Hi,
OUCH! Like I said at the end of the year breakfast - I am good at putting my foot in my mouth! I said last night at the contract ratification meeting that Patty had retired. That is true - however - it is not effective until the end of NEXT SCHOOLYEAR. I had my date wrong. Please forgive me - I think I was so shocked at the announcement that I did not read the rest carefully enough.
As for the meeting last night - wow - was I wrong. I thought it would be a short 15 minute meeting and we would vote - I had no idea it would be so eventful! I talked with Patty this morning and we are working on the language for prep time because people were not happy with the proposed language and so it had to be adjusted. Patty and I seem to be on the same page on prep time language and we will get that out to everyone who was not at the meeting ASAP. We will also be sending the ballots to decide whether or not we ratify in the mail today, if possible.
If you are interested in looking over the contract, it should be online at the district website soon.
Keith
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Your pay raise explained.
Hi,
Soon after I posted the news on the contract and your raise I realized it may not make sense. Here is the deal. You will get 50% of the full step increase in your paychecks starting in August. On the salary schedule you will move to the next spot but will only be paid for half of it. The idea was to keep all of you who can move, move, so you next year when we negotiate you will start in an improved spot on the salary scale.
For example.
A teacher who is on Master step 6 in 2009-2010 earned $47,515, next year you will move to step 7 which is $49,080. That means you should make $1,565 more dollars next year but you only get 50% of that total so your real raise is $782.50 which will be spread throughout all of your paychecks for next year. The upside is in 2011-2012 you will move to step 8 which is more money and lets hope that we get a raise in salary as well. Our goal was to keep you moving down the steps.
I hope that helps, if you have questions let me know.
Keith
Soon after I posted the news on the contract and your raise I realized it may not make sense. Here is the deal. You will get 50% of the full step increase in your paychecks starting in August. On the salary schedule you will move to the next spot but will only be paid for half of it. The idea was to keep all of you who can move, move, so you next year when we negotiate you will start in an improved spot on the salary scale.
For example.
A teacher who is on Master step 6 in 2009-2010 earned $47,515, next year you will move to step 7 which is $49,080. That means you should make $1,565 more dollars next year but you only get 50% of that total so your real raise is $782.50 which will be spread throughout all of your paychecks for next year. The upside is in 2011-2012 you will move to step 8 which is more money and lets hope that we get a raise in salary as well. Our goal was to keep you moving down the steps.
I hope that helps, if you have questions let me know.
Keith
Friday, June 18, 2010
Ratification news.
Hi,
Ok, lets talk some specifics. First, we have a one year agreement which means we will be back at it in 6-8 months. Second, the insurance piece is as we proposed. Providence will no longer be offered, you can choose ODS 5 or 6 as well as Kaiser - those are the plans you can pick from. Dental and vision will be the same. The out of pocket per month for premiums stays about the same in all plans. We managed to keep the 92.5% that the district pays as a benefit to us. I know the district really wants to put a cap on insurance and that this was one of the biggest points of conflict between the district and SHEA. This year we got what we wanted, we will have to see what happens in the future - I don't know how long we can continue to have a percentage when insurance costs go up 25% a year.
Anyhow, as far as pay goes. You will get 50% of your step beginning in August. This means that everyone will see a bigger check next year except for those who are at the bottom - sorry. I am included in that group that does not get a pay raise. I will tell you that when I woke up yesterday I was annoyed and aggitated that I and all of the people like me were not getting a raise and everyone else was. I tried very hard to make a point of this with the district on the lack of a raise and that everyone was taking a salary schedule freeze. We cannot do this in the long run and keep a living wage. I see this as a one time thing and not the beginning of a pattern.
At the end of negotiations we all spoke of our fears for next year and how that could be really ugly. In both the budget committee meeting and negotiations there is talk of a possible levy or school funding proposal at the local level and have the community decide what type of schools they want. I told the board in both meetings that SHEA would be very interested in helping the district do what it takes to make our schools whole again. I hope all of the members will want to be a part of any effort to increase the funding at a local level so we can get whole again in the number of teachers and support staff as well as making sure we are paid the wages and benefits we deserve.
We will be having a meeting on Monday, June 21st at 7PM in the commons of the high school to show you all of the changes to the contract and vote on ratification. I hope to see you there.
