Thank you for your continuing support, as our efforts progress to make SDACT the union that will represent all teachers in the Scranton Diocese.  As promised in our last edition, we write to inform you about where we now stand with this undertaking.

     We continue to improve the percentage of teachers who have signed authorization cards.  Besides having achieved nearly unanimous support in the St. John Neumann System (Lycoming County), we are rapidly closing in on that goal in Luzerne County (Holy Redeemer System) as well.   Although in Lackawanna County (Holy Cross System) we already have majority support, our campaign is not as advanced as in the other two areas.  Our goal remains nothing less than to have 100% of all teachers in the Diocese in the SDACT camp, and we are working very diligently to make this happen.  Only unanimity – or as close to it as we can get – will enable us to bargain effectively on behalf of our teachers.  We ask you to continue to talk up unionization with those of your colleagues who have yet to join us.  Our teachers remain our best salespeople in that regard.

     There is no news to report on the new corporate boards which will run the schools.  Although slated to take over the schools on July 1, none of these entities has yet to be created.  Through our legal counsel, we continue to urge the Diocese to immediately grant us voluntary recognition or conduct a check of the authorization cards so that we can begin the bargaining process as soon as possible.  To date, however, the Diocese has not budged from its position that recognition must come from the new boards.  Our patience is growing very thin with this lack of progress toward normalcy. 

     Finally, future issues of the Communicator will continue to keep you up to date as our campaign toward justice and dignity for all Diocesan teachers continues.