Education workers respond to 'slap in face'

Region

OTHER DISTRICTS RESPOND

Kalkaska Public Schools Superintendent Lee Sandy was to recommend his board adopt resolutions to support pending legislation, presented across the region last month, when it met Monday.

In Suttons Bay, Superintendent Mike Murray said he didn't advance the resolutions to his school board after learning teachers voted not to support the Michigan Education Association if it were to attempt job action, such as a strike.

April 19, 2011

MEA asked locals to vote on GOP-proposed budget cuts

BY LINDSAY VANHULLE lvanhulle@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Wed Apr 18, 2012, 12:08 PM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Local school employees and administrators are at odds over legislation that would affect workers during contract talks, fallout from proposed state education funding cuts and burgeoning budget shortfalls.

Administrators in some of the region’s districts want their school boards to adopt resolutions that support Republican lawmakers’ efforts to freeze salaries for union workers while they negotiate new contracts, prevent new deals from being applied retroactively and cap districts’ insurance contributions.

Board members from Traverse City Area Public Schools approved such a resolution on April 11.

The Michigan Education Association asked its local affiliates to vote by April 15 on whether they would support the state organization if it launched “crisis activities up to and including job action” in response to what it views as an attack from Lansing.

Union leaders in Traverse City Area Public Schools wouldn’t say how their groups voted. But they believe the outcomes were influenced by the board’s recent adoption of those resolutions.

“They didn’t have to do that,” said Mary McGee-Cullen, president of the Traverse City Education Association, which represents teachers, counselors, nurses and social workers. “That was a choice, and my members feel like that’s a slap in their face.”

There’s no clear indication whether the MEA will call for a statewide strike, and such actions are illegal in Michigan. But a March letter from MEA President Iris Salters told educators they should save two months’ worth of finances.

People shouldn’t necessarily read “worst-case scenarios” from the request, said Ron Parkinson, an MEA UniServ director. State leaders simply want to know where locals stand.

Legislators haven’t been as receptive to union inquiries as they have to school administrators, Parkinson said.

“People are desperate to be heard and nobody’s listening,” he said.

TCAPS Superintendent Steve Cousins said he met with legislators to encourage them to avoid making significant education cuts.

Gov. Rick Snyder proposed reducing per-student funding by $470, and districts are bracing for increases to the amount they pay into the state’s retirement system.

Lawmakers have been “generous” with time, but “very non-committal about where they’re going to go with the budget,” Cousins said.

The resolutions, presented March 23 to superintendents and school board presidents in the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District, are a way Cousins said schools effectively can convey their message.

Proposed legislation does not, as unions assert, restrict collective bargaining, he said. Both sides would continue to meet to discuss pay, benefits and working conditions. They would change how employees are compensated during and after negotiations.

“I certainly understand that the unions wouldn’t want this,” Cousins said. “I understand where the feeling of anger comes from. The issue is that the district has passed the threshold where financially we have the ability to pay for automatic increases.”

TCAPS faces a nearly $8 million shortfall next year. Recent projections show the district could anticipate paying a net $500,000 increase in annual raises on a graduated salary schedule. More than 85 percent of its budget is personnel.

TCEA and Traverse City Clerical, Assistants, Paraprofessionals, and Secretaries Association, or TC CAPSA, continue to negotiate new deals.

“They seem to act like it’s all us dragging our heels and stalling and not wanting to settle a contract,” said Terri McDermott, the latter group’s president. “People fail to realize that that happens on both sides of the table.”

Morale is low, she said, and in recommending the resolutions, Cousins “drove a huge wedge” into mending relations.

Still, the board has to do something because state cuts would decimate the district’s ability to pay the way it has, board President Marjie Rich said.

“Given the gravity of the situation, what messages might we send to Lansing about how this is impacting us?” she said. “It does change things, and I recognize that. I think the bottom line, though, is things were changed on us.”