Waupaca Teachers Cease Voluntary Activities
Waupaca teachers announced to the school board Tuesday
(January 14, 2003) that they will no longer participate in voluntary activities
"until a legitimate and fair agreement" is reached on teacher
pay.
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Waupaca teachers marched 30 minutes through bitter cold Tuesday
(January 14, 2003) from a food pantry to a school board meeting
and back to demonstrate their anger over stalled contract negotiations. "These teachers are angry, frustrated and determined to get
a fair settlement. Braving the cold like they did to make their
point was inspiring," said WEAC Vice President Terry Meyer,
who joined in the demonstration.
The teachers used their most recent one-week pay raise to purchase
food for the pantry. The minimal raise was the result of contract
terms imposed on them as a result of the Qualified Economic Offer
(QEO) law. Each teacher carried a bag of food purchased with the amount of
their raise for a week. One teacher at the board meeting held up
a bag with three cans of soup in it. "That was the extent of her raise for a week," Meyer
said. "It was quite graphic."
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The Waupaca Teachers Association is one of more than
100 local associations still without a contract for the 2001-02 and 2002-03
school years. The Waupaca School Board has implemented a "Qualified
Economic Offer" contract, but the union has asked the board to return
to the bargaining table and work to reach a voluntary agreement. Under
the QEO law, a school board can impose contract terms on teachers as long
as those terms meet minimal economic standards provided by law.
"Many of the teachers sitting in this room, especially
senior teachers of 15 years or more of service to this district, have
received no salary increase for the past two years," WTA President
Pat Phair said at Tuesday evening's board meeting.
On average, he said, the most experienced teachers have
received an average annual pay raise of 1.2% since 1992 and beginning
teachers "have a starting salary in Waupaca that rubs elbows with
the lowest in the state of Wisconsin, even though our size puts us in
the top 20% in the state."
"These numbers eventually translate into faces,
into people, into teachers who have left Waupaca," he said. "In
the last five years, our district has lost more than 30 teachers to higher-paying
teaching jobs in neighboring communities."
The WTA presented the board with a list of voluntary
activities in which members will no longer participate. The list includes
Family Fun Night, intramural sports, volunteer coaching, Jump Rope for
Heart, Saturday Parent Enrichment, Creative Expression Night, faculty
meetings beyond the normal school day, letters of recommendation, Science
Fair, field trips beyond the normal school day, lunch hour conferences,
orientation nights, and 8th-grade graduation preparations.
Phair said the teachers are taking these actions "as
a sign of our seriousness in this matter." To demonstrate their rejection
of the QEO contract, they also are donating their current pay increases,
provided by the imposed QEO contract, to the Waupaca Food Pantry.
"It is apparent to us that a poor salary ultimately
leads to poor morale and undermines quality for the students and citizens
of this district," he said.
"We ask the board to seize the opportunity now
to settle this dispute amicably, swiftly and fairly."
Posted January 15, 2003