Bread & Butter

Current Collective Bargaining Agreement

Current Salary Schedule

Salary History (2008-2019)

DELTA By Laws

The purpose of this organization shall be:

Section 1. To bring all lay teachers, librarians, and counselors into relations of mutual assistance and cooperation.

Section 2. To obtain for them the rights to which they are entitled.

Section 3. To raise the standards of the teaching profession by securing the conditions essential to the best professional service.

Section 4. To promote such a democratization of the school as will better enable them to equip their pupils to take their place in the Christian, industrial, social, and political life of the community.

Section 5. To promote the welfare of the children by providing progressively better educational opportunity for all.

Section 6. To eliminate discrimination in education in all its forms.


Press Releases/Public Statements/Relevant News:

  • Statement of Solidarity of The MNA Nurses of St. Vincent Hospital with DELTA of Worcester (1/17/2021)
    • The MNA nurses of Saint Vincent Hospital wish to express their solidarity and support of the Worcester Diocesan lay teachers.
    • The nurses wholeheartedly support the teachers in their assertion, that without appropriate planning, funding, testing, PPE, environmental safeguards, and staff education, there should be no in person learning. In confronting this challenge, a safe, scientifically guided, well planned, adequately funded and appropriately resourced process must be the priority for all involved, as the stakes could not be higher.
    • The outcome of these decisions truly have life and death consequences.
    • The nurses believe that the diocesan schools should develop a comprehensive plan addressing infrastructure, protocols, staffing, funding and training to safely institute in person learning that we all know our students deserve.
    • We support the members of Delta advocating for not only the safety of their students but for their own personal safety and that of their families.
    • The bishop should understand that these issues must be resolved before teachers are asked to put their lives on the line.
    • St. Vincent Hospital Mass Nurses Association

[The nurses based their recommendations for safe reopening on their expertise in health care. See this research-based position statement of MNA on safe reopening needs:  Coalition to Safely Reopen Schools Issues Position Statement Citing Serious Concerns to Be Addressed Prior to Allowing Schools to Open for In Person Learning  ,8/31/2020]

  • Press Release: WORCESTER DELTA EXTENDS SOLIDARITY WITH ST. VINCENT'S NURSES!  (1/6/2021)

    • Worcester, MA: The Diocesan Educators' Lay Teachers Association (DELTA), a member of the
      National Association of Catholic School Teachers (NACST), which represents lay teachers and staff
      of St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary and Middle School and St. Paul Diocesan Jr./Sr. High
      School, unanimously voted to extend solidarity and support to the nurses at St. Vincent's Hospital in
      Worcester.

    • Nurses are frontline workers caring for the most vulnerable people throughout this pandemic crisis.
      However, the hospital administration is refusing to respect the nurses and is even placing nurses in
      dangerous situations overloaded with unsafe numbers of patients. Violation of nurses and other
      workers rights and dignity is a violation of Christian and Catholic teachings on justice.

    • We deplore the disrespect shown to St. Vincent's nurses and staff by the hospital administration
      refusal to bargain in good faith with the nurses union. We condemn policies that place profit and
      money before people's lives and community safety. We call on the hospital administration and Board
      of Trustees to open their hearts and extend to nurses and frontline workers the compassion and justice
      they deserve. We remind the hospital administration that they are responsible for protecting workers
      safety.

      Solidarity in struggle for justice and dignity!
      Worcester Diocesan Educator's Lay Teachers Association Membership

  • Catholic schools in Worcester to make temporary switch to remote learning  (12/17/2020)
    • “There’s a feeling of gratitude, a feeling of relief – it’s the right thing to do, we feel this is justice,” said Brian Leonard, a teacher at St. Paul and president of the Worcester Diocesan Educators' Lay Teachers Association, which had been seeking a two-week break from in-person learning after Christmas vacation. “It’s not a perfect justice though – we don’t want to sugarcoat it.”

    • “We still think the pandemic resurgence is a major concern,” said Leonard, who was informed by his school on Wednesday that one of his own students had just tested positive for COVID. “We want to be assured that there will be safety measures for any possible return (to in-person learning).”

  • Union wants remote learning after Thanksgiving (11/2020)

    • We’re especially concerned about the vulnerable,” Mr. Leonard said, citing last Sunday’s Gospel from Matthew 25 about serving Jesus by serving those in need. “We’re concerned about our students and their families,” teachers, administrators, everyone in the schools, said Mr. Leonard who is a theology teacher at St. Paul’s and a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Worcester. 

