RUSD and REA Union Reach an Agreement

An audience of teachers and supporters burst into applause after the Racine Unified School District Board of Education Wednesday evening approved a two-year contract with the teachers union.

The labor agreement, which runs from July 1 through June 30, 2013, was reached after just one week of negotiations and spurred by the Wisconsin Legislature’s intent to remove most collective bargaining rights for nearly all public sector workers.

Members of the Racine Education Association (REA), which represents about 1,600 teachers, will see a two-year salary freeze, significantly higher health insurance deductibles, be required to contribute 5.8 percent of salary to the state pension program and pay more for an optional dental insurance policy. The agreement also preserves previously bargained pay grade increases, a master teacher designation and work rules.

The health insurance plan is expected to produce greater savings for the district than public employee savings recommended by Gov. Scott Walker, said David Hazen, RUSD chief financial officer.

“This higher-deductible plan makes everyone better consumers of health care,” Hazen said. “We chose to go that route rather just make everybody pay more in premiums.”

Under the district’s current plan for unionized employees, there are no deductibles and relatively low co-payments. The new plan, with deductibles ranging from $2,000 for individuals and up to $6,000 for a family, carries a 13.2 percent lower premium. The district will experience that savings because it pays a larger share of the premiums.

The governor called on public sector workers to pay up to 12.6 percent of health insurance premiums to save money for local governments.

If all of RUSD’s unionized employees accept the high-deductible insurance and the pension contributions, the district will save $19.2 million in 2011-12 compared with about $15.3 million in savings under Gov. Walker’s proposal, Hazen said.

Eight REA members who spoke in favor of the new contract pointed out that the union cooperated with the district and members proved that they were willing to make sacrifices.

“With an understanding of the district’s financial condition, we came to an agreement that is better than the state’s position,” said Susan Lawrence, an English teacher at Park High School. “The rush (in which the new agreement was settled) proves how well can work together.”

Anthony Arndt, an eight-year teacher, said the agreement “shows that collective bargaining works.”

The only speaker opposing the agreement was Roger Pfost, a School Board candidate in the April 5 election, who suggested the School Board delay a decision to give the public time to learn more about the contract.

“The perception is that if you get a contract through the union so quickly, there must be a lot of things in there for the union,” he said, drawing hoots from the audience.

School Board members thanked the REA for its cooperation in reaching an agreement.

Board member Dennis Wiser, a former REA executive, called it “The most tragic round of bargaining I’ve ever seen. The choices we had were bad or worse.”

“In the past, I always thought that contracts were win-win because of the financial aspect,” said Board member Gretchen Warner. “Now, we’re at a point where win-win is a relationship rather than financial.”

“I want to commend this board because I believe we’re doing what’s right,” added Board member Pastor Melvin Hargrove. “I believe we’ve shown Gov. Walker that we can use the tools we have.”

The REA labor agreement was approved on an 8-0 vote. Board member Don Nielsen, a retired teacher, abstained because he said he wanted to avoid any perceived conflict of interest.

RUSD still faces a $6 million budget shortfall for the next fiscal year because of an 8 percent anticipated cut in state general education aid in the proposed state budget. That could mean a reduction of 80 to 90 employees.

“We still have to look at reducing staff because the cuts are so large,” Hazen said.

While retirements and not filling vacancies may prevent some layoffs, “There just won’t be as many people around to do the work.”