Teachers discouraged with contract talks
It was a standing-room-only crowd at the Grambau Center meeting room Monday, as about 40 Rogers City teachers, in a show of solidarity, expressed their disappointment with the lack of progress in securing a new labor agreement. Members of the Rogers City Board of Education listened to Rogers City Educators? Association union president Bob Brietzke, who outlined some of the teachers? concerns.
?We are here for two reasons: one, we are starting to get a little discouraged because of a lack of progress,? Brietzke said. ?The other reason we are here is that it has come to our attention that the board is thinking of maybe withdrawing our MESSA health insurance and imposing their own health insurance plan upon us.? Brietzke voiced his concerns during the public comment period, which was the first agenda item of the evening. Board members did not speak, but just listened to the union chief.
?THIS IS QUITE upsetting to us whether you have been a teacher for 40 years, as one or two of our members have been, or one year. We have always enjoyed MESSA health insurance which is a very fine insurance program,? said Brietzke. ?It?s no secret that Rogers City teachers are among the poorest paid teachers in the state.? Superintendent Ed Schultz confirmed Tuesday that the board is looking at insurance coverage alternatives. Both sides are between mediation sessions. ?But again that?s something that belongs at the (bargaining) table and that?s been discussed, and we would like to discuss it more with them,? Schultz said. Brietzke asked the board to ?think twice before removing it.?
District officials have said this has been a unique year; There have been cuts in state aid, with more expected, coupled with declining enrollment and rising health insurance costs. ?There doesn?t seem to be any end to double digit increases for the next few years,? said Schultz. ?These are all negative pressures both on the board and on the employee groups.?
THE TEACHERS have been without a contract since the end of August, while members of the support staff are approaching six months without a new deal. ?I know that you people appreciate your teachers,? said Brietzke. ?I?ve heard you say it to me, to Mr. (Bryan) Mills, to Missy Wozniak and her staff for a nice job she does in NCA.? Brietzke said he understands the job of a board member is not an easy one with low pay and much responsibility. Brietzke offered a possible solution to the labor strife, encouraging the board to reduce its fund equity, which he said is about 23 percent, which might settle the first year of a contract.
?In dollars and cents that?s about $1,250,000 sitting in the bank, doing nothing for our boys and girls,? Brietzke said. ?I?m not questioning the need for fund equity, I?m just questioning whether 23 percent is too high.? The surplus fund equity could fund a fair and equitable contract, Brietzke said, not only for the teachers but the support staff as well. ?The second part of my proposal may be good news for you people,? he said. ?Many of us are long in the tooth and we have been here many years and we are nearing retirement.?
BRIETZKE SAID there could be a minimum of six teachers retiring at the end of the school year and union treasurer Duane Maxwell believes it could save the district $225,000 next year ?If you save that much money, wouldn?t that just about settle the second year of the contract proposal?? asked Brietzke. ?I think it would.? As a suggestion, board president Patty Pike was asked to consider appointing a three-member board to sit in on contract talks to ?hear with your own ears and see with your own eyes, just what is happening. We think that would be beneficial,? Brietzke said. Schultz said the proposals were nothing new to the bargaining team and some of items have already been discussed.
Uniserv director Chuck Herring said at Monday?s meeting the union is not trying to ?enflame? the board or make any threats. He spent a few moments clarifying a conversation with Schultz a few days before and said while the word ?strike? came up in the conversation there were no threats made.
?I DON?T KNOW what the dialogue was with you and your paid bargainer and the superintendent,? Herring said, ?but I?m here to tell you publicly that strikes are an option, imposition is an option, mediation is an option. It doesn?t mean we will be going to any of them.? Of the labor contract impasse, Schultz said it?s not a situation unique to Rogers City.
?This is happening all over the state, all you have to do is read the downstate papers,? said Schultz. ?There is a lot worse going on in the suburbs of Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit, than here. I think we have traditionally taken a reasonable approach to negotiations.? A closed session following the 90-minute board meeting to discuss the contracts with hired negotiator Bruce Bigham gave no indication that the contracts are anywhere near an end.
IN OTHER business: ? The board was informed by Bryan Mills that ?Voices in Harmony? has been accepted to perform during Walt Disney World?s Magic Music Days in March. ?We will do everything we can to make your Disney Magic Music Days visit exciting, as well as educational,? the acceptance letter stated. The 38 high school students will perform on the Tomorrowland stage near Magic Mountain March 20. ?Best wishes as you prepare to perform fo
? A field trip for the RCHS band to Cedar Point in June was approved. Music teacher Ed Wilbert requested the board grant its permission for the trip, which will be two days and one night. Schultz recommended the board consider all aspects of the trip, educational as well as just for fun. ?The administration had some reservations, although it strongly encouraged Mr. Wilbert to conduct activities with the students to bolster the band program,? said Schultz.
? The PTO was commended for donating $300 to purchase refrigerator magnets with the new school telephone numbers on them.
? The school calendar for January was approved, in the absence of a labor contract with the teachers. School will be in session weekdays for full days commencing January 5 through January 30, except for Thursday and Friday, January 15 and 16, when school will dismiss at 12:05 p.m. to accommodate final exams at RCHS. The other exception is January 22, when there will be no school due to a teacher professional development in the morning and parent-teacher conferences in the afternoon and evening.