At the 2024 NJEA Jim George Collective Bargaining Summit, held on Oct. 25-26, the Plainfield Education Association (PEA) was named the winner of the Jim George Collective Bargaining Award.
Their story was covered in the November 2024 NJEA Review, which explained how bargaining a new contract in 2023 and 2024 was personal for the PEA. The school community, which includes more than 14 buildings, 1,300 all-inclusive association members and nearly 10,000 students, had previously seen decades of acrimonious bargaining. But for the past five years, the association has been working hard to develop relationships and change the climate. The result was a landmark settlement that is a statewide leader.
PEA President Keith Coston accepted the award on behalf of PEA.
The awards ceremony was a highlight of the conference, which brought together 318 members from across the state to network, share ideas and learn new skills to help them advocate for themselves and their members. This year’s conference featured lab style workshops that facilitated discussions all focused on the steps involved with preparing for negotiations.
Jim George Collective Bargaining Award finalists
The NJEA Jim George Collective Bargaining Award is presented annually to an association that has accomplished one or more of the following:
- Bargained one or more new contractual provisions not already found in another affiliate’s contract.
- Conducted an extraordinary community organizing effort that resulted in a contract settlement.
- Used the bargaining experience to propel new members into association involvement and leadership positions.
- Achieved a particularly good settlement, in comparison to the state average, in salary increases, health benefits, professional development and/or member protection.
- This year, after reviewing the 13 nominations, five finalists were selected. They were:
- Belleville Education Association
- Edison Education Association
- Hammonton Education Association
- Irvington Education Association
- Plainfield Education Association
Who was Jim George?
Jim George was a driving force in NJEA’s quest to secure collective bargaining rights for public school employees. His long relationship with NJEA began when he was a teacher and union leader in Cinnaminson. An activist at heart, he served the Cinnaminson Teachers’ Association as its treasurer and then local president.
At the forefront in the fight for member rights, George is best known for his stirring remarks at the 1967 Asbury Park Rally for Teacher Rights. It was then that George spoke the words that would become the inspiration behind NJEA’s Collective Bargaining Summit: “A new order is at hand. A new generation has been conceived—and we are not afraid.”
George joined the NJEA UniServ staff in 1967 and served members in Burlington County until 1986 when he became a UniServ coordinator serving the southern portion of the state. For 28 years prior to his untimely death in 1995, George inspired NJEA members, leaders and staff. It was George who first suggested that NJEA hold a collective bargaining summit to invigorate the association’s commitment to bargaining. His legacy lives on through the summit and award that bear his name.