3.4.2 OAPSE Union Negotiations
9/5/07 OH - Syc. Board of Education approves contract, adopts HSA
The Sycamore Board of Education approved a three-year collective bargaining agreement with OAPSE (Ohio Association of Public School Employees) Local 243 during a special meeting Aug. 29.
The current contract expires June 30th, 2010. The exact timing of the negotiations has not been established yet, but they typically begin in March or April.
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Resident Questions and board member Answers 2/1/2010
Q. Who decides the objectives (terms of agreement) of the board?
A. The Board of Education works in conjunction with the administration and our attorney to determine the objectives of the negotiations. You can be assured that our (board) primary objective will be to stay within our established budgetary parameters. Within that over-arching goal, it is also imperative that we maintain a competitive salary/benefits package that enables Sycamore to recruit and retain the quality of staff that we need to maintain the educational standards demanded by our community, as well as maintain the management rights necessary to properly administer the district.
Q. When will the objectives be established?
A. The objectives will be set around the time when negotiations begin, and will be reviewed as negotiations progress. Negotiations is an executive session topic and you will see negotiations on the agenda when we are talking about it.
Q. May I (taxpayer) share my thoughts with the board decision makers before their objectives are finalized?
A. We accept input of any type from the community and invite you to share your thoughts at any time on any topic. There is no specific process for public input directly into the Board’s negotiation process, but that does not mean residents cannot share their thoughts. You are aware of the various ways of communicating with the Board of Education – these would be the same ways to communicate on issues regarding negotiations with the exception that negotiations are not discussed in open session at a board meeting (please see the attached policy Public Participation at Board Meetings). As such, it would be most appropriate for you to put your thoughts in a written form, also ensuring that the board has time to carefully read and understand them.
Q. Who specifically will be negotiating with the union representatives?
A. The Board of Education’s negotiating team has not been selected yet.
ATTENTION!
See…on this web blog 3.3.0 SYC. UNION NEGOTIATION 2011
for an update on the Sycamore TEACHER contract negotiation.
In a February 25, 2011, Charles Krauthammer column entitled US rescue coming at state level, he writes, “They ($3.6 billion budget shortfall …) came largely from a half-century power imbalance between the unions and the politicians with whom they collectively bargain.”
Our state legislators negotiate (bargain) directly with the teacher unions. They Collectively Bargain with each other. Our locally elected board of education (BOE) officials do not bargain with teacher unions on many matters, notably benefits such as health care and pension.
Our local board official’s hands are tied in many cases. Even if they wanted to be more fiscally conservative, some compensation costs are out of their control.
The only thing that the BOE has control over are those aspects that they directly negotiate with the unions, i.e., wages. And, even that is only partial control. BOE control relates to their decisions about the actual dollar amounts shown on the salary schedule and whether or not to grant cola increases with a specific percentage amount. They do not have control over the costly automatic step raises that are built into the teacher’s salary schedule structure, which is part of the Collective Bargaining law.
A NEW OAPSE CONTRACT WILL BE NEGOTIATED IN EARLY 2010.
What month will the negotiation begin?
Note: The contract was settled.