Fair, amicable contract talks should be goal

As employees picket at Matanuska Electric Association, the Mat-Su Borough School District, the Valleys largest employer, is preparing for its own contract negotiations with three employee groups.

Echoing the comments from several parents and community members made at the last school board meeting, we wish the school board and the employee groups for teachers, staff and principals the best of luck.

The last time negotiations were held, in 1996, the contracts were handled professionally and finished before the school year ended, paving the way for easier hiring of teachers and less stress at the end of the year.

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when the school district was faced with not having contracts in place at the end of the year. This, naturally, would make it hard to attract both the new and experienced teachers well need to replace the 90 veteran teachers who are retiring this spring.

We dont have to look far to see how quickly labor relations can sour, leaving hard feelings on both sides. In addition to jeopardizing the critical services schools provide us, contract quibbles also pull apart communities. Neighbors, friends and families find themselves at the opposite side of picket lines from those they know and care about. At the end of long, bitter negotiations, no one wins.

We hope the school district and its employee groups, instead, can follow the path recently laid out by Matanuska Telephone Associations talks with the IBEW. Both sides described the negotiations as amicable, with fair compromises being offered by both sides during a quick round of negotiations that ended before the old contracts expired.

Thats the lesson we all should follow, and we hope the people entrusted with teaching our children can set a similar and fair example.

Frontiersman