Teachers reject contract
Tuesday, August 26, 2003 8:17 AM PDT
By Amy M. E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleMore than 300 Longview teachers voted overwhelmingly Monday to reject the school district's contract offer, increasing uncertainty about whether teachers will be in classes when school starts next week.
"The district's latest offer does not meet our members' parameters for final settlement," said Longview Education Association president Ray Prynne in a press release. "The negotiating team has gone as far as we can go."
For more than 2 hours Monday evening, members of the teachers' union met at the Cowlitz County PUD building to consider the district's latest proposal. Union officials said they did not make a recommendation to members on the district's offer, the details of which they would not reveal to The Daily News.
"We don't feel that our request is out of line with the information we have about the district's budget," Prynne said.
With only six days before teachers' current contract expires, time to reach an agreement is running out. Negotiations will continue today and Thursday, and the union will hold meetings with members after each session for further votes on what course of action to take. Union officials said they will know better by the end of today how talks are progressing.
If an agreement is not reached, an impasse will be declared and a mediator will act as a go-between for further contract talks. Teachers then will vote on whether to work in the meantime or whether to strike, Prynne said.
"Right now we're really hopeful that that will never happen," said LEA negotiator Clayton Herzog, a fifth-grade teacher at Robert Gray Elementary School.
Prynne said union members have not formally told the bargaining team they intend to strike, "but that's always an option," he said. In June, union members adopted a no-contract/no-work position for contract negotiations.
Both sides say their anxiety levels are high.
"Of course we're worried. We want to come to an agreement," said the school district's chief negotiator, John Vencill, before going into an executive session Monday night with school board members to discuss bargaining progress. The board sets contract guidelines for the district.
Vencill said it was premature to talk about what will happen when school opens Sept. 3, but he said the district had a contingency plan if the contract is not settled by then.
Union officials contend that the gap between their original proposal and the district's counter offer had narrowed significantly, but they wouldn't say by how much.
In early July, the teachers' union requested $3.8 million in additions to their current contract, according to information the district provided. The district responded with a $185,000 counter offer. Prynne said Monday that the union's first proposal wasn't as high as the district said it was.
"The gap was different. I think that's enough said," Prynne said.
Outside the PUD meeting room, a teacher who wouldn't give her name said, "We'd like to be able to show up and start working, but if they're not willing to meet us halfway..." before trailing off.
R.A. Long High School math teacher Steve Wirtz said Longview teachers feel "very united" about coming to what they see as a fair agreement on contract issues, which revolve around pay and benefits.
"We live with the people of Longview, and our kids go to these schools," Wirtz said. "We wouldn't want something unsettling to come of this."
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