Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington School Board committed six unfair labor practices – including multiple attempts to thwart a settlement – in its rush to walk away from contract talks with the city’s teachers, according to an unfair labor practice charge filed by the teachers union Friday with the Vermont Labor Relations Board. The Burlington Education Association asserts that what started out as an attempt to reach a quick, one-year deal for the current school year turned into protracted roadblocks to a settlement that ultimately ended when the board walked away from the table and imposed an employment policy before it was legally allowed to do so.
Fran Brock rallies teachers last month. BEA photo.
“From the start, more than 16 months ago, all we wanted was to have a one-year contract in place this year,” said Fran Brock, a Burlington High School history teacher who serves as the union’s president. “We knew, and the board certainly knew, that the changes in health insurance looming next year means that we have some complicated bargaining ahead of us. It’s too bad the board chose division, delay, and roadblocks this year.”
The filing came a day after hundreds of the union’s members voted overwhelmingly to strike Thursday, October 20, if a tentative contract agreement for the current year isn’t reached. The parties are scheduled to meet with a mediator Wednesday. The teachers said they are still hoping to settle. “I certainly hope the board has the same goal,” Brock said.
Of that meeting, Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement Tuesday:
“We are fortunate to have such outstanding teachers and committed volunteer School Board members serving our children and all the people of Burlington. As a result of their hard work and collaboration, Burlington schools have overcome challenges in recent years, are innovating and thriving in many ways, and have earned the deep support of the community. It would be a considerable setback for our schools, our children, and our community should the parties fail to reach a resolution of the contract dispute between the Burlington Education Association and the School District.
“While my office is not directly involved in these negotiations, I have spoken with the leadership of both parties and kept open those lines of communication. I am sympathetic to the pressures both face, and continue to monitor the situation closely. I welcome that the appointed federal mediator has called both parties back to the bargaining table on October 19 as an opportunity to avoid a disruption of the school year. I urge the representatives of both the teachers union and the board to leverage tomorrow’s opportunity with a spirit of good will, creativity, and collaboration in an effort to spare our children, families, and community the damage of further conflict.”
In its filing, the union said the board:
- Engaged in regressive bargaining that prevented the possibility of reaching a settlement
- Failed on multiple occasions to provide information requested by the union
- Failed to fund the existing contract completely
- Imposed employment policies before they were legally allowed to do so
- Placed conditions on bargaining that prevented the possibility of reaching a settlement
- Imposed employment terms that were unlawfully different from their final offer“It’s too bad that the board has chosen the course it has, because instead of starting this school year in chaos and disruption, we could have had a contract in place,” Brock said. “It seems that the more than $50,000 the board’s leadership has spent on an anti-union consultant, a former superintendent and a bargaining adviser has brought them to this place.”
Brock said that she knows members of the board share the teachers’ dedication to the city’s students and she implores them to come to the table Wednesday ready to bargain a mutually acceptable settlement.
The ULP filing may be downloaded here.
Source: BEA 10.14.2016
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