Teacher contract negotiations stalled

PALMER — Contract negotiations between the Mat-Su Educators Association and the Mat-Su Borough School District have stalled.

Mediation scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday came to a halt on Tuesday after 10 hours of negotiations between the MSEA and MSBSD. Negotiations between the teacher’s union and the school district will resume again in January, although the stall this week may have brought the teachers closer to the possibility of a strike according to MSEA President Dianne Shibe.

“The school board was not willing to authorize the district to move any closer to our offer and so if they are not willing, if they continue not being willing we would be headed for a strike,” Shibe said.

Shibe said that the MSEA is asking for a three-year contract proposal with raises of three percent for FY 2020 and FY 2021, with a 2.5 percent increase in FY2022. The MSBSD originally came to negotiations with a one-year offer, but has since bumped that up to two. The school district’s proposal offers no increase to district contribution for insurance, but $1,744 per member, per month for the next two years. The teacher’s union is asking for a district contribution of $1,860 per member, per month for 2020 and a four-to-one split for any increases over the next two years. Shibe said that after meeting from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, representation for the teachers felt that there had been no appreciable movement and that they were at impasse. Shibe said that the school district’s representation at mediation disagreed, but that they require more direction from the school board before they can move their proposal closer in line to what the teachers are asking for.

“They didn’t seem to be prepd. I don’t know why the school board didn’t authorize them to come closer to us but they did not and it was not acceptable for us,” Shibe said.

Teachers rallied at the school board meeting last week, wearing red shirts in support of the school district staff. Shibe presides over the MSEA which represents the teachers, while the CEA representing support staff for schools has also been working on an expired contract for nearly three years. With higher classroom sizes and the legislature’s action to remove defined benefits in 2006, Shibe is hoping that the two sides can agree on a contract and prevent a teacher strike.

“Because our legislators lack the priority of a deep and stable pool of educators, it is then incumbent upon school boards to make up for the disincentive that the state created,” Shibe said.