Rogers City teachers and administration reach a tentative agreement

October 1, 2004 Editor 0 Comments

A tentative agreement was reached Monday on a contract for Rogers City Area Schools teachers. The agreement came after a lengthy session involving negotiators for the Rogers City Educator’s Association, the school board, and chief state mediator Freda Mills. School superintendent Ed Schultz described the current status of the talks as “positive” and heading toward a final solution in the coming weeks. “We are tired this morning but we are happy about the result,” he said Tuesday morning. “The mediator explained that one side talks to their people and the other side does the same. Then there is a ratification process, the union will go through it and explain everything to their members. After that, they will vote on it and then notify us in writing of the results,” Schultz said.

IF RATIFIED, the three-year agreement will be retroactive to the expiration of the previous contract, August 31, 2003 and will continue through the 2005/06 school year. “We reached a tentative agreement last night at 11:20 p.m. As per the mediator’s restrictions, no information may be released, details are forthcoming,” said Vicki Bruder, the chief bargainer for the teachers. “We asked our members and supporters to please remove the signs from their windows and yards and turn their buttons into smiley faces,” she added.

“We concur with Mr. Schultz that we believe that both sides can be satisfied with the agreement. Now, we have to get the information to our membership. “After the membership has it, they need a minimum of three days to look it over, digest it and come up with any questions. Possibly we can have this all resolved within two weeks.

“WE ALL AGREED last night that we would try to move things along and expedite this as quick as we can, however, we have bylaws to abide by and we are going to address all the questions and concerns that membership has first,” Bruder said. Mary Jo Hein, president of the 46-member teacher’s union issued the following statement: “The union membership is pleased to see a tentative agreement and would like to thank the community for its support.” Schultz noted that one of the biggest concerns among the parents is the publication of a school calendar so vacations and other family events can be planned around school year events.

> “We will have a school calendar coming out as part of the ratification process that should be available sometime in October,” he said. The superintendent was positive about the mediation but cautioned that time will be required for both sides to review the final document and be ready to signoff. “Doing things in a hurry and late at night probably means there are some mistakes in spelling and arithmetic. We’ll work through those bugs but I don’t see anything that will hold up the ratification process and a new agreement in the next couple weeks. We are very happy,” Schultz said.

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