      He said the union, which has about 56 members, wanted to work privately with the schools office, and he talked with Superintendent Perda, but teachers feel they haven’t been heard. So the press release was sent out and prayer vigil held.  

      Monday’s vigil drew 15 people, some holding signs. Those present said teachers and members of the school communities attended. They sang and offered prayer requests, including one “for the superintendent and bishop to see the right way.” Invited to share their feelings, they called out, “Nervous. Scared. Angry. Frustrated. Disrespected.” 

      “We just hope for a peaceful and a just solution,” Mr. Leonard said. 

      Asked what the union plans to do if their request is not granted, he said union members will continue to pray and will meet to decide what to do. 

      “We make collective decisions,” he said. “We’re going to discern.”  

  • Catholic school teachers protest planned return to classrooms after Thanksgiving
    • “We need to be proactive, rather than reactive. We’ve had students already get sick. The numbers are clearly rising. Why not be safe for two weeks?”

    • “They’ve refused to bargain with us in good faith. We believe the changes that have happened due to the pandemic haven’t been cooperative and collaborative.”

  • DELTA PRESS RELEASE (11/23/2020):
    • The Worcester Diocesan Educators’ Lay Teachers Association (DELTA), an affiliate of the National
      Association of Catholic School Teachers, represents the teachers of St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary
      School and St. Paul Diocesan Jr./ Sr. High School. DELTA members have worked tirelessly to make in-person
      and hybrid education possible for our students since September through innovation in instruction and vigilant
      implementation of safety plans.
       Despite our best efforts, cases are rising in our schools.
       The positivity rates in the communities we serve are also rising at an alarming rate.
       DELTA is concerned about the health and safety of our students, their families, and all members of our
      school communities, especially the most vulnerable among us.
       Data demonstrates clearly that risk of spread is dramatically increased after holiday events, when many
      people make exceptions to Covid-19 guidance and gather with greater numbers of people.
      On November 17 th , DELTA members unanimously passed the following resolution to allow a two-week
      period of remote learning following the Thanksgiving break.
       DELTA members have previously requested that a post-holiday remote period be granted by the
      Catholic Schools Office, but to no avail.
       DELTA members feel that the current in person and hybrid models are not safely sustainable until any
      spread of Covid-19 due to contacts over the holiday manifests itself and can be properly addressed
      before students and staff head back into the close quarters of the classroom.
       This measure is practical, based on the scientific data, and in accordance with our Catholic values.
    • RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:
      During this global resurgence when our community and region is experiencing a sustained spread of COVID-
      19, DELTA believes we must protect members of our community and prevent the spread of disease in our
      schools. Positive cases in our schools focus us on the real risk our students, families, staff, teachers, and
      administrators are taking to their health and well-being. While St. Peter Central Catholic Elementary School
      and St. Paul Diocesan Junior/ Senior High School both prepared for their respective full in-person and hybrid
      openings, and staff response has been nothing but astounding, we need to protect the members of our
      community through prevention rather than reaction.
       
      DELTA members support taking the utmost precautions through the Thanksgiving holiday, which state
      authorities have warned is likely to increase spread and rates of positivity.  DELTA members support
      transitioning to remote learning for two weeks after Thanksgiving break, returning to each school's current
      respective teaching model on Monday, December 14th. During this time, both schools will be teaching
      completely remotely. We all want to be fully present and in-person, but only under safe conditions. With
      members of our community gathering with their families and traveling over the holiday season, we face an even
      greater risk of spread than we do presently. We ask that the Diocese respect and respond to this very
      reasonable request presented by its front-line workers.

Catholic Teachings on Justice:


 Labor Solidarity in Era of Pandemic

More Catholic Social Teachings:

  • Evangelium Vitae – “The Gospel of Life” (1995) Pope John Paul II
    • Summary: Powerful underscoring of the dignity and value of life; John Paul II condemns the ‘culture of death’ where individual freedom is placed before the rights of others to life
  • Centesimus Annus – “The One Hundredth Year” (1991) Pope John Paul II
    • Summary: To affirm democracy the excesses of capitalism must be condemned, as well as the ‘idolatry of the market’ and the ‘insanity of the arms race’.
  • Laborem Exercens – “Through Work” (1981) Pope John Paul II rights
    • Summary: Work is the central issue of this document; do women and men participate in God’s creativity and share in its productivity or are they merely cogs? This poses the idea that work should increase human dignity as the economy is made for labour and work is the subject of people.

