To that end you have requested the board to recognize “an exclusive bargaining representative of teachers within the Public School System.”
However, the Board of Education has failed to comply with your request. More recently in November of last year, I submitted a letter to the board requesting for the board to give teachers their expectations of how the group should be formed, who should be the lead bargaining agent(s) and what the composition of the teacher body should entail.
To date, there has been no response to the inquiry for these instructions as to how teachers can be recognized.
I was told by the chair that they were working on a response in December but teachers still haven’t received anything formal response from the board.
It is obvious to me that you need to apply some political will with teeth to help teachers in the form of a directive if your administration is ever going to preserve the integrity of our Constitution on this matter.
I am now asking you to help teachers by issuing a directive for the board to inform teachers as to HOW they can be recognized as the exclusive bargaining representative of teachers which will also allow the newly formed group to finalize the selection of a BOE teacher rep for you to appoint.
I’m sure you will agree with my belief that the board has no intention of ever recognizing teachers or the Constitution unless they are forced to comply.
If the board had truly wanted a teacher on the board they would have at least invited a teacher to represent PSS teachers until one was appointed.
It should also be noted that the board has a legal responsibility to comply with your directives, which I believe is the ONLY way this matter will ever be permanently resolved unless teachers get a union.
Teachers need your help with this matter and we pray you will take this suggestion and take the necessary and proper actions to get the CNMI’s Constitution fulfilled and to give teachers their local and federal rights to bargain with the Board of Education.
We are the only teachers in America that don’t have bargaining rights and its time for CHANGE.
It will be far better for the CNMI to only have to deal with teachers at the bargaining table but I can guarantee if the board continues down the path they have been on it will be a union in the end to represent teachers.
I’m sure you will agree that bargaining with our teachers will be in the best interest of all the stakeholders and only you have the power to make it happen.
AMBROSE M. BENNETT
Kagman, Saipan
