Fact finder:Salaries, insurance, sick time among ‘major obstacles’ in Manchester teacher talks

Jun. 19--MANCHESTER -- City school board members are expected to take a vote early next week to accept or reject the results of a fact finder's report on negotiations between Manchester teachers and the school board negotiations committee.

A fact finder's report was issued June 7 by arbitration attorney James Cooper, with a section on health insurance amended on June 12. The report was considered confidential for 10 days following issuance. The contents of the report became public on Tuesday, when representatives of the Manchester Education Association (MEA) and the school board released copies of the report.

According to the report, there are "four major obstacles for the parties to overcome in order to reach even a partial agreement": salaries and salary scale, health insurance, paid time off versus sick leave, and pending state legislation.

Cooper recommends the adoption of a salary schedule that was offered by the school board back on Feb. 7.

"While the Association (MEA) has not given on all aspects of the remaining issues in dispute, there has been sufficient give and take on the remaining issues that whatever the excess cost is to implement the School Board's February 7, 2019 salary proposal, I recommend it," writes Cooper.

"This is a case where getting the school board to where they want to be will take all of the four years that this salary will be in effect. But if this is the cost of making a peaceful transition to a worthwhile and workable salary scale, I doubt that as of June 30, 2023 anyone will be upset that this recommendation has brought four years of salary peace."

A copy of the school board's Feb. 7 salary schedule proposal, as well as a copy of the fact finder's report, can be found attached to this story at unionleader.com.

On health insurance, Cooper recommends the school board's program be implemented in the first year of any new contract, because Elliot Hospital is included in the network.

"I recommend this notwithstanding the fact that Elliot Hospital is not included within the network for labs and imaging because teachers should be able to readily access other providers of such services which are included within the network," writes Cooper. "It is also recommended that the school board continue their efforts to bring Elliot Hospital and CMC (Catholic Medical Center) into the network for all medical purposes."

On the issue of paid time off versus sick leave, Cooper's recommendation is the parties continue negotiations on the issue of providing PTO in lieu of sick leave, but "for now I am unwilling to recommend wholesale adoption of a PTO in lieu of accrued sick leave."

The school board proposed the elimination of accrued sick leave and the adoption of a PTO proposal where each teacher would be entitled to 11 days of paid time off, which would include all of their excused time off including sick leave, personal leave, Association leave, sick leave bank and such other time off except professional development days and bereavement leave, as currently provided in the contract.

In place of the use of accrued sick leave school officials proposed a short-term disability policy which would pay 60% of an employee's salary (federal income tax free) which would cover the teacher after 14 days of sickness/disability and for up to 26 weeks. If a teacher remained disabled after 26 weeks, the teacher would be eligible for long-term disability until Social Security retirement age.

The school board proposed any teacher with accrued sick leave as of June 30, 2019, would be eligible for a full payout of accrued sick leave after twenty years of service in the school district.

"The Association's response to this proposal was short and sweet: The teachers would have none of it," wrote Cooper.

Cooper referred to the school board proposal as "a dramatic change in working conditions."

"No teacher is going to vote in favor of removing a fundamental benefit that is directly administered by the school district to jump into an insurance-like agreement administered by a third party vendor," writes Cooper.

"This is not to say that the Association should sit back and pretend that there is no problem with certain teachers taking advantage of the school board's liberal sick leave policy and milking it to the detriment of the students, the school administrators and their fellow teachers. The Association should take a leading role in making those abusers feel uncomfortable and guilty at their respective schools. The Association and the teachers know who the miscreant sick leave abusers are and a coordinated shunning and shaming may go a long way to changing behavior, but that takes courage and fortitude for teachers to effectively discipline their own."

On the topic of pending state legislation, Cooper writes that school board members acknowledged there is legislation pending in Concord that could provide Manchester with money to be used solely for educational purposes.

"The chances of this amounting to a 'ton' of money is very doubtful," writes Cooper. "However if Manchester is at the end of the rainbow from Concord, I agree that the Association should not be bound to the modest salary increases as currently proposed by the recommended salary schedule."

On Monday, school board Vice Chairman Art Beaudry said both the MEA and school board must vote on accepting or rejecting the fact finder's report.

If one or the other votes to accept it, the report will be sent to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for funding. If both sides reject the report, negotiations between them resume.

"The Board of School Committee has taken the matter under advisement and will make the decision to accept or reject the report at its meeting on June 24," said the negotiations committee's chairman, Rich Girard, in a statement.

"The MEA has voted but the results will be withheld until the Board votes next week, by request of our membership and Executive Board vote," said MEA President Sue Hannan in a statement. "Releasing our vote may somehow influence the board's vote, so we will not release it."

Negotiations committee members include school board members Sarah Ambrogi, Katie Desrochers, Jimmy Lehoux, Ross Terrio and Girard.

The most recent agreement with the more than 1,100 members of the MEA expired on June 30, 2018.

pfeely@unionleader.com

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