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Four members of the Kenosha Education Association bargaining team accept
a 2004 Bierbrauer Award for excellence in bargaining, presented by WEAC
Bargaining Goals Committee Co-Chair Kay Hansen (second from left). They
are (left to right) KEA President Matt Kranich, KEA Executive Director
Bob Baxter, KEA Vice President Beth Adelsen, and KEA Treasurer Chris
Perillo.
Ron Schultz, who has been chief negotiator for the Cuba City Education Association for more than 25 years, and the Kenosha Education Association teacher bargaining unit were winners of the 2004 Paul Bierbrauer Awards for excellence in bargaining. The awards were presented at the 2004 WEAC Winter Conference in Appleton February 28.
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| Ron Schultz (right), head negotiator for the Cuba City Education Association for 25 years, accepts a Bierbrauer Award for excellence in bargaining from Bargaining Goals Committee Co-Chair Matt Kranich. |
In presenting the award to Schultz, WEAC Bargaining Goals Committee Co-Chair Matt Kranich noted that Schultz "was an accomplished teacher for 37 years" as well an active union leader.
"By working hard to improve the salary, benefits, and working conditions for more than 60 teachers in Cuba City, Ron improved the students' learning conditions districtwide," he said.
Schultz, who is retiring at the end of this school year, "has a reputation as a tough teacher who really prepares students for their college classes and the real world that is ahead of them," said Cuba City Education Association President Gary Hazen, who nominated Schultz.
Hazen praised Schultz's bargaining skills. "Ron's experiences over the years in negotiating proved very successful for the teachers in our district," he wrote.
Hazen also noted that Schultz worked closely for many years with Bierbrauer, a South West Education Association UniServ director who died in 1991. "Ron and Paul worked so closely together during the early years of SWEA, and it came as a personal blow to him when Paul died at such an early age," Hazen wrote.
In presenting the award to KEA Executive Director Bob Baxter and the KEA teacher bargaining unit, WEAC Bargaining Goals Committee CO-Chair Kay Hansen said their success in bargaining is due in part to member and community involvement.
"Throughout the entire bargain, members were kept informed by articles in the weekly newsletter. The KEA also set up a Web site to share information with its members and the community. A membership e-mail database was also created in which to share information to the members in a timely manner and throughout the summer months," she said. In addition:
The successful contract included annual base salary increases of 2.7% and no give-backs on insurance benefits. It also included a provision for job sharing, increased leave of absence time for family illness or death within the family, a defined procedure for staff layoffs, a defined evaluation procedure for probationary and non-probationary staff, forgiveness of snow days, an increase in elementary prep time, and even a one-hour limit for staff meetings.
Hansen noted that Baxter was singled out as a recipient of the Bierbrauer Award, in addition to the KEA teacher bargaining team.
"Bob is the sole professional staff person and his position requires the overwhelming responsibility of representing 2,400 members of which there are approximately 1,700 teacher members," she said.
Chanin offers his bargaining vision (includes a conference photo gallery)
Posted March 5, 2004