RACINE – Items in school district employee contracts could fall
by the wayside under Gov. Scott Walkers proposal to restrict
collective bargaining, according to legal experts and union
leaders.
Walkers proposal limits collective bargaining to wages only.
That means things previously negotiated for and included in
contracts — like having seniority-based staffing assignments,
getting specific days as holidays and having prohibitions against
hiring outside service workers — could be modified or removed
altogether by school district officials.
This has Racine Unified School District union leaders worried
theyll lose contract items they fought hard for in the past, which
they say could jeopardize students education and worsen
union-district relationships after recent years of goodwill.
Without the collective bargaining rights we have had for
decades, it will be very difficult to cooperatively problem-solve
(with the district) in relation to teaching and learning issues,
said Pete Knotek, president of the Racine Education Association
teachers union. All those education reform issues successfully
bargained in the 2009-11 contract are threatened by this extreme
act of the governor.
Teachers are worried they could lose recently negotiated items
like having spring parent-teacher conferences, getting Martin
Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday and having common planning time to
collaborate with other teachers. Teachers also worry they will have
no say when it comes to class size, curriculum and school quality,
according to Knotek.
Meanwhile, educational assistants fear they will lose hours,
health care coverage and pension rights, all described in their
contract, said Racine Educational Assistants Association President
Doris Szejna. The REAA could also face changes to the summer-school
staffing system they currently use, which is based largely on
seniority.
Unifieds building service employees are worried they could lose
jobs if district officials remove a farm-out contract clause. The
clause prohibits Unified from bringing in outside contractors to
do electrical, heating, plumbing, secretarial and other work done
by Service Employee International Union Local 152 members, said
Local 152 President Wayne Rasmussen.
Quite a few contractors would like to come into a school
district, Rasmussen said, explaining outside contractors
often look financially good at first but will cost more in the long
run and will take more time to complete jobs.
Outside contractors would also put SEIU workers out of jobs they
need to support families, Rasmussen said.
I hope the district is still willing to work with us to keep
people working, he said. I think a lot of people have forgotten
the reason were here is the kids. Without the proper people in
place to keep the buildings open, we cant educate the kids.
The REAAs Szejna agreed, and said she, too, hopes the district
continues open dialogue with the unions no matter what the
government does.
Unified officials said that should be the case though they were
hesitant to say how communication would be since Walkers proposal
has not yet been approved by the Legislature.
I dont want to speculate about what we would do if, Unified
Superintendent Jim Shaw said last week.
Though Shaw would not talk specifically about how bargaining or
district-union relationships might change, he did say there are
regular district-union meetings that will continue no matter what.
Employees and district officials will also continue to have
conversations about school quality and school-improvement issues,
and will continue to serve together on several district committees
including the Guiding Coalition.
Walkers proposal is a prohibition on bargaining, not talking to
people, Shaw said.
Im not interpreting (the proposal) to mean we have to stop
talking to our teachers, Shaw said, and I hope our teachers dont
stop talking to us.
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