“Your Voice in Catholic Education.”  Emblazoned on our logo, embossed on our stationary, this has been the tag line of the SDACT since its inception.  But it is much more than a tag line or a slogan, it speaks to the very reason that our Association exists. 

     Although we have now successfully organized nearly all of our teachers in Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne and Lycoming counties, we cannot promise you that this alone will immediately mean better salaries, benefits and working conditions for us.  The union cannot create a panacea.  Therefore, we will not make that promise. 

     The only promise that we can and will make, is that after a very long and dark period for us, a period in which we possessed no voice that had to be listened to, we are poised to regain that voice and use it vociferously to promote solutions to your valid concerns. Our strength of numbers and our solidarity assure us that this will be the case.

     First, let’s recap what has happened to us while we were without a voice that had to be listened to (keep in mind that this is just the short list):

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer instituted a program of school restructuring which was flawed in so many ways that space will not allow for a proper delineation.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer stripped away the well-deserved and excellent health care benefits that our union had worked 30 years to obtain.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer created a pay scale that is inequitable.  Rather than raising all teachers to the level of the highest paid, teachers with the same seniority are separated in pay by as much as $25,000.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer stripped teachers of their well-deserved dental and vision insurance benefits.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer stripped teachers of their life insurance benefits.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer stripped teachers of their accumulated sick days.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer stripped teachers of their preparation period.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer stripped teachers of their duty-free lunch period.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer lengthened the teachers’ work day and year, and increased their work load, all without financial recompense.

·         Without having to listen to their teachers, our employer destroyed the effective curricula of the old schools,  replacing it with new ones which no teacher can honestly say is an improvement.

The first step in teachers regaining their legitimate voice will be taken on Monday, September 17 at our General Membership Meeting.  As previously announced, this meeting will take place at the Ramada Inn on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre and will begin immediately following the conclusion of the Diocesan In-service Day.  (Lunch will be provided at no cost.) 

At our meeting, we will begin the process of negotiations by distributing survey forms to all members.  As a member, this will be your opportunity to use your voice to tell those in the leadership of SDACT what it is you want us to do for you.  Please make every effort to attend, as well as to promote attendance among your immediate colleagues.   

Finally, if you know of someone in your school who is still  undecided about joining our efforts, tell him or her that it is never too late to do so.  Encourage them too to attend our meeting.  Even the last of our brothers and sisters who enlist in the cause will be as joyously welcomed as the first.