Medford's Terri Trimbell wins bargaining
award
When Medford School Board members decided to challenge
Terri Trimbell and the Medford Education Association, they didn't realize
what they were going up against.
Trimbell, the MEA's chief negotiator, was not about
to back down.
"Terri and the MEA have shown the district that
they will not be intimidated or coerced into accepting a settlement
that is unworthy of their members," Kay Hansen said Saturday (February
26, 2005) in presenting Trimbell the Paul Bierbrauer Award for excellence
in bargaining. "Terri has given the Medford Education Association
members the courage to unite and fight for themselves."
Hansen and Matt Kranich, co-chairs of the WEAC Bargaining
Goals Committee, presented the award to Trimbell at the 2005 WEAC Winter
Conference in Milwaukee.
In the last year and a half, Trimbell and the MEA
have been subjected to some of the most callous bargaining tactics this
state has seen from a school board and administration in many years.
MEA President Timothy Raymond said Trimbell has endured
"the scourge of a school district void of morality or decency."
It is obvious the district's goal has been to beat Trimbell into complacency
with the hopes that the 170 Medford teachers would follow, Raymond said.
But that's not about to happen.
"Terri has responded with a grace and strength
of character that I have never witnessed. She is a true hero,"
Raymond said.
In an effort to divide the association and coerce
the Medford teachers to ratify a grossly unfair contract, the district
began personally attacking union leaders, including Trimbell, who became
the subject of an illegal and unethical investigation, Hansen said.
"The retaliation by the School District of Medford
upon Terri Trimbell has been unprecedented," Hansen said.
Trimbell was subjected to an hour and a half interrogation
by district administrators, letters of reprimand for her role as chief
negotiator, and a classroom evaluation in her personnel file that accuses
her of being insubordinate to administrators and detrimental to her
co-workers.
Trimbell, a special education teacher, previously
"has always received glowing evaluations from the administration,"
Hansen said.
"There is a consistent disregard to her position
by district and building administration that continually work to undermine
her position in the eyes of her fellow teachers."
Medford teachers, in a strong display of solidarity,
rejected every 2003-05 contract offer brought forth by the school district,
which ultimately imposed a Qualified Economic Offer on its teachers.
The association is now gearing up for 2005-07 contract negotiations.
"Throughout all of this, Terri has remained steadfast in her goal
to help the teachers of Medford attain an equitable and fair contract,"
Hansen said.
Trimbell, who received a standing ovation from the Winter Conference
participants, thanked WEAC and the Central Wisconsin UniServ Council
for providing staff support and other resources. She said local and
statewide unity is the key to success.
"This award is more about perseverance than bargaining gains,"
she said. "The main goal of the board was to break the union, and
that did not happen."
The Bargaining Goals Committee also handed out Award of Merit certificates
to two other individuals and two bargaining teams:
- June Anderson, a longtime member of the Oshkosh Education
Association Bargaining Team. In nominating her for the award, Winnebagoland
UniServ Director Richard Kern said Anderson employed creative solutions
and toughness to bargain a successful 2003-05 contract following two
previous bargains that resulted in QEOs being imposed by the school
district. The new contract increases the maximum salary by $3,500
and compresses the number of years to reach the maximum wage from
27 to 17.
- Debra Dassow, who has been bargaining for the Port Washington-Saukville
Education Association for more than 25 years and has been chief negotiator
for the last 17 years. In nominating her, PWSEA President Deborah
Anderson said Dassow "has guided our bargaining team through
the typical adversarial bargaining against the board's team and attorney,
into a consensus bargaining mode, and now into a modified consensus
bargaining method. Regardless of the method, it is my belief we have
always come out on top. ... Since the creation of the QEO law, through
creative and unique bargaining, PWSEA has never received the QEO and
has always received a salary increase without negative impacts to
our health care benefits."
- The Denmark Education Support Professionals Bargaining Team.
In nominating the team for the award Denmark Education Association
negotiator Kathy Romsos said team members bargained an outstanding
contract in just their third year of negotiations since organizing.
"Their determination worked, and they received most of what they
asked for with virtually no givebacks," she wrote. That included
a second personal leave day, a retirement package that included a
payout for unused sick days to be put into a tax-sheltered annuity,
improved vacation benefits, a 40-cent-per-hour across-the-board pay
increase in each year of the contract, and an extra pay boost for
classroom paraprofessionals who were under the average for area comparables.
The team includes Rick Fischer, Karen Kane, Elizabeth Kane, Kristi
Buhr and Kay Hansen.
- The Kenosha Education Association Education Support Professionals
Bargaining Committee. In nominating the committee, Kenosha Education
Association President Beth Adelsen said committee members "worked
diligently to make a number of significant improvements in contract
language as well as in wages and benefits through 11 months of negotiations."
That included a 3% across-the-board pay increase for 2003-04 and 2%
for 2004-05, along with fully paid health insurance. In addition,
the contract changes "arbitrary and capricious" language
to a "just cause" standard in discipline cases, expedites
the grievance procedure, increases sick leave provisions, and adds
model language for layoffs and recall procedures. "While many
ESP bargaining units around the state have struggled with layoffs,
pay freezes or cuts, and reduced benefits in the face of school district
budget shortfalls, the KEA ESP Bargaining Committee spent countless
hours negotiating a contract that improves in all areas: wages, benefits
and working conditions," Adelsen wrote. "Furthermore, the
KEA ESP and district addressed ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education
Act) concerns with contractual language that is fair to ESP members
and also complies with ESEA standards." Committee members include
Dawn Antrim, Kathy Basler, Tamara Bujniewicz, Judith Clark, Wilma
Johnson, Carol Lesnik, Julie Pelkowski, Carol Wendorf and Kathleen
Lusiak , as well as KEA Executive Director Bob Baxter and Assistant
Executive Director Joe Kiriaki.
Winter Conference main page
Posted March 1, 2005
