Madison School District Agrees to Arbitration if Negotiations Fail
From Madison Teachers Inc.
Labor peace is guaranteed in Madison. In an effort to assure no reoccurrence
of the strife which has marked the last three negotiations between the
District and its teachers, MTI Executive Director John Matthews and
Superintendent Art Rainwater have signed an agreement which they have
been negotiating since last summer. The agreement enables FINAL OFFER
ARBITRATION of Contract terms, if MTI and the District are unable to
reach a negotiated settlement of the 1999-2001 Teacher Collective Bargaining
Agreement by MAY 1, should such be necessary. It also provides a
means of costing the proposals, so as to enable the comparison of teacher
wage increases with those of other area public and private sector employees.
If mediation is necessary, it would begin promptly after May 1. If
such does not produce settlement by May 26, the parties would move on
to arbitration. In a joint statement, Matthews and Rainwater said
the children, the teachers and the community deserve the peace which
arbitration offers, if the parties are not able to reach a negotiated
settlement.
According to Matthews, negotiations under former Superintendent Wilhoyte's
direction frequently became disruptive, causing job actions given the
harsh demeanor and demands of the District, with her at the helm, as
well as the removal of arbitration as a means of peaceful resolution
given the Legislature's adoption of Governor Thompson's 1993 budget.
Since Rainwater took over, Matthews said, the District has peacefully
resolved contract negotiations with two of MTI's bargaining units, the
District's clerical/technical employees and educational assistants,
as well as two AFSCME units, the District's food services and custodial
employees. We are looking forward to that continuance of labor peace,
he said.
Matthews and Rainwater began talking of the need to have peaceful
labor relations on Rainwater's first day on the job as Interim Superintendent.
The two have also settled numerous grievances, saving the Union and
the District hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal and arbitrator
fees. Because of this success and the desire of both the Union and the
Board of Education to avoid a repeat of the hostility during negotiations
which spilled over into the community in 1997, Matthews and Rainwater
pledged to develop a means to achieve the same peaceful resolution of
the Contract as they have with other issues.
Bargaining is set to begin with the exchange of bargaining proposals
next Monday, at MTI Headquarters.
Posted February 11, 1999