"Working to Keep What We Have"

October 2006
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of our friends, families, colleagues, and community members who supported us during the last eight-months of contract negotiations. Your e-mails, letters, phone-calls, and well-wishes encouraged us through what can only be described as an emotionally long and grueling process. The food, drink, and monetary donations during the recent strike were all greatly appreciated. We are thankful to those who came out and walked the picket lines with us – your public show of support was an inspiration to us all. Finally to our colleagues of the elementary district, we thank you for your unwavering support and we hope that we can mirror your strength in dealing with the aftermath of this highly emotional struggle. To all members of the community, we ask that we bridge this chasm of difficulty together, ever-striving to maintain and extend Mendota High School’s tradition of excellence.

Wednesday, September 27th

Both sides met from 7:00 PM last night until approximately 5:30 AM this morning. A tentative agreement was reached. Classes will be in session today.

Tuesday, September 26th

Tonight's town-wide meeting, scheduled by the school board, has been canceled at this time. Both sides will be meeting with the mediator for a bargaining session tonight at 7:00 pm.

Monday, September 25th

The negotiating teams for the respective sides met for 12 ½ hours in an attempt to avert a teacher’s strike. The meeting began at 5:00pm on Sunday and concluded at 6:30 am on Monday morning. With many major issues and several smaller issues still remaining unresolved, the teams exchanged proposals for most of the evening. Compromises appeared to be reached in several key areas, with the teacher’s association showing movement with regard to compensation, liquidated damages, retirement language, health insurance, THIS (Teacher Health Insurance System), and sick leave accumulation. In response, the board expressed a willingness to drop the Faculty Duty Proposal and reinstate the 5X5 salary schedule.

As the evening progressed into early morning, representatives from the teacher’s association met face to face at the table with members of the board’s negotiating team to discuss the New Teacher Incentive, also referred to as the “roll-up”. At that time the teacher’s association was led to believe that the board was willing to consider a mutually acceptable proposal. However, after the board was given the opportunity to caucus it was made clear to the teachers that the board would be unwilling to entertain any option that was not their own.

After careful deliberation and with the strike deadline approaching, the union attempted to submit another proposal to the board showing additional movement on the New Teacher’s Incentive Issue. Confident in our proposal, the association activated the phone tree and instructed teachers to report to the school and await further notice. Unfortunately, the board was not satisfied with the union’s proposal, and reverted to the terms of a previous proposal. In doing so, some of the items that the union felt had been removed from the table were reintroduced into the negotiation process. In light of the board’s decision, the union reactivated the phone tree and officially issued the call to strike. When faced with the realization that the teacher’s did, in fact, intend to go out on strike, the board threatened further punitive action in the form of revoking previously agreed upon items stating that anything was fair game again and potentially erasing any progress that has been made to date. This one step forward, two step back bullying tactic has contributed greatly to the current stalemate.

No date for further talks has been established.

Thursday, September 21st

Both negotiating teams met in an effort to address the unresolved issues in the face of a looming teachers’ strike.

Because the union negotiating team had issued the last supposal (a non-binding suggestion to consider) on Wednesday morning, it was the board team’s responsibility to have a prepared offer to open Thursday night’s session. While the meeting began at 7:00, the board did not offer a supposal until 9:15. The board negotiating team and their legal counsel met with union president Kathy Conner and the IEA representative at the table to present the supposal. The board offered a slightly, but pointedly, altered version of the offer that was posted in the Mendota Reporter on Wednesday, August 30th. It was rejected.

In an effort to avoid the pending strike the union offered to keep current language on all outstanding items and accept a 4 % raise on the base in each year of a three year contract based on proposed budget figures by Superintendent Jeff Prusator. The supposal also allowed for amendments to teacher retirement in order to make the policy current to state law. The board rejected the supposal outright.

As the session progressed, six items were tentatively agreed upon, including changes to the sick leave policy, the personal leave policy, tutoring pay, and internal substitution pay.

Unfortunately, at 12:45 the process reached a stalemate with several issues - including compensation, recruiting incentives, teacher preparation time, teacher retirement, and health insurance - still remaining unresolved. The meeting concluded at 1:00 AM.

Although the teachers offered to meet “at any time, on any day, and for as long as it takes” to reach a settlement agreement prior to the Monday, September 25th strike date, the board team, disappointingly, was unwilling to meet before 5:00 PM on Sunday, September 24th. When questioned about the rationale for their decision, the board stated that they had prior commitments.

Tuesday, September 19th

Both sides met from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Six contract items that were tentatively agreed upon several months ago were finally signed. No agreement could be reached on contract items concerning preparation time, retirement benefits, insurance, financial penalty assessed to teachers who choose to transfer another school during the summer term and equitable compensation. Since both sides have yet to agree on the structure of the salary schedule, there has been no recent discussion of percentages for pay raises.

At approximately 3 a.m., the school board presented the teachers with an unacceptable, all or nothing proposal. Due to lack of substantive progress, the teacher’s negotiating team set a strike date of Monday, September 25th. At that time, we informed the school board that we would be willing to meet any time, any day, for as long as it takes to reach a settlement agreement. The school board responded that they were unavailable until Thursday, September 28th.