LETTERS

Puts into law decades of past practice

Posted 7/18/17

To the Editor: Mayor Polisena, Mayor Avedisian and the other municipal leaders have been wrong in characterizing the continuing contract bill for teachers and municipal leaders as a bill that hurts taxpayers. The legislation that overwhelmingly passed

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LETTERS

Puts into law decades of past practice

Posted

To the Editor:

Mayor Polisena, Mayor Avedisian and the other municipal leaders have been wrong in characterizing the continuing contract bill for teachers and municipal leaders as a bill that hurts taxpayers. The legislation that overwhelmingly passed the House and Senate simply puts into law decades of past practice. Until a few recent court rulings, when a teacher or municipal; worker contract expired, both sides continued to work under the old contract. Judges’ rulings in East Providence (2009) and Warwick (2016) allowed municipal employers to change contract terms once the contract expired.

Lawyers in East Providence received more than $1 million of taxpayer money in legal fees when the School Committee unilaterally changed the contract for East Providence teachers. Instead of costing the taxpayers money, I would argue that the contract continuation bill saves taxpayers money by avoiding unnecessary legal costs.

The bill preserves the status quo. Under the bill, workers do not get raises or additional benefits nor do employers get pay or benefit cuts. Both sides work under the old contract. I am the lobbyist for the Rhode Island Federations of Teachers and Health Professionals and have spoken to dozens of elected officials about this bill. Senators and Representatives understood the unfairness of the current situation and voted 60-12 in the House and 23-7 in the Senate to support the legislation. As a resident of Johnston, I am proud that all of the town’s Senators and Representatives who voted on the bill cast a yes vote on contract continuation.

James Parisi

Johnston

Comments

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  • richardcorrente

    Dear Mr. Parisi,

    I wish I had explained it as clearly as you just did.

    Camille Vella-Wilkinson should be applauded for her efforts in this area and the fact that Mayor Avedisian is against it shows that it is a bill that levels the playing field. Until now the School Committee had too much of an upper hand. This bill will NOT cost the taxpayers money and it WILL stabilize the educational value of the Warwick Schools.

    WAY-TO-GO-CAMILLE-VELLA-WILKINSON

    Happy Summer Mr. Parisi.

    Happy Summer everyone.

    Rick Corrente

    The Taxpayers Mayor

    Tuesday, July 18, 2017 Report this

  • CrickeeRaven

    The prior comment by the fake "mayor" shows that he is willing to violate judicial precedent to maintain contracts that are potentially harmful to communities, and yet again proves his complete unfitness for office.

    He will no doubt continue to embarrass himself in his future comments.

    Tuesday, July 18, 2017 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    gud, this saves money because the city is under no obligation to ever bargain with the workers ever again. you don't like the contract, go work somewhere else.

    Thursday, July 20, 2017 Report this

  • davebarry109

    Stop this nonsense. Having perpetual contracts will only further empower the despicable teachers unions who hold our kids hostage yearly. Overpaid already, with pensions to bust cities and work less than 180 days a year. They should be taking pay cuts.

    Friday, July 21, 2017 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    Mr. Parisi,

    As a lobbyist for the teachers union I am not surprised that you wish to have perpetual contracts. What I am surprised at is, much like Mayor Dumbness Corrente, you fail to understand that reward is commensurate with results. If that concept was enacted, the Warwick teachers union would most likely be applying for jobs at jewelry peace work factories. The level of education in this city is deplorable. As a lobbyist, I took for granted that you have the ability to read and comprehend. Maybe that is not the case. Maybe you have been educated in the Warwick Public School system. If you have the ability to read and comprehend you would clearly understand what is happening here in Warwick, you would understand that one of the main factors contributing to the declining student population is that parents realize that the Warwick School System is failing and not preparing their children adequately for the future.

    I guess in your world the only thing that matters is more money, more benefits, more tax burden, so long as the teachers continue to pay into the union and the union can hire slugs like yourself who ignore the fundamental reasons while institutions fail.

    Maybe you should look at the absentee statistics for Warwick school teachers. Has there been an outbreak of the Plague here in Warwick? No other business can report such dramatic percentages of personnel and employees out sick. They are only mirrored by the fire department.

    My children are great-full that I quickly noticed the failed policies in Warwick and removed them to send them to higher learning facilities. Maybe soon we can sell all of our buildings as historical antiques. They can be moved to somewhere like Mayberry RFD and moth balled for the future.

    What a joke. Just another panderer.

    Friday, July 21, 2017 Report this

  • Kammy

    From the recent article of Best-Worst Run Cities: While Warwick scored very well in safety, poverty, economy (11th) and the overall score – being one of only two New England cities, alongside Nashua, NH, to be listed in the top 25 – it did not perform well in all categories. Warwick was ranked 63rd in education, 98th in health, 95th for infrastructure and pollution and bottomed out at 110th in financial stability [as factor relating to community debt and bond rating].

    Warwick is ranked 63rd in education. We have a lot of room for improvement in this city. As stated numerous times before, there needs to be an overall spirit of compromise when it comes to the negotiations and compromise is lost when you take away incentive. That is what I believe the bill would have taken away - incentive to reach an equitable deal. This has gone on too long with each side digging in further and further. There are no winners, only losers. I will continue to hope that we see an end to this soon. The citizens of Warwick deserve that much.

    Friday, July 28, 2017 Report this