GOV. Eddie Calvo has issued a call for the Guam Education Board to restart the collective bargaining process with the Guam Federation of Teachers union.
“The largest component of our organization is the Guam Department of Education. And if there’s one complaint that kept rising to the surface during all our meetings with teachers and even principals on education reform, it is that there is a pervasive climate of fear within GDOE. People are afraid to speak up for fear of retaliation,” Calvo said in PROA, a newsletter put out by the Governor’s Office.
He further stated the environment in GDOE has “escalated in the minds of many GDOE employees since the board-union contract expired.”
“I agree that wasn’t the best contract and that changes need to be made to it so our island can move forward with data-driven reform that places students at the center of the system. The previous contract was made for another day. But this doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be a contract. There must be a contract in place that protects teachers,” Calvo said.
He emphasized that the negotiations must be done in good faith, “with all intention to provide the very best learning environment, standards and accountability to those standards in the new contract.”
“This can be done through the collective bargaining process, yet that process has come to a halt. That is wrong. The board of education must come back to the table, start the collective bargaining process, and negotiate in good faith,” Calvo concluded.