I feel we have done a good job of protecting our workers, the students, and our contract in this very trying year. I sent a letter to both papers letting them know what happened and how much we as teachers gave up so that school would be a positive place for everyone next year. That is the negotiating teams biggest fear, that people will say that there was plenty of money and not see how much we gave to make this happen. The districts negotiation team was very impressed with what we have done to help and say that they will remember. Lets hope that is the case.
Anyhow, come on Monday and bring your questions and concerns with you.
Keith
Ok, lets talk some specifics. First, we have a one year agreement which means we will be back at it in 6-8 months. Second, the insurance piece is as we proposed. Providence will no longer be offered, you can choose ODS 5 or 6 as well as Kaiser - those are the plans you can pick from. Dental and vision will be the same. The out of pocket per month for premiums stays about the same in all plans. We managed to keep the 92.5% that the district pays as a benefit to us. I know the district really wants to put a cap on insurance and that this was one of the biggest points of conflict between the district and SHEA. This year we got what we wanted, we will have to see what happens in the future - I don't know how long we can continue to have a percentage when insurance costs go up 25% a year.
Anyhow, as far as pay goes. You will get 50% of your step beginning in August. This means that everyone will see a bigger check next year except for those who are at the bottom - sorry. I am included in that group that does not get a pay raise. I will tell you that when I woke up yesterday I was annoyed and aggitated that I and all of the people like me were not getting a raise and everyone else was. I tried very hard to make a point of this with the district on the lack of a raise and that everyone was taking a salary schedule freeze. We cannot do this in the long run and keep a living wage. I see this as a one time thing and not the beginning of a pattern.
At the end of negotiations we all spoke of our fears for next year and how that could be really ugly. In both the budget committee meeting and negotiations there is talk of a possible levy or school funding proposal at the local level and have the community decide what type of schools they want. I told the board in both meetings that SHEA would be very interested in helping the district do what it takes to make our schools whole again. I hope all of the members will want to be a part of any effort to increase the funding at a local level so we can get whole again in the number of teachers and support staff as well as making sure we are paid the wages and benefits we deserve.
We will be having a meeting on Monday, June 21st at 7PM in the commons of the high school to show you all of the changes to the contract and vote on ratification. I hope to see you there.
I feel we have done a good job of protecting our workers, the students, and our contract in this very trying year. I sent a letter to both papers letting them know what happened and how much we as teachers gave up so that school would be a positive place for everyone next year. That is the negotiating teams biggest fear, that people will say that there was plenty of money and not see how much we gave to make this happen. The districts negotiation team was very impressed with what we have done to help and say that they will remember. Lets hope that is the case.
Anyhow, come on Monday and bring your questions and concerns with you.
Keith
Thursday, June 17, 2010
ITS ALL OVER!!!
Hi,
We signed a tentative agreement with the school district tonight! I am tired, we have been at is since 12:00 noon today and I just got home so I will give you the specifics tomorrow. The agreement is what we talked about and there are no surprises. Sleep well and be ready to come to a ratification meeting in the near future!
Keith
We signed a tentative agreement with the school district tonight! I am tired, we have been at is since 12:00 noon today and I just got home so I will give you the specifics tomorrow. The agreement is what we talked about and there are no surprises. Sleep well and be ready to come to a ratification meeting in the near future!
Keith
Monday, June 14, 2010
What a disappointment!
Hi,
What a disappointment is to put it mildly - I was hoping for a more reasonable response from the district than the one we got today. I was hoping they would see we are trying to be flexible and creative in helping to solve the financial situation the district is in, apparently we have not done enough.
I would say that Patty, Jerry and Jamie all seem to get it and seem to be ready to deal, but the rest of the district's negotiating team does not seem ready to do much of anything except to put us off. I think there are people on the district's team that really want the dollar cap on insurance and anything short of that will not fly for them. I think that is unreasonable when we have given so much and they have not given anything. Richard said it well, when our team met after the session, when he said the only thing the district has given is the 30 minutes on Friday! That does not seem like a whole lot of movement if you ask me!
THANKS for all who attended today - your presence was noted and was helpful. We need that same presence at the budget committee meeting on Wednesday night and at negotiations on Thursday! We need to send the message that the district needs to bargain in good faith and not expect us to do it all for them and pay for it all as well!
What is really frustrating is that it seems like the districts team thinks we have secret motives as to why we are doing what we are doing and that we are not being on the up an up. It is almost insulting. We, as a team, have been nothing but honest and have worked very hard to come up with good ideas for the district, our members and our kids. I hope the people on the district's team figure that out!
