Communicating While Bargaining Winter 2015

Why you NEED to Communicate Without information about Association activities members remain apathetic and/or unorganized No communication=It never happened/Local Not doing anything to help Visibility Creates Value

Internal Communications Create a survey to ask about what members hope to receive in a new contract. Asking for input makes members feel like they’re opinion is valued and the association is working for them Provide regular updates to all members Be as specific as you can without giving away the farm Tell members when you’re meeting again and when to expect more.

Communications Team Create a team within the local that receives direct information from designated member on the bargaining team Communications Team is then responsible for sharing bargaining information with all members

Composition of Communications Team Size: One person in each building should be a Comm Team Member Who: Building rep or someone else who is willing to share information Responsibilities: Stay in constant contact with the designated point person on the negotiations team who will be sharing information and then share that information with members in your building

Tree Of Information NeNEGOTIATION TEAM MEMBER COMM TEAM MEMBER AL ALL MEMBERS IN BUILDING

How do we share? Pixel --- ALWAYS use personal addresses Paper --- Choose a colored piece of paper that is linked to Association and share upcoming meeting dates but not specifics on negotiations. All association news should be on the same colored piece of paper so it is recognizable as important association news. Post notices of meetings and updates on Association Bulletin Board. Don’t have a board—make one—remember visibility creates value. Person--- Hold meetings to update members on negotiations (BEST WAY)

External Communication What to do with negotiations aren’t going well? Rally for community support Share the message of what you do and why it’s important Put pressure on School Board

Assignment Time: Craft an external message, (one for the public and a likely press release), that your table thinks will help persuade the general public (parents) to support the Association and put pressure on school board/administration to settle a contract which has just been sent to fact finding. Assume the only outstanding issues are wages and benefits.

Messages that work As a ….. we are deeply committed to the success of every student. Students are at the center of what we do and to help each student succeed we must ensure that every educator has the development, resources, and support every professional needs. This means recruiting, training and supporting people who love kids. It means pay that attracts and helps retain the best people for the job. And it means ensuring every person at the front of the room is qualified, caring and committed. Educators strive to connect with each child, discover his passions, and unlock her potential. Our students are at the center of everything we do and we need to be able to retain and attract the best teachers possible. We need to make sure every child’s teacher can do an outstanding job. This means ensuring kids come to school with what they need to succeed and educators have the resources, respect and recognition to support their achievement.

Messages that work The fact-finding process is costly to the taxpayers; we need to invest in our students and not attorneys. If we are serious about every child’s future, let’s get serious about doing what works. This means resourcing all schools to have quality teachers who will inspire a student’s love of learning. We need schools with educators who will nurture the imagination of our children today so they can grow into tomorrow’s inventors, thinkers artists and leaders.

Ways to spread external message Press Release (a lot of small local papers will just reprint what you send them) Letters to the Editor Petition to the school board Buttons, signs in cars Depending on issue, take a survey and share results with local media

If you remember nothing else--- VISIBILTY CREATES VALUE— MAKE SURE YOU COMMUNICATE

Questions? Giovanna Bechard Communications Director x2205