    • On the 90th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Pope John Paul II revisited the themes laid out by his predecessors, devoting a substantial section of his Encyclical to “The Importance of Unions (20).” The Holy Father observed that “the experience of history teaches that organizations of this type are an indispensable element of social life” and that they serve as “a mouthpiece for the struggle for social justice.” He clarified further the right to strike: “workers should be assured the right to strike, without being subjected to personal penal sanctions for taking part in a strike.”

  • Economic Justice For All, 1986
    • The Bishops defended the right to organize in the strongest terms, and called for labor law reform to better protect that right. “The Church fully supports the right of workers to form unions or other associations to secure their rights to fair wages and working conditions…. No one may deny the right to organize without attacking human dignity itself. Therefore, we firmly oppose organized efforts, such as those regrettably now seen in this country, to break existing unions and prevent workers from organizing. Migrant agricultural workers today are particularly in need of protection, including the right to organize and bargain collectively. U.S. labor law reform is needed to meet these problems as well as to provide more timely and effective remedies for unfair labor practices (105).” Nor did the bishops exempt the Church from these obligations of social justice. “On the parish and diocesan level, through its agencies and institutions, the Church employs many people; it has investments; it has extensive properties for worship and mission. All the moral principles that govern the just operation of any economic endeavor apply to the Church and its agencies and institutions; indeed the Church should be exemplary… We bishops commit ourselves to the principle that those who serve the Church—laity, clergy, and religious—should receive a sufficient livelihood and the social benefits provided by responsible employers in our nation…. All church institutions must also fully recognize the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively with the institution through whatever association or organization they freely choose. (347, 351, 353)”

  • V. THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS

    a. The dignity of workers and the respect for their rights

    301. The rights of workers, like all other rights, are based on the nature of the human person and on his transcendent dignity. The Church's social Magisterium has seen fit to list some of these rights, in the hope that they will be recognized in juridical systems: the right to a just wage; [651] the right to rest; [652] the right “to a working environment and to manufacturing processes which are not harmful to the workers' physical health or to their moral integrity”; [653] the right that one's personality in the workplace should be safeguarded “without suffering any affront to one's conscience or personal dignity”; [654] the right to appropriate subsidies that are necessary for the subsistence of unemployed workers and their families; [655] the right to a pension and to insurance for old age, sickness, and in case of work-related accidents; [656] the right to social security connected with maternity; [657] the right to assemble and form associations.[658] These rights are often infringed, as is confirmed by the sad fact of workers who are underpaid and without protection or adequate representation. It often happens that work conditions for men, women and children, especially in developing countries, are so inhumane that they are an offence to their dignity and compromise their health.

    b. The right to fair remuneration and income distribution

    302. Remuneration is the most important means for achieving justice in work relationships.[659] The “just wage is the legitimate fruit of work”.[660]

    They commit grave injustice who refuse to pay a just wage or who do not give it in due time and in proportion to the work done (cf. Lv 19:13; Dt 24:14-15; Jas 5:4). A salary is the instrument that permits the labourer to gain access to the goods of the earth. “Remuneration for labour is to be such that man may be furnished the means to cultivate worthily his own material, social, cultural, and spiritual life and that of his dependents, in view of the function and productiveness of each one, the conditions of the factory or workshop, and the common good”.[661] The simple agreement between employee and employer with regard to the amount of pay to be received is not sufficient for the agreed-upon salary to qualify as a “just wage”, because a just wage “must not be below the level of subsistence”[662] of the worker: natural justice precedes and is above the freedom of the contract.

    303. The economic well-being of a country is not measured exclusively by the quantity of goods it produces but also by taking into account the manner in which they are produced and the level of equity in the distribution of income, which should allow everyone access to what is necessary for their personal development and perfection. An equitable distribution of income is to be sought on the basis of criteria not merely of commutative justice but also of social justice that is, considering, beyond the objective value of the work rendered, the human dignity of the subjects who perform it. Authentic economic well-being is pursued also by means of suitable social policies for the redistribution of income which, taking general conditions into account, look at merit as well as at the need of each citizen.

