OEA Contracts and Negotiations 2009-2010

  (d) Prior approval for work beyond a bachelor’s degree:  we removed the ‘quarter’ credit designation.  Most universities now run on a semester schedule, so the language was cleaned up to reflect semesters only.

 Section 5.18 Pay for assignments beyond normal:  if you agreed to teach an extra assignment, you were paid for it based on what it replaced.  If you taught instead of having a study hall, or some other duty, you received 1/22 of your salary.  If you taught instead of having a prep time, you were paid 1/11 of your salary.  And, the principal decided which (generally based on the schedule).  We have changed that language.  Any time you agree to teach an extra assignment, you will be paid 1/11^th of your salary. Note:  a principal must ask you to do this, not tell you to do this.

 Section 5.19 Curriculum Writing:  This used to be part of the ‘extra assignment’ schedule C.  At one time, this was used fairly infrequently.  But, administration uses this hourly payment rate rather more often, and for a larger range of activities than what the title literally states.  It became an issue of fairness, then, that we were working so hard for ‘pennies’ an hour.  We have negotiated a 10% increase for this year and a 10% for the next.  Please check the document attached for the actual numbers.  Also, this increase doesn’t start until the contract has been ratified by OEA and the district; so, hold off on that curriculum writing so you can get the increased hourly rate!

 Section 5.20 Stipend:  this new section is about the $350.00 stipend .75 to full time teachers will receive each year of the contract: in January of 2010 and then again in January of 2011 (for people who are less than .75  please see pro rated numbers in section 5.20 in the attachment).  School districts will sometimes offer teachers a stipend as a way of giving teachers more money, but keeping it off the pay scale.  Every time the pay scale goes up, that becomes an increase that the district has to pay forever.  In times of economic crisis, many districts are really reluctant to tie themselves to an increase on the salary schedule.  Which is also why .9 and .9 may look small, but it was a victory for us.

 Section 6.3 Hospitalization and medical insurance:  there is a little bump in what the district will pay towards coverage--$25.00 more a month, in the first year only.  See the attachment for more details.

 Section 6.5 Long Term disability insurance: this changes the maximum per month benefit for this next contractual period.  Check the attachment for more information.

 Section 6.6 tax sheltered annuity:  this is a language clean up:  “quarters” was removed, and only “semesters” is used.

 Section 11.1 Printing and distribution:  Everyone will get their own hard copy of the agreement.   But it is also available to read online at this web page and at Educationminnesota.org,  If you need another hard copy, you may print one out from these locations, also.

 Section 10.4 Retirement appropriation:  this language adjusts the dates.

 Section 14.1 Term and reopening negotiations: this is standard language that names what time period this contract covers.  The dates were changed from last year’s to this.

 Letter of Understanding (LOU):  if a principal approached a teacher with a request to attend some special training in order to teach a specific class (the example here is Advanced Placement-AP training to teach an AP class) then the district must pay for the class and the teacher’s time to attend.  If college credits are earned, they may count toward a teacher’s lane change.  This goes back to the 2007-2008 school year, and you needn’t have asked for approval to add these credits to a lane change up till now.  When this school year is over, you will need prior approval of lane change credits.

 One more note:  Because our contract really ended in August, when this one is passed, you will receive ‘retro’ pay—the difference between what you have been making each paycheck since August, and what you are making under the new agreement.  You may have noticed that the district has been paying you at last year’s rate.  You will receive both the .9 increase, and a step increase.  You will get that ‘retro’ amount also in January of 2010.

 These are the changes for this next contractual period.  We will have a vote on this proposal on Tuesday, December 8.  Watch for emails.  Meanwhile, if you have questions about any of this, you may contact your building representative (Mark Vonder Haar at the high school; Kelly Biller at the middle school; John Avaloz at the intermediate school, and Toni Nelson at the elementary school); you may contact Kelly Leibfried, our head negotiator, or any of our negotiators (Leslie O’Meara, Ron Nelson, Dennis Lynn), or you may contact me.

END

The negotiation council is meeting to go over the proposal put together by the negotiators from surveying the members.

December 3, 2008

Orono negotiation council met and started the process of setting up a new contract for 2009-2011.  The council nominated Ron Nelson, Dennis Lynn, Kelly Liebfried and Leslie O'Meara to served on the negotiation team. The council will be creating a survey and reviewing the results to determine what the needs are for the next round of negotiation.

Summer 2009

Negotiators has several meetings this summer and they are continuing to meet in the fall. Negotiations are ongoing.

June 2009

Kelly Liebfried met with the members to go over the proposal. Next step is for the negotiators to meet with administrators and submit proposals.

Negotiation Update 2009

Greetings Colleagues and Friends!

As we enter the last couple months of 2009, your negotiations team is working hard to bring a contract that is worthy of the work that you produce for the wonderful students of Orono. This letter is to inform you of our current status in negotiations and the steps that we are taking to achieving an amicable settlement for both parties.

The negotiations team has met with the school board several times over the course of the summer. Our last meeting in August, the Negotiations Team (Kelly Leibfried, Dennis Lynn, Ron Nelson, and Leslie O’Meara) was ready to work on settling the contract. The School Board (Neal Lawson, Jack Veach, Martha Van de Ven) were not prepared to negotiate a settlement at that time. They wanted to wait for other districts that we compare with to get a better idea of the compensation packages those districts were negotiating. Our last meeting took place on November 3, 2009. We will be convening a negotiations council meeting in the very near future to present further information to them.

The meetings have neither been productive, nor have they been contentious. The Board has reiterated the state of the economy several times during our meetings, but they have also said it has a strong desire to remain competitive. As you are aware the district has been adding more programs and advanced courses, it is their desire to maintain current FTE levels and programs, the bottom line is that they don’t want to cut.

Negotiations are interesting and they take time to work through some of the intricate details. Teachers that are new to the profession need to know that it is rare for negotiations to be wrapped up by the start of the new contractual period. Those that have been teaching for a longer period of time know that sometimes it can go down to the last minute. We are hopeful and optimistic about reaching a settlement that shows the dedication that our school board has toward our teachers and one that is thoughtful to the needs and abilities of our staff.

Thank you for being great at your job! Your performance gives the negotiators a leg up during contractual negotiations. You truly are the best of the best, and deserve to be treated equitably among our colleagues throughout the metropolitan area!

Yours truly,

Kelly Leibfried, Ron Nelson, Dennis Lynn, Leslie O’Meara

Negotiations Team

Negotiation Update December 2009