Bargaining begins anew

Emily Kram

Nov. 3, 2009 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- When students boarded school buses to start classes this fall, the Superior school district had yet to finalize its school calendar. Many parents only recently received hard copies of this year's calendar in the mail, something district officials hope not to see repeated next year.

The calendar delay was the result of extended contract negotiations between the Superior School Board and the Superior Federation of Teachers Local 202. Complicating matters this year were a number of late changes in Wisconsin's budget, including a measure to overturn the qualified economic offer law (QEO).

The QEO became law in 1993, the same year revenue caps were instituted. Under the QEO, school boards could avoid arbitration if they offered bargaining unit employees a 3.8 percent increase in compensation while maintaining existing benefits and payment schedules. With health insurance costs on the rise, school boards often reached the 3.8 percent mark with minimal or no salary increases.

"The QEO hurt us the last 15 years because they never offered up more than the cap on the QEO -- 3.8 percent," said Kathy Empie, president of the Superior Federation of Teachers, which represents almost 400 members in the School District of Superior.

When Gov. Jim Doyle signed the 2009-11 state budget into law on June 29, the QEO was immediately repealed.

The local teachers union had hoped negotiations would run smoothly in spite of the change, but talks hit a snag early.

The repeal of the QEO may have been a factor in other districts' negotiations, but in Superior, the larger issue was the reduction of school aid. Superior School Board member Mary Klun, chair of the personnel and negotiations committee, said the financial cuts caused much of the trouble in Superior's contract negotiations.

"It was a pretty rough round of negotiations," Empie said.

At the start of bargaining, the board asked for three extra days of staff development, which the union agreed to accept if members received a one percent salary raise and retained health care benefits at the current level.

Both sides seemed to have reached agreement, so the teachers union held a ratification meeting on April 22 and voted to accept a proposal that included the three extra days for staff development. Empie said the school board was expected to follow suit, but the situation changed when the state budget was released.

"The state budget threw a monkey wrench into things," Empie said.

When the state released its budget numbers in the summer, the Superior School Board informed the union that time it would no longer be able to offer a one percent salary raise to teachers. According to Klun, the board had agreed to the one percent raise based upon budget estimates.

Without the one percent raise, the union said the previous agreement was null and pulled everything off the table.

Over the next few months, both sides worked to renegotiate, and teachers began the school year without a contract in place.

The Superior school district did not set its calendar for 2009-10 until October, when a one-year contract that did not include any extra staff development days was agreed upon. The original calendar had been drawn up with the three extra days.

"I think things went as well as can be expected considering the economic climate," Klun said.

The Superior School Board voted to ratify the contract on Oct. 13. The measure passed, with four board members voting to accept the contract. Len Albrecht and Bonnie Baker abstained from the vote to avoid any conflict of interest, and Josh Christie voted against approving the contract. He felt the salary increase needed to be larger and said teachers are underpaid and undervalued.

Other board members, including Klun, said the district could not afford to offer more at this time.

"Even the one percent increase this year strained us to the maximum of what we want to do," she said.

Union leadership will be sitting down with the personnel and negotiations committee again beginning this month to negotiate next year's contract. Klun said this time, financial matters will be put off until the district has a clearer idea of the funding it can expect from the state. In early talks, she hopes to resolve language issues and re-examine adding three staff development days to the calendar.

Empie said some trust has been lost between the board and union because of the last round of negotiations, but she hopes for better lines of communication this time and a smoother negotiation process.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0049-39433786