I really have no idea what we will be offered on Thursday. I continue to hope for a settlement and think we have done all that we can do to make that happen. If the district does not agree to what we have offered it is enough to make me so upset I would almost want to go the other way and say, "too bad district, now I want a raise and I want steps and you need to find more money to make me happy because I tried to be reasonable and you were not". I am probably overreacting, but we have really tried hard to be decent and honest and I don't feel the district's team appreciates that enough. I did hear from a couple of people on their team that they do appreciate the work we have done, but I still want to see a legitimate offer come Thursday.
I will have to think hard the next couple of days about where we go from here and you should too. I don't think we have a whole lot more to give and I also don't think we should give any more. Let us hope the district comes to its senses and we get a good offer on Thursday. You should come to that meeting and find out!
Keith
What a disappointment is to put it mildly - I was hoping for a more reasonable response from the district than the one we got today. I was hoping they would see we are trying to be flexible and creative in helping to solve the financial situation the district is in, apparently we have not done enough.
I would say that Patty, Jerry and Jamie all seem to get it and seem to be ready to deal, but the rest of the district's negotiating team does not seem ready to do much of anything except to put us off. I think there are people on the district's team that really want the dollar cap on insurance and anything short of that will not fly for them. I think that is unreasonable when we have given so much and they have not given anything. Richard said it well, when our team met after the session, when he said the only thing the district has given is the 30 minutes on Friday! That does not seem like a whole lot of movement if you ask me!
THANKS for all who attended today - your presence was noted and was helpful. We need that same presence at the budget committee meeting on Wednesday night and at negotiations on Thursday! We need to send the message that the district needs to bargain in good faith and not expect us to do it all for them and pay for it all as well!
What is really frustrating is that it seems like the districts team thinks we have secret motives as to why we are doing what we are doing and that we are not being on the up an up. It is almost insulting. We, as a team, have been nothing but honest and have worked very hard to come up with good ideas for the district, our members and our kids. I hope the people on the district's team figure that out!
I really have no idea what we will be offered on Thursday. I continue to hope for a settlement and think we have done all that we can do to make that happen. If the district does not agree to what we have offered it is enough to make me so upset I would almost want to go the other way and say, "too bad district, now I want a raise and I want steps and you need to find more money to make me happy because I tried to be reasonable and you were not". I am probably overreacting, but we have really tried hard to be decent and honest and I don't feel the district's team appreciates that enough. I did hear from a couple of people on their team that they do appreciate the work we have done, but I still want to see a legitimate offer come Thursday.
I will have to think hard the next couple of days about where we go from here and you should too. I don't think we have a whole lot more to give and I also don't think we should give any more. Let us hope the district comes to its senses and we get a good offer on Thursday. You should come to that meeting and find out!
Keith
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Tomorrow is the big day!
Hi,
Tomorrow, June 14th, could be a very big day for all of us. We, the negotiating team, have high hopes that we can settle most if not all of the contract issues tomorrow and be able to send all of our members into the summer with the knowledge that things are settled and we can move forward. It would be a big sigh of relief if that comes true.
WE NEED EVERYONE POSSIBLE to show up at negotiations and encourage the districts negotiation team to settle. If anyone comes up with a good idea - like we all wear our union shirts or we all bring a piece of paper with the word SETTLE on it - I would try hard to pass the word along tomorrow before we start negotiations.
Last friday Tonya and I met with Patty and Terri and we all seem to think we are very close numbers wise. Patty was going to try to help with the other members of her negotiating team and get them on board to get this contract settled. I hope that she was successful.
HOPE TO SEE YOU AT 3:30!
Keith
Tomorrow, June 14th, could be a very big day for all of us. We, the negotiating team, have high hopes that we can settle most if not all of the contract issues tomorrow and be able to send all of our members into the summer with the knowledge that things are settled and we can move forward. It would be a big sigh of relief if that comes true.
WE NEED EVERYONE POSSIBLE to show up at negotiations and encourage the districts negotiation team to settle. If anyone comes up with a good idea - like we all wear our union shirts or we all bring a piece of paper with the word SETTLE on it - I would try hard to pass the word along tomorrow before we start negotiations.
Last friday Tonya and I met with Patty and Terri and we all seem to think we are very close numbers wise. Patty was going to try to help with the other members of her negotiating team and get them on board to get this contract settled. I hope that she was successful.
HOPE TO SEE YOU AT 3:30!
