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By Terry Lawler
Front Lines by Terry Lawler |
Teachers in Big Foot Educators Association are feeling like the Greek character Sisyphus who was doomed to repeatedly roll a giant boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down just as he reached the summit. Big Foot teachers keep coming back to the bargaining table in the hopes of making progress on their contract only to be rebuffed continuously by the school board and its attorney.
“The boulder” isn’t wearing Big Foot teachers down; it’s making them stronger. They are resisting the board’s proposed insurance cuts and fighting for a cost of living increase. Although they have only 41 members, they are united and have an action team that is working to educate the community and progressively increase pressure on the board to return to the table and negotiate a fair contract.
Door number one, two, three
The Big Foot Board, through its attorney, Joel S. Aziere from the Milwaukee firm of Davis and Kuelthau, has taken a door number one, two, or three approach to negotiations.
 Michael Manghera |
 Jerry Wilson |
Behind door number one is a 0.21% per-cell increase for 2005-06 and a 0.1% per-cell increase for 2006-07. That would yield the Big Foot teachers about $58 above a Qualified Economic Offer (QEO).
Door two offers a 1.66% per-cell increase in the first year and a 0.67% increase in the second ($272.64 above QEO in the first year and $296.86 in the second).
Door three offers a 2.6% per-cell increase in year one and 0.96% in year two ($409.70 in year one and $445.16 in year two).
There is a big catch to these offers – reductions in health benefits.
Although it appears that options two and three offer minimal salary raises, these raises are not “new money,” just a shift of money from one area to another. A district memo sent to the teachers states, “Each proposal contains insurance changes aimed at reducing health care costs and shifting those savings to the salary schedule.” Translation: robbing Peter to pay Paul.
When Big Foot Educators President Michael Manghera and his team took these options back to the teachers, “they said absolutely not.” Manghera and Southern Lakes United Educators Executive Director Jerry Wilson were not surprised.
“The board’s proposed changes in insurance include doubling our drug card deductible,” Manghera said. “In addition, we would have an increase in co-pays in and out of the network and an increase in our deductible.
“In our last contract,” he said, “we agreed to a three-tier drug plan, a change that was a good deal for both sides.”
Wilson added, “It’s not hard to see that these per-cell raises would rapidly get eaten up if the teachers accepted the board’s proposal.”
Past job actions
Big Foot teachers started taking job actions during the 2001-03 contract negotiations, when the board imposed a QEO.
“We had ‘black Wednesdays,’ wore union shirts with our own logo, and disseminated information to our members and the community,” Manghera said.
The 2003-05 contract settlement was accomplished quickly and amicably. Since then, however, the negotiations climate has changed.
“A few members left the board, our new superintendent left the district, and the new board members seem to be uncomfortable with the negotiation process,” Manghera said. Consequently, even though board members are present at negotiations sessions, their attorney does the negotiating – or lack thereof.
The board’s basic three offers have not changed since negotiations began on September 15 of 2005, despite movement from the teachers.
“We kept adjusting our position,” Manghera said, “but the board turned down all our offers.”
There is money in the district to meet the teacher’s offers, Manghera said: “The district has $1.5 million in its fund 10, and it would take about $80,000 to fix our salary schedule and move people along who have been frozen for some time.”
Although the board assured the teachers that it would “continue to diligently pursue our proposals through collective bargaining,” its tactics so far this year contradict that statement. The Big Foot Board has not changed its proposals since last fall. The board says it will continue to meet with the teachers, but only to offer the same three proposals.
Last April 26, after asking members if they were willing to make yet another concession in the hopes of getting back to real bargaining, the Big Foot negotiators offered to increase their insurance deductible. The board’s response: door one, two, or three.
More job actions
Now, Manghera said, “The Big Foot teachers are firing up.” They have continued their “black Wednesdays” and have put up many yard signs in the district that read “Big Foot Teachers Deserve a Fair Contract” and “We Support Big Foot Teachers.”
“We have more volunteers coming forth,” Manghera said, “and we will continue to keep our members and the community informed.”
Teachers are “working to contract” on Tuesdays,which means they will only perform duties specifically required by the contract, which is a lot less work than they normally perform.
They are considering other work-to-contract options such as they employed in 2001-03.
Wilson tries to remain optimistic. “We’ll see how mediation goes. Maybe we can still get a settlement,” he said.
But, if that settlement is not forthcoming, the Big Foot teachers will continue to pressure the board to come to the bargaining table in good faith.
Posted September 13, 2006