our performance is not in question.  Thanks to Catholic School teachers, our schools and students continue to perform at the very highest levels.  Because of Catholic School teachers, student test scores are better in Catholic schools; more Catholic School students go to college; Catholic School students do better on their SAT's; Catholic School students don't drop out as much as public school students.

 Despite all that success, Catholic School teachers are being taken for granted.  We have been good employees.  We deserve dignity and respect and we deserve to be heard.
 As teachers, we know that Report Cards can be powerful teaching aids.  Today, we are issuing the first-ever Report Card on the Bishops' performance.  It is time for them to know where their weaknesses lie so that they can improve their performance.

 The Bishops were graded in thirteen categories under three headings: Core Responsibilities, Social Skills and Classroom Work.  The reason for each grade was delineated by teacher speakers.  There were 10 F's and 3 D-'s with an Overall Grade Point Average of 0.16 which is far below our Catholic School standards.

 At the close of the Rally, the Report Card was carried past the hotel as the NACST representatives voiced their concerns to the bishops entering and leaving the Hyatt Regency.

 A copy of the Report Card was mailed to every bishop with an accompanying letter letting our ultimate employers know that we have waited patiently for them to give more than lip service to the directives they publish for other employers concerning justice and dignity for workers.  We expressed our hope that they would work to remove the failing grades and to bring the D-'s up to more acceptable standards.
 Only then will Catholic School lay teachers gain the voice they so desperately need, the justice and dignity they deserve and the respect they must earn every day.

 The National Association's Executive Committee has requested a meeting with representatives of the bishops to discuss the issues highlighted by the Washington Rally.  It is our expectation, NACST stated, that we could work together to ensure that Catholic School Teachers, the most important facet of Catholic School education, would then be treated well by their employers and become the "true partners in the educational enterprise," of which the Bishops spoke in TO TEACH AS JESUS DID.
 

Report Card Rally    Photos
     NACST teachers and family members held the first annual Bishops' Report Card Rally November 12 in Washington, D.C.  The Rally took place in front of the hotel in which the U.S. bishops were gathering for their annual fall meeting.
     A giant-sized Report Card was unveiled as Executive Committee members explained the reasons for the failing and other poor grades the bishops received in areas including Salary, Job Security, Conflict Resolution, Leadership, Religion, Social Studies.  Rally participants picketed with "thought bubble" signs with slogans such as "Practice what you preach!" - "Do they care about me?" and "What would Jesus do?"  Rally participants carried the sign for the bishops to see, as they entered the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
     Following the Rally, NACST President Rita Schwartz sent a copy of the report card with an accompanying letter to each U.S. bishop, calling on the bishops to address the issues facing Catholic school teachers.
complete text of the letter

2000 NACST Convention   Photos
     Fifty-two union leaders representing fourteen NACST affiliates attended the 22nd annual NACST Covnention at Loew's Hotel in New York October 6-8, 2000.
     Keynote Speaker Sr. Barbara Pfarr, Coordinator of the Religious Employers Project, National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, addressed convention delegates on the Committee's efforts in dealing with religious employers.  "The work of our organization is to create a much more positive, pro-union environment."
     Attorney Bruce Endy presented a history of "good faith" bargaining as a legal issue.
NACST President Rita Schwartz gave the annual State of the Union address, characterizing the past year as somewhat "manic depressive."
     Affiliate officers presented the Reports of Locals and there were presentations on NACST plans for taking the union's issues to the U.S. bishops and the Church at large.
     The 23rd annual convention will be held in October 2001 in New Orleans, LA.

