In a scene similar to the one rehearsed in late March with the Perry teachers, the Perry School Board has offered the school district’s hourly-wage support staff members a master contract for 2019-2020 much leaner than the current agreement.
Negotiators for labor and management met Wednesday afternoon in the Clarion Room of the Security Bank Building, just below the PCSD administrative offices.
The initial offer from the Perry Support Staff Association (PSSA) was presented by United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Union Local 895 representative Greg A. Cross. PSSA President Sue Whiton and PSSA members Jody Halling, Carrie Fellom, Denise Heinz and Natasha Hegstrom were the local representatives present.
A counter-proposal was presented by PCSD Superintendent Clark Wicks, with PCSD Business Manager Kent Bultman and Perry Middle School Principal Shaun Kruger also on hand to represent the employer’s interest. Perry School Board member Jim Lutmer arrived shortly after the presentations began.
The PSSA proposed a three-year contract, with a $1-an-hour wage increase each year. The district’s counter-proposal offered a 20-cent-an-hour wage hike and a one-year contract.
Wicks began his counter-proposal by noting the importance to the district and its 1,800 students of sustainable and efficiently functioning schools and the district’s interest in attracting and retaining high-quality staff members.
As in its negotiations with the PEA, the PCSD proposed striking a number of articles from the 2019-2020 contract that are found in the current PSSA contract. Some of these have been outlawed by the Iowa Legislature.
Others are still legally permitted as matters of negotiation in master contracts, but the district proposes instead “to relocate and/or restate many of the articles and concepts from the current master contract to board policies and procedures or an employee handbook or employee work rules,” Wicks said.
After presenting their initial proposals, the two sides entered a closed session for negotiations. If an agreement was reached, it will be announced at the next PCSD School Board meeting Monday, May 13 at 6 p.m. in the Brady Library of the Perry High School.
The following is the list of articles in the current PSSA master contract. The stricken articles were either prohibited as illegal by the Iowa Legislature in 2016 or rejected from the proposed 2019-2020 contract by the Perry School Board:
ARTICLE I AGREEMENT AND RECOGNITION
ARTICLE II LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS
Section 2.1 Request for Meetings
Section 2.2 Negotiation Teams
Section 2.3 Facilities and Equipment Usage
Section 2.4 Dues Deduction
Section 2.5 Amounts Deducted
Section 2.6 Indemnification
Section 2.7 New Employee Orientation
ARTICLE III GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
Section 3.1 Definitions
Section 3.2 Purpose
Section 3.3 Individual Freedom Clause
Section 3.4 Limitations
Section 3.5 Procedures
Section 3.6 Meetings and Hearings
Section 3.7 Disciplinary Action
ARTICLE IV SENIORITY PROVISIONS
ARTICLE V LAYOFF AND RECALL PROCEDURE
Section 5.1 Layoff
Section 5.2 Recall
ARTICLE VI PROCEDURES FOR TRANSFERS
Section 6.1 Transfers from one Job Category to another Job Category
ARTICLE VII HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS
Section 7.1 Examinations
Section 7.2 Reimbursement
Section 7.3 Mandatory Examinations
ARTICLE VIII EMPLOYEE HOURS
Section 8.1 Working Day
Section 8.2 Meetings
Section 8.3 Callback
Section 8.4 Early Out or Late Start
Section 8.5 Individual Bus Driver Meetings
Section 8.6 Training for Paraeducators
Section 8.7 Technology Support Specialists
Section 8.8 Team Building Seminars
Section 8.9 Report to Work Mileage
ARTICLE IX HOLIDAYS
Section 9.1 Paid Holidays
Section 9.2 Eligibility
Section 9.3 Holiday Pay
Section 9.4 Holiday Work
ARTICLE X VACATIONS
ARTICLE XI LEAVES OF ABSENCE
Section 11.1 Personal Illness
Section 11.2 Immediate Family Illness
Section 11.3 Bereavement Leave
Section 11.4 Personal Leave
Section 11.5 Leave Without Pay
Section 11.6 Union Leave
Section 11.7 Catastrophic Leave
ARTICLE XII WAGES
Section 12.1 Pay Periods
Section 12.2 Schedule
Section 12.3 Custodial Shift Differential
Section 12.4 Activity Trips
ARTICLE XIII INSURANCE
Section 13.1 Medical and Dental Insurance
Section 13.2 Long-Term Disability Insurance
Section 13.3 Workers Compensation Insurance
Section 13.4 Life Insurance
Section 13.5 Commencement of Coverage
Section 13.6 Cash In-Lieu of Insurance
ARTICLE XIV ENTIRE AGREEMENT AND WAIVER CLAUSE
ARTICLE XV ADVANCEMENT OF THE SALARY SCHEDULE
ARTICLE XVI EVALUATION
ARTICLE XVII SAVINGS CLAUSE
ARTICLE XVIII TERMS OF AGREEMENT