Keith
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The latest as of June 9th
Hi,
Tonya went to McBride and I went to Lewis and Clark on Tuesday and we both felt really good about how those meetings went. There we a lot of good questions, a lot of concerned people and a lot of give and take. I really felt like people understood that we need to give the negotiation team some more time and we also need to give the federal and state governments some more time to do something before we start making big decisions. I also think one of the issues here is that Patty has to have a budget in by June 30 and that puts a lot of pressure on her to get answers now.
The budget meeting Tuesday night was plain ugly. All of the budget committee members said we should cut 10 days and take a salary and benefit freeze - by the time they went through that, one member at a time, I was so angry it hurt. It seems that many people think that cutting the time we spend in the classroom is not as important as sports, music and CCEC, since everyone there seemed to say that cutting 10 days was the answer to all of the money issues. One budget committee person even suggested 12 days. After the meeting I was talking to one of the budget committee members, who asked, "Where are the teachers?". At that point I saw that we are still losing the propoganda war and that we need to educate the public on our position and our values.
On Wednesday, Tonya, Michelle and I went to a RIF meeting with Patty. We think the meeting went really well and that we have some ideas that we want the districts negotiating team to look at which could possibly be a win win situation for all involved. I don't want to say too much more about what our ideas are, but we want you at the bargaining session on Monday at 3:30- if things go right, maybe we can settle the contract that night or at least make a lot of progress. I think a big showing by our members would let the districts bargaining team know we are serious and we want the district to settle with us. We have a reasonable offer and one that saves jobs, saves days and keeps us whole. Tell people to be there and wear their shirts - in union there is power! I say that because what I saw on Tuesday night showed me that if you come in numbers, people listen.
I see some hope - hang in there and show up!
Keith
Tonya went to McBride and I went to Lewis and Clark on Tuesday and we both felt really good about how those meetings went. There we a lot of good questions, a lot of concerned people and a lot of give and take. I really felt like people understood that we need to give the negotiation team some more time and we also need to give the federal and state governments some more time to do something before we start making big decisions. I also think one of the issues here is that Patty has to have a budget in by June 30 and that puts a lot of pressure on her to get answers now.
The budget meeting Tuesday night was plain ugly. All of the budget committee members said we should cut 10 days and take a salary and benefit freeze - by the time they went through that, one member at a time, I was so angry it hurt. It seems that many people think that cutting the time we spend in the classroom is not as important as sports, music and CCEC, since everyone there seemed to say that cutting 10 days was the answer to all of the money issues. One budget committee person even suggested 12 days. After the meeting I was talking to one of the budget committee members, who asked, "Where are the teachers?". At that point I saw that we are still losing the propoganda war and that we need to educate the public on our position and our values.
On Wednesday, Tonya, Michelle and I went to a RIF meeting with Patty. We think the meeting went really well and that we have some ideas that we want the districts negotiating team to look at which could possibly be a win win situation for all involved. I don't want to say too much more about what our ideas are, but we want you at the bargaining session on Monday at 3:30- if things go right, maybe we can settle the contract that night or at least make a lot of progress. I think a big showing by our members would let the districts bargaining team know we are serious and we want the district to settle with us. We have a reasonable offer and one that saves jobs, saves days and keeps us whole. Tell people to be there and wear their shirts - in union there is power! I say that because what I saw on Tuesday night showed me that if you come in numbers, people listen.
I see some hope - hang in there and show up!
Keith
Monday, June 7, 2010
June 7th - Patty's visit
Hi,
Patty came to the high school today and gave information on the current state of things. After which the negotiations team held a meeting and discussed what is going on. We quickly came to the conclusion that Patty is winning the propoganda war and that we need to get a message out to the membership. Starting Tuesday, we will have a negotiations team member go to every building and try to inform the membership that Patty is giving you her version of the whole picture and not one that reflects all of the possibilities. Please go and listen and ask questions at one of these informational sessions that will be hosted by SHEA.
Keith
Patty came to the high school today and gave information on the current state of things. After which the negotiations team held a meeting and discussed what is going on. We quickly came to the conclusion that Patty is winning the propoganda war and that we need to get a message out to the membership. Starting Tuesday, we will have a negotiations team member go to every building and try to inform the membership that Patty is giving you her version of the whole picture and not one that reflects all of the possibilities. Please go and listen and ask questions at one of these informational sessions that will be hosted by SHEA.
Keith
Thursday, June 3, 2010
June 3rd - Patty's email
Hi,
What an ugly day. The email from Patty is devastating. I have a hard time imagining worse news. It really makes things tougher than they were and to top all of her news is the fact that we are in negotiations this year and we do not have a contract for next year yet.
