Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 1986)
The Heppner 1 e b i U i t > 11 i ; liuti, 1 low Gazette-Times Tue» W ed liiu r s Fri W eather M orrow C o u n ty's H o m e -O w n e d W e e k ly N e w sp a p e r VOI HM NO * H eppner, Oregon H K IIM M IX ' 9V 38 32 30 32 50 56 4M 28 22 IS 20 27 Hala 61 21 M um 1 in 1 m (17 in 14 7 in Sat 45 in Sun 32 33 traer Mon 32 23 trace M «i*lurr for the week was I 52m b> the City o f Heppner f » «H l VKX I». iy More contract lalka scheduled T eachers picket School Board The M orrow County School Teacher* and the School Board ran head to head Monday ni|(ht over contract negotiations and when the dust settled the two sides agreed to meet later this week and "bargain until a settlement is reached " The emotion packed meeting at the old l/exington school ( moved to thegymnasium because o( an over flow crowd of 275i was the culmina turn of months of frustrating nego nations between the School Hoard and teachers, who have been work mg without a contract since July of last year To the accompaniment of loud applause, foot stomping and yelling, the teachers asked repeatedly for the board to schedule a negotiating session in an effort to settle their differences and avoid a strike The board would not agree to another session of talks, saying they could not set a date at that time However. Tuesday morning a new session was scheduled, at which tiolh sides have supposedly agreed to bargain until settlement is reached " The apparent last ditch session is scheduled for this Thursday night at 7 p m at Riverside High School in boardman, and if successful may head off a possible strike by the teachers Teachers in the district have opened two Morrow County F.du cation Association M l'F A union offices in the county, one in Hoard man and one in Heppner from which coordinate their efforts The School Board has been making contingency plans in case of a strike, and said Monday that the schools will stay open if the teachers strike Many people from the estimated crowd of 251) 300 people were allowed to speak Monday night, and com ments ranged from criticism of the School Hoard's position to criticism of the teachers Terry Tallman from Boardman echoed many of the sentiments of those present, saying that the dis trict and the teachers are in this together, and need to find a way out " I think if there is a strike then everybody in our county will be a loser.” Tallman said "With the budget coming up even without labor problems it would he difficult to pass If there is a strike. I would find it very difficult to vole for the budget "Teachers should maintain some perspective It isn't a we versus 'you': we're in this together We have created this situation and we have to get ourselves out of this." The teachers stressed over and School Board Chairman Joe Sevens (center) is greeted upon arrival at board meeting by picketing teachers. over that they were willing to negotiate in good faith, but that 'he School Hoard was not " We. as teachers, are willing to lock ourselves in a room ami selile this thing said lone teacher Gordon Meyers W e n saying wh can't we get in a room and settle the thing " School Hoard C hairm an Joe Stevens of Hoardman said that the board had been negotiating in good faith "W e re willing to negotiate We have to lie together when this is all over, he said, ‘ we can't do it sour w ay. we can't do it my w ay. we have to do it our w a y " Insurance w as one item discussed, with the teachers saying they want to choose their own insurance com pany. and the Hoard saying that they want to choose a company to save some money Major hangups on the contract talks include eight pointx isee story below i including management rights, maintenance of standards, early retirement, general super vision, just cause, salary, insurance and fair share Con’t. page 2 Where they -^w gree Salary Wav it is now The 1984 85 salary schedule has a base salary of $14.278 The top salary after 14 steps is $24 100 A longevity step worth 15 percent more than step 14 is available after 18 years of teaching School Board Teachers 1. Increase the base salary to $15,563, so that the District will be more competitive with other districts in hiring new teachers. 2. Increase the first nine steps of the salary schedule by 9 percent. Increase steps 9 through 12 by 7 percent, and steps 13 and 14 by 6 percent. The longevity step would get a 3 percent raise in 1985, a 6 percent raise in 1986, and a 6 percent increase in 1987 3. A total salary increase of 28.01 percent over three years In su 1. Increase the base salary to $15,420 2. Change the structure of the salary schedule to upgrade the salaries of the most experienced teachers. Explanation: The largest percen tage of increase would go to those teachers who have been with the district for 18 or more years 3. A total salary increase of 26 25 percent over three years. rance Way it It now Teachers have fully paid medical and dental coverage for themselves and their families Teachers School Board 1. Continue fully paid family cov erage. 