    c. The right to strike

    304. The Church's social doctrine recognizes the legitimacy of striking “when it cannot be avoided, or at least when it is necessary to obtain a proportionate benefit”,[663] when every other method for the resolution of disputes has been ineffectual.[664] Striking, one of the most difficult victories won by labour union associations, may be defined as the collective and concerted refusal on the part of workers to continue rendering their services, for the purpose of obtaining by means of such pressure exerted on their employers, the State or on public opinion either better working conditions or an improvement in their social status. Striking “as a kind of ultimatum” [665] must always be a peaceful method for making demands and fighting for one's rights; it becomes “morally unacceptable when accompanied by violence, or when objectives are included that are not directly linked to working conditions or are contrary to the common good”.[666]

    VI. SOLIDARITY AMONG WORKERS

    a. The importance of unions

    305. The Magisterium recognizes the fundamental role played by labour unions, whose existence is connected with the right to form associations or unions to defend the vital interests of workers employed in the various professions. Unions “grew up from the struggle of the workers — workers in general but especially the industrial workers — to protect their just rights vis-à-vis the entrepreneurs and the owners of the means of production”.[667] Such organizations, while pursuing their specific purpose with regard to the common good, are a positive influence for social order and solidarity, and are therefore an indispensable element of social life. The recognition of workers' rights has always been a difficult problem to resolve because this recognition takes place within complex historical and institutional processes, and still today it remains incomplete. This makes the practice of authentic solidarity among workers more fitting and necessary than ever.

    306. The Church's social doctrine teaches that relations within the world of work must be marked by cooperation: hatred and attempts to eliminate the other are completely unacceptable. This is also the case because in every social system both “labour” and “capital” represent indispensable components of the process of production. In light of this understanding, the Church's social doctrine “does not hold that unions are no more than a reflection of the ‘class' structure of society and that they are a mouthpiece for a class struggle which inevitably governs social life”.[668] Properly speaking, unions are promoters of the struggle for social justice, for the rights of workers in their particular professions: “This struggle should be seen as a normal endeavour ‘for' the just good ... not a struggle ‘against' others”.[669] Being first of all instruments of solidarity and justice, unions may not misuse the tools of contention; because of what they are called to do, they must overcome the temptation of believing that all workers should be union-members, they must be capable of self-regulation and be able to evaluate the consequences that their decisions will have on the common good.[670]

    307. Beyond their function of defending and vindicating, unions have the duty of acting as representatives working for “the proper arrangement of economic life” and of educating the social consciences of workers so that they will feel that they have an active role, according to their proper capacities and aptitudes, in the whole task of economic and social development and in the attainment of the universal common good.[671] Unions and other forms of labour associations are to work in cooperation with other social entities and are to take an interest in the management of public matters. Union organizations have the duty to exercise influence in the political arena, making it duly sensitive to labour problems and helping it to work so that workers' rights are respected. Unions do not, however, have the character of “political parties” struggling for power, and they should not be forced to submit to the decisions of political parties nor be too closely linked to them. “In such a situation they easily lose contact with their specific role, which is to secure the just rights of workers within the framework of the common good of the whole of society; instead they become an instrument used for other purposes”.[672]

    b. New forms of solidarity

    308. The modern socio-economic context, characterized by ever more rapid processes of economic and financial globalization, prompts unions to engage in renewal. Today, unions are called to act in new ways,[673] widening the scope of their activity of solidarity so that protection is afforded not only to the traditional categories of workers, but also to workers with non- standard or limited-time contracts, employees whose jobs are threatened by business mergers that occur with ever increasing frequency, even at the international level; to those who do not have a job, to immigrants, seasonal workers and those who, because they have not had professional updating, have been dismissed from the labour market and cannot be re- admitted without proper re-training.

    Given the changes that have taken place in the world of work, solidarity can be recovered, and perhaps with a firmer foundation in respect to the past, if the effort is made to rediscover the subjective value of work: “there must be continued study of the subject of work and of the subject's living conditions”. For this reason, “there is a need for ever new movements of solidarity of the workers and with the workers”.[674]

    309. Pursuing “new forms of solidarity”,[675] workers' associations must focus their efforts on the acceptance of greater responsibilities not only in relation to the traditional mechanisms for redistribution but also in relation to the production of wealth and the creation of social, political and cultural conditions which will permit all who are able and willing to work to exercise their right to work in full respect for their dignity as workers. The gradual obsolescence of organizational models based on salaried workers in big business makes it fitting to update the norms and systems of social security that have traditionally protected workers and guaranteed their fundamental rights.