Elmbrook Teachers Vote on Job Action

News release from the Elmbrook Education Association

Elmbrook teachers voted Thursday (January 30, 2003) to participate in a number of job actions to demonstrate their frustration with stalled contract negotiations. In the vote, 97.5% of the teachers voted to implement the job actions.

According to Elmbrook Education Association (EEA) chief negotiator, Richard Hepp, teachers have agreed to work strictly to the parameters of the contract. That means they will no longer have student contact outside of the contracted hours, and will not participate in chaperoning or supervisory work or writing letters of recommendation for high school students. They will not attend evening events, participate in district committee work, attend meetings during lunch hours or have conferences with parents before or after the contracted day.

"The definition of working to the contract varies by building and grade level," said Hepp, "but these job actions will significantly impact the educational environment in the district.

"We have reached the point in the contract process where we have given all the concessions we feel our teachers can make," he said. "We have agreed to the school board's salary offer of 1% in the first year and 0.25% in the second. We have proposed an insurance plan which is less expensive than the school board's current self-funded plan, and the board has refused to consider it."

Hepp said teachers have worked more than 1,000 days without a contract, and the school board is in the second year of withholding salary increases for teachers eligible for years-of-experience steps.

Furthermore, the board continues to earn interest on the withheld salary. In spite of this, Elmbrook's educators have continued to offer students services well beyond what the contract has specified.

"Teachers by nature are dedicated people who have always been willing to give their best to the district's children," said Hepp, "but there comes a time when you have to consider your own children and weigh their welfare against your dedication to the job."

Posted February 3, 2003