Jobless Teaching Fellows To Be Laid Off Feb. 2

Newly-hired New York City Teaching Fellows who have not yet found a position will lose their jobs Feb. 2 after a state labor arbitrator's ruling in a case that was brought to the Public Employment Relations Board by the United Federation of Teachers.

The arbitrator ruled that the firstyear hires, 44 of whom have not found a permanent position, should be given the same legal rights as regular substitutes, thus protecting their jobs only to the beginning of the next semester in February. If they are not hired by that point, they will go off the Department of Education payroll.

Suit Got 2-Month Reprieve

The UFT, which also took the case to State Supreme Court, tried to argue that the new fellows were covered by their collective-bargaining agreement, since they were dues-paying union members. The original job deadline for the fellows was Dec. 5, but the UFT managed to postpone it by going to court.

On Dec. 5 the unhired fellows numbered 88, a total that has now been halved, with the DOE estimating that seven other Teachers that it hired centrally are also still without a position.

In a letter to the unhired fellows, UFT President Randi Weingarten said, "Your job is secure through Feb. 2, 2009," explaining that "we contended that the job-security clause in the UFT/DOE contract protected teaching fellows from layoffs, but the arbitrator rejected that argument."

Ms. Weingarten and the UFT urged the unhired fellows to attend a special job conference on Jan. 11, a fair designed for members of the Absent Teacher Reserve, the pool of UFT Teachers on full salary but without a permanent position. The union had originally contended that these new hires should join the ATR if the DOE was unable to find a permanent place for them.

The conference featured workshops to help with the writing of cover letters and resumés and one-on-one appointments with professionals to create video resumés for an ATR Web site.

"We realize this has been a stressful time for you," said Ms. Weingarten in the letter. "We hope this news provides some relief and that the jobs conference and resumé Web site help you land a position in the coming weeks."