I hear a lot about cutting days, and the budget proposal in Patty's email suggests cutting days, which hurts everyone. The thing that is missing from all of this is how much will you earn in the first place next year. We were proposing a 0% increase, but you would get your step and people at the bottom of the salary scale were going to get a longevity increase - these were our proposals because we saw how much money the district was going to have to pay in order to keep our insurance where it is currently. The disticts proposal was much less, in fact if you were on a family plan and took ODS or Providence you would see your out of pocket cost for insurace per month go from $127.25 to $546.97! That is real money and will really impact you next year unless we go to a lesser insurance or are able to negotiate more money from the district, which at this point seems like a longshot. So when you look at those two things, cutting days and increasing insurance costs, you are talking about a lot of money.
We do not have anything set in stone yet - but there are a lot of things to think about. I do understand that people are losing their jobs and being reduced and that is painful, I know, I have gone through that myself as a young teacher a number of times and it is no fun.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there is a lot to consider and we as a union need to think about all of the balloons that are in the air right now and really try to think through what would be best for us today and in the future.
I am attending a meeting with Patty and the board on Friday - we will see what happens next. It is all really upsetting and unsettling and we need to be thoughtful and careful about how we proceed and not jump to decisions.
Hang on, summer is coming.
Keith
What an ugly day. The email from Patty is devastating. I have a hard time imagining worse news. It really makes things tougher than they were and to top all of her news is the fact that we are in negotiations this year and we do not have a contract for next year yet.
I hear a lot about cutting days, and the budget proposal in Patty's email suggests cutting days, which hurts everyone. The thing that is missing from all of this is how much will you earn in the first place next year. We were proposing a 0% increase, but you would get your step and people at the bottom of the salary scale were going to get a longevity increase - these were our proposals because we saw how much money the district was going to have to pay in order to keep our insurance where it is currently. The disticts proposal was much less, in fact if you were on a family plan and took ODS or Providence you would see your out of pocket cost for insurace per month go from $127.25 to $546.97! That is real money and will really impact you next year unless we go to a lesser insurance or are able to negotiate more money from the district, which at this point seems like a longshot. So when you look at those two things, cutting days and increasing insurance costs, you are talking about a lot of money.
We do not have anything set in stone yet - but there are a lot of things to think about. I do understand that people are losing their jobs and being reduced and that is painful, I know, I have gone through that myself as a young teacher a number of times and it is no fun.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there is a lot to consider and we as a union need to think about all of the balloons that are in the air right now and really try to think through what would be best for us today and in the future.
I am attending a meeting with Patty and the board on Friday - we will see what happens next. It is all really upsetting and unsettling and we need to be thoughtful and careful about how we proceed and not jump to decisions.
Hang on, summer is coming.
Keith
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
District Response to our Proposal on May 24th
Hi,
I had several people ask me how the district's bargaining team responded to our offer on May 24th. I should have put that in the initial post.I will say that Patty talked to both Tonya and I the next day and was as sincere as I have ever seen her and she said that she was impressed with our offer and appreciated our efforts at being willing to come to the table with a proposal that showed real movement. I am not sure what the other members of the district's negotiating team thinks. I hope they feel the same way that Patty feels and see that we came with an honest offer and one we felt our membership would support. We, as a negotiation team also feel that this is our bottom line. We understand that times are tough and we are just looking at holding on to what we have and not going backwards on health benefits or pay.
So all in all, I think the district saw that we really made some moves to get negotiations completed. We will see what their response is on June 14th. It does not look good with all of the bad budget news, so we will just have to wait and see.
Keith
I had several people ask me how the district's bargaining team responded to our offer on May 24th. I should have put that in the initial post.I will say that Patty talked to both Tonya and I the next day and was as sincere as I have ever seen her and she said that she was impressed with our offer and appreciated our efforts at being willing to come to the table with a proposal that showed real movement. I am not sure what the other members of the district's negotiating team thinks. I hope they feel the same way that Patty feels and see that we came with an honest offer and one we felt our membership would support. We, as a negotiation team also feel that this is our bottom line. We understand that times are tough and we are just looking at holding on to what we have and not going backwards on health benefits or pay.
So all in all, I think the district saw that we really made some moves to get negotiations completed. We will see what their response is on June 14th. It does not look good with all of the bad budget news, so we will just have to wait and see.
Keith
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