Agency finds MSEA not bargaining in good faith

PALMER -- The Alaska Labor Relations Agency delivered a blow to Mat-Su Education Association last week. In a Notice of Preliminary Finding of Probable Cause, the agency said there is probable cause to support the Mat-Su Borough School District's claim that MSEA is not bargaining in good faith.

School district public information specialist Kim Floyd said the district filed a complaint against MSEA in March, after the teachers' union failed to provide the district with requested information about insurance costs.

Floyd said MSEA has asked the district to cover 100 percent of the employees' cost for health insurance. The district made three separate requests for specific numbers for that cost, but MSEA refused to provide them in writing.

"We're talking about the need for detailed information so we can put a cost to their request," Floyd said.

Barbara Morris, president of MSEA, says the district wanted numbers that the union was not at liberty to disclose. She said health insurance for MSEA employees is managed by the National Education Association Alaska Health Trust, and only it could give the sort of specific information the district requested. And, she said, much of the information requested by the district is information that no insurance company would give out.

But the notice issued by the labor agency says the district's request was reasonable and that information about health insurance "falls within the type of information that is relevant for bargaining." It says the district's primary insurance carrier, Blue Cross, provides the district with the sort of information it requested from MSEA: information such as "which providers are receiving payments, the amount of medical, dental, and vision premiums paid monthly, the loss ratio, and the average amount of claims per employee." The document also says that "just as an employer is required to disclose information during bargaining, a union 'is likewise obliged to furnish the employer with relevant information.'"

The labor relations agency recommended that a formal accusation be filed and that the matter go to hearing. It issued a Notice of Accusation on Oct. 10. According to the document, MSEA has 15 days to request a hearing. If a written request is not filed, the agency has the authority to proceed and make a determination.

Morris said she's not sure how MSEA's negotiating team will respond.

"We're willing to do whatever our health trust says we can," she said.

Negotiations between MSEA and the school district reached an impasse this spring, when the two sides were unable to agree upon a working contract for teachers.

"The health insurance issue has stood in the way," Floyd said.

MSEA has also filed a complaint against the school district for unfair bargaining practices. The union charged the school district with attempting to bargain directly with employees rather than bargaining through MSEA's negotiating team. But Mark Torgerson, the hearing examiner with Alaska Labor Relations Agency says the complaint is still under investigation. A Preliminary Finding of Probable Cause has not been issued against the school district at this time.

MSEA asked the school board in September to send the school district back to the bargaining table. But the board refused the request, saying that neither side had changed its position. An advisory arbitration is scheduled for Nov. 17.

Floyd said that, despite the findings of the labor relations agency and the school board's refusal to send the district back to the bargaining table, the school district would like to reach an agreement with MSEA.

"We have been and will continue to be willing to work toward resolution," Floyd said.

She said the district arranged for the two sides to sit down with a federal mediator again on Nov. 12, before the arbitration phase begins.

"This isn't something the [school] board is requiring us to do. It is something the district is doing in good faith," Floyd said.