Auburn teachers' contract moves toward resolution

AUBURN - After more than two years of negotiations, teachers' union officials and school administrators have agreed on labor contracts covering four years.

Agreement between negotiators was reached, School Committee member Thomas Kendall said, because there was "finally recognition that the economic circumstances of the state and the city continue to deteriorate, and settling later was probably going to further limit resources available to settle a contract."

Teachers began voting on the contract offers Tuesday. The votes will be counted Thursday, said union President Timothy Wegmann, a Park Avenue Elementary School teacher.

The contracts cover Sept. 1, 2008, to Aug. 31, 2009; and Sept. 1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2012, Wegmann said. There are two because the last contract expired Aug. 31, 2008, and the state does not allow contracts of more than three years, he said.

If they are accepted, the contracts will go to the Auburn School Committee on Thursday night for approval.
Details of what's in the contracts and how much they would cost taxpayers were not available Tuesday. That information can't be made public until after the contracts are approved by both sides, Kendall said Tuesday. He is the School Committee's representative on the negotiating committee.

"Basically, I don't think either side is entirely happy, which means we met in the middle," Kendall said. "I think Auburn taxpayers are getting a reasonable deal."

Wegmann agreed, calling the agreement a compromise. "We gained some ground; they gained some ground."

One big issue was that administrators wanted to stop paying for the health care of teachers' spouses. Taxpayers now pay about 90 percent of the premiums for teachers, spouses and children, much less than what typical taxpayers have to pay, Kendall said.

"It was the feeling of the school board that taxpayers were exposed to health insurance (costs) of a disproportionate amount," he said. While neither side got what it wanted, Kendall said administrators "made progress" on trying to reduce health care liability.

Earlier, the union rejected an offer that included no longer paying for spouses' health care, saying too many families would be hurt, Wegmann said. Teachers realize times are difficult, "but we feel we're being asked to make all the concessions," Wegmann said Oct. 21. "The state doesn't want to fund. The City Council doesn't want to fund. The School Committee is looking to support their programs through our salary and benefit concessions."

Under the contracts the union has agreed to, fewer people will be harmed in terms of the "health piece," Wegmann said.

Another issue was that the administration wanted a policy change, which could lead to more work by teachers at no extra pay, the union said.

That was a misunderstanding, Kendall said. "We never were trying to put in language where we would be expecting more work for no pay," he said. The administration was trying to move policy language out of the contract because it was non-grievable, Kendall said.

Negotiations began in 2007. As recently as Nov. 4, teachers protested their lack of a contract during a silent candlelight vigil at Auburn Hall.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com