Teachers are restless in District 191
With no deadline, contract talks slow
by John Gessner
Thisweek Newspapers
Teachers are getting restless with the pace of contract negotiations in School District 191, and they’ve begun to show it.
Many are donning red T-shirts and red and blue buttons to show their unity. Teachers union the Burnsville Education Association is also encouraging members to attend the Feb. 2 School Board meeting.
“It’s still pretty much about unity and making sure our members understand what the current status is,” said BEA President Libby Duethman. “That’s what the main objective is.”
Teachers aren’t rallying behind salary or other contract points yet because talks haven’t gotten that far yet, she said.
“Our membership is getting restless,” Duethman wrote in a Jan. 12 letter to the Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School Board. “They want to know why negotiations are taking so long and the details of the district’s proposals.”
There are four negotiation sessions scheduled, Duethman noted in an interview Wednesday.
Red T-shirts with “UNITE” on the front and the BEA logo on the back were distributed at the union’s holiday party on Dec. 20. Wednesday is the assigned day to wear the shirts if teachers choose to.
The district settled its last two-year teacher contract on Dec. 1, Duethman noted in her letter.
Two dates are working against a speedy settlement this time.
Teachers agreed to the district’s request to begin talks after the Nov. 8 levy renewal referendum, Duethman said. “Which is not an unusual request,” she added.
Also, the Legislature has removed a Jan. 15 deadline for districts to wrap up teacher contracts or face financial penalties.
“Because that Jan. 15 deadline is gone, now you’re seeing the result,” Duethman said, noting that 55 percent of Minnesota districts have yet to settle their 2011-13 contracts with teachers.
The union has yet to reach “Stage 3” of its plan to apply public pressure to speed talks along. That would include “working to rule” – working only the hours specified in contract language.
“I’ve made it abundantly clear we do not want to get to Stage 3,” Duethman said, noting that the union has kept Superintendent Randy Clegg apprised of its actions.
She’d like to settle the contract before spring break begins the last week of March.
Meanwhile, there’s been a shakeup in the district’s negotiating team. Tania Chance, executive director of human resources, has resigned effective Feb. 1. Stacey Sovine, the district’s labor relations director, will lead the negotiating team.
For its part, the district in September issued a news release that some union members may have considered a shot across the bow for upcoming negotiations.
“In light of the difficult financial times across the nation and state and their compounding effects on the current economic reality of the district, the Board of Education has been fiscally responsible in taking action on zero increases to the following employee groups to date: superintendent, cabinet and Community Education staff,” Board Chair Ron Hill said in the release.
John Gessner is at john.gessner@ecm-inc.com.