2. Add long-term disability insur ance. 3. Retain the right to select the insurance carrier. Explanation: The district wishes to retain the right to “shop” for the best available coverage at the lowest price. 1. Continue current benefits. 2. Add long-term disability coverage in 1985-86; add vision care in 1987 8« 3. M aintain current insurance carrier. Explanation: If carrier is changed, reduced benefits would 'ollow. Toachar Discipline Way It It now All teachers are protected by a "just cause " provision which requires the District to prove that an undesirable pattern of behavior has been established before a teacher can be dismissed during the school year or his contract renewal can be denied at the end of the school year School Board 1. The District should have a greater latitude to evaluate and remove new teachers during a probationary period provided by the Fair Dismissal Ap peals Law. Explanation: Providing immediate job security is an unreasonable lim it ation of management's ability to eva luate and remove new teachers. The Fair Dismissal Appeals Law provides a three year probationary period during which a teacher may be dis missed for “reasons deemed suffi cient” by the district. 2. Dismissal and non-renewal of probationary teachers and dismissal of permanent teachers should be covered by the Fair Dismissal Law rather than “just cause”. 3. Exclude Extended Responsibility Assignments (coaches, band director) frorrU h^^us^ause^TjequM ^ Teachers 1. The Fair Dismissal Appeals Law offers less protection and would rep resent a loss of job security. Explanation: The Fair Dismissal Law is more concerned with the process followed to fire a teacher than with the reasons the teacher was fired 2. The current language has worked in the district and provides protection for teachers from being fired for personality conflicts or being late one day. 3. Maintain the current protection for all teachers M o n e y Paid for Collective B a rg a in in g Way it is now the parties Fair Share has not tieen part of the collective bargaining agreements between School Board 1. It is up to the Association to command voluntary participation of the teachers and adamantly opposes including provisions for raising money for collective bargaining in a contract. Teachers 1 Mandatory payment of collective bargaining fees to be withheld from teachers paychecks. Explanation: This does not require teachers to join the union. It only demands that all teachers pay for the costs of collective bargaining. Early Retirem ent Way II 1« now Teachers who choose lo retire .it age '•« receive District paid insurance cover age until age 65 School Board 1. The district would maintain the current benefit without expansion. 2. Expanded benefits would increase the operating costs of the district and deny students the benefit of learning from its most experienced and valued teachers. Teachers 1. Insurance coverage is not suffi cient incentive to make early retire merit a desirable option 2. Proposes a $3(H) per month stipend for a teacher who has completed 2D years service in the profession, it) of which must have been in Morrow County. M a in te n a n c e of Stan dard s Way II Is now Conditions of employmerit shall lx- maintained or improver! as required by this Agreement This shall not he Interpreted to deprive teacher* of professional adv antage* School Board 1. Change wording to: Except as this agreem ent provides, all contract terms and conditions of employment shall continue to lx* applicable during the term of this agreement. The District agrees that no one covered by this agreement shall suffer a loss of compensation by reason of the agree ment. 2. Generalized language of the cur rent agreement serves as a breeding ground for grievances. Teachers 1. No reason to change current language. 2. Current language has existed 10 years without major difficulty. G e n e ra l Su p e rvisio n Way II I* now General supervision, ticket selling at sporting events, dances, concerts, etc will I» paid at the amount of $6 50 per hour during 1884 85 No employee will be paid for the supervision of any activity which takes place w ithin the regular school day School Board 1. Raise the hourly rate to $8 during 1985-86, and b> an amount equal to the general salary increases for 1966-88. The positions for the Morrow County Teachers and the School Board are those detailed by Gary Axon in his Factfinding Report published by the Kmployment Relations Board January 30. 1986 A spokesperson for the teachers and a spokesperson for the Board presented their respective arguments to him at a Factfinding hearing December 16 |9KT> Axon's conclusions are not included in the arguments presented here Teachers 1 Raise the hourly rate to $8 during the 1985-86, $9 during 1986 87, and $10 during 1967-88. 2. Make all supervision outside regular working hours voluntai y.
