The president of the Buffalo Teachers Federation and the Buffalo Public School District's chief negotiator publicly quarreled over an impasse in contract talks during a special board meeting Wednesday evening.
Teachers Federation President Philip Rumore and Nathaniel J. Kuzma, the district's general counsel, both publicly agreed that negotiations have been going terribly, so much so that the district has called for a fact-finder and the teachers union filed improper practices against the district.
Rumore accused the district of delaying negotiations for three years by presenting the union "with insulting and demeaning contract proposals" and preventing the start of the fact-finding until October. Â
"They've given us salary proposals that are insulting. Actually, they're less than the cost of living for the last couple of years," Rumore said.
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Kuzma said settling the teachers contract is an "utmost priority" for the district.
"We want to genuinely get this done. We're in a financial position to get it done, and our earnest effort and our intent, and good faith is in the right place," said Kuzma.
He said that under Superintendent Tonja Williams' leadership, the district has settled four union contracts over the past five months.
"We are in contract with 10 of our 11 bargaining units. There is not a time in this board's history, if you look back, that that has happened," Kuzma said.
Kuzma said the union is seeking 15% per year over the course of a seven-year period, which would amount to 105% in increases.
"That's 10% a year, plus the cost of living adjustment, plus the removal of a step. Just that proposal alone costs over $2 billion upon signing," he said.
Such a contract, he said, would render the district insolvent.
"And that's the reason we're going to fact-finding," Kuzma said.
He said the federation's proposal would raise the average teacher's salary from $70,000 to $165,000.
"Now I'm not saying that teachers are not worth that money. That's not what I am saying at all," Kuzma told the board.
"A great teacher is priceless. I've had many in my life, but it's unaffordable, and insulting in a negotiation process to be in a position like that at the table," he said.
"And so as your negotiator I had to stop and say we can't move forward because we're not coming, we're not even relatively close to what can be reasonable as an outcome," Kuzma added.
Rumore called the fact-finding a delaying tactic.
"It's just delaying it. They should be ready," he said of district negotiators. "I mean, we've been negotiating for three years now. We're ready to submit our stuff tomorrow or the next day."Â