Keynote Speaker: Sr. Barbara Pfarr

     As coordinator of the Religious Employers Project, Sr. Pfarr has been involved in the efforts of Catholic health care employees to organize.  In addressing the NACST convention, she emphasized parallels between Church officials as employers in the health care and educational institutions.
     In her experience, she has seen a strong antiunion culture among Catholic institutions.  The environment creates "faith crises" for Catholic employees of those institutions.  The antiunion culture is a missed opportunity to put Catholic social teaching into practice.  That teaching is based on the principles of: the dignity of the human person; an option for the poor; the solidarity of the human family; the common good, in which we are called to  change unjust social structures; participation; the dignity of work; and the social nature of the human person.
     Sr. Pfarr  noted that when an NCCB subcommittee published ethical guidelines for organizing in Catholic health care institutions [A Fair and Just Workplace], Catholic hospital administrators rejected the principles because the document was "totally biased."
     To make our schools "fair and just workplaces" Sr. Pfarr encouraged convention participants to continue doing three things:

- to show up,  to present our issues to our employers
- to pay attention to the Church's teaching and our employers' attitudes
- to speak out our truth.

Convention Speaker: Bruce Endy
     "If the law won't give you the right to bargain in good faith, then put it into your contract,"  was the message presented by Bruce Endy to convention delegates.
     A review of the legal history of "good faith bargaining" began with the 1917 War Labor Board, established to bring parties together to end or ameliorate strikes.  After the board's work ended, labor legislation became fixed on the national scene during the New Deal.  The Wagner Act established reaching a contract as the purpose of collective bargaining.
     The 1947 Taft-Hartley Law required parties to bargain in "good faith," with a view to reach an agreement,  although it does not compel either party to agree or to make a concession.  In cases decided under the Taft-Hartley Act, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized "good faith" bargaining as "an open-minded and sincere desire to reach agreement."
     In 1960, the NLRB rejected "surface bargaining" by an employer and declared an employer's failure to provide information and a "take it or leave it" attitude as per se violations of the Taft-Hartley Act's good faith provisions.

State of the Union: NACST President Rita Schwartz
     "We refuel each other" when we gather at the convention, exchange ideas and concerns, and work together throughout the year.  Thus, Rita Schwartz exhorted convention participants to continue our work in concert.  Such support has been most important during this "manic depressive" year.
     Schwartz noted the positive accomplishments of NACST and its affiliates from October 1999 through October 2000.  New schools joined COACE, SDACT and the Youngstown local, and a new affiliate was established at St. Denis School in Manasquan NJ.  The February President's Roundtable on Communications proved very successful.  The work of the PR firm [Braithwaite Communications] has gotten the message out to the public that  Catholic schools are losing good teachers because of the "Faith Gap" we currently endure.
     Executive Committee members have been active at the NCEA and OCEA Conventions, as well as numerous local in-services from Texas to Michigan.
     She highlighted the contributions of two key figures in the Catholic labor movement who died during the year: John Reilly, founding NACST President, and Bob Malecek, past president of CHALTA.
     We look to the future as we continue our "leap of faith" in working for the schools and teachers, with 21 local affiliates in 8 states.

Protests and sit-in besiege meeting of U.S. bishops
excerpts from the November 24, 2000 NCR
     Catholic schoolteachers also sought the bishops' attention, protesting outside their hotel the evening before their meeting.  Some 70 teachers unveiled a report card grading the church leaders on labor issues.
     The teachers noted that while Catholic schools significantly outperform public schools in overall student test scores, graduation rates, minority achievement and lower dropout rates, Catholic schoolteachers are paid substantially less than their counterparts in the public system.  Rita Schwartz, president of the National Association of Catholic School Teachers, based in Philadelphia, said that parochial school teachers lagged 23.3 percent behind public school teachers in starting pay.
     On the report card, the bishops scored 10 Fs in such subjects as salary, job security, conflict resolution and the right to organize and three Ds including one in family benefits.

Union-Made This Christmas
Toys: Golden Books, Etch-a-Sketch, Lovee Doll, Lionel Trains, Matchbox Cars, Flexible Flyer, Hoppity Ball
Clothes: Brooks Brothers, L.L. Bean, Levi Jeans, Arizona Jeans
Tools: Craftsman, Black & Decker
Sporting Goods: Spalding, Wilson, Titleist, Top Flite
Household Items: Farberware, Rival
Cosmetics: Revlon, Canoe
Small Appliances: Rival, Mr. Coffee
Dishes: Anchor, Lenox
further ideas and union-made items are listed at www.unionlabel.org