Bargaining Update

Bargaining Notebook

Auburn Food Service workers achieved major gains in a new contract including health insurance coverage for all full-time food service workers and 85% coverage for those who work 30 hours a week or more.

Food service workers also negotiated a pay increase of 4% increase in wages for ’15-’16 and a 2% increase in wages in ’16-’17.

The new contract also reduced the probationary period reduced from 12 to 9 months and requires employees receive two days paid professional development.

Planning Time Assistants (PTAs) in Falmouth have been reclassified as Ed Tech IIIs after the Falmouth EA, with the help of their UniServ Director, Becky Fernald, worked with the Superintendent to update their pay with their role in the classroom. Twenty years ago, when the district created the job of a planning time assistant employees were tasked with simply overseeing a class while a teacher was absent to attend a meeting or do some other professional task. Today, PTAs are expected to function as Ed Techs, but they are still paid much less, and have no benefits. A member brought the unfair pay scale to the Falmouth EA President Michael Casey and FEA Vice President Julie Blodgett who together worked on behalf of their members to enact change. With the reclassification, the PTAs, now Ed Tech III employees, will receive a raise of $5-6/hr (depending on the current pay of each PTA). The FEA is still working to push to extend the days each former PTA works to expand their role to the full 185 days, instead of the current 150 days assigned. In discussions with the FEA, Falmouth’s Superintendent Geoff Bruno stated the change in classification was simply “the right thing to do.”

New MEA local unions form

Ed Techs I, II and III formed a new union in Washburn, and will now be part of the new Washburn Education Association. Previously the ed techs, who were mostly in the day treatment program, were not at all represented by the MEA but decided to form a union after receiving treatment in the district that was both unfair and unprofessional. Ed techs were being asked to perform duties they were neither trained nor qualified to do, which impacted student learning in a negative way. For example, ed tech I employees, some with only a high school diploma, were teaching classes and others were asked to sign off on IEPs when they had no knowledge of the students and his/her plan. After one year of work, MEA UniServ Director Louella Willey, along with Local President Phyllis Hunter, helped organize the group to form a new unit approved by the Maine Labor Relations Board. The new members, more than 25 in all, are just beginning to negotiate their first contract which should help ease some of the unfair treatment in the workplace. If you have a group of employees in your district looking to form a union, contact your local MEA office.

In RSU 73, another new unit is also now being represented by the MEA. The new group, called RSU 73 Managers/Directors, turned to MEA after having some difficulties during negotiations under their prior representation under the Maine Labor Relations Board (MRLB). With the help of UniServ Director Nicole Argraves, the group worked to gain recognition from the MLRB to have the MEA as the new bargaining agent. The new unit includes the following classifications: Adult Education Director, Business Manager, Technology Director and Transportation Director. The group will head into negotiations soon.

The MEA members who work at Maine Public Broadcasting successfully negotiated a new three-year contract. The contact includes wage increases in each of the three years. A major win for employees at MPBN came in accrual of paid time off. Prior to the new contract, hourly and salaried employees were treated differently, with salaried employees receiving a greater amount of time off. After the new contract settled, both hourly and salaried employees will receive the same amount of paid time off, based on years of service.