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.