bedford central's school board declares impasse with teachers' union

7/25/2019 Bedford Central's School Board Declares Impasse With Teachers' Union

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STATEMENT OF THE

BEDFORD CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF EDUCATION

REGARDING THE NEGOTIATING IMPASSE

WITH THE BEDFORD TEACHERS ASSOCIATION

June 29, 2016

The Board of Education and the Bedford Teachers Association (BTA) have concluded thatthey have reached an impasse in their negotiations for a new contract. This statement is intendedto explain why there is an impasse, and what the Boards goals are in these negotiations. Thisstatement is supported by all the members of the Board of Education.

Background

The current contract between the District and BTA expires on June 30, 2016. By New YorkState law, the terms of this contract will remain in effect after its expiration date, until a new

contract is agreed to by both sides. Like all the Districts union contracts, the BTA contract isavailable online at www.bcsdny.org.

The negotiating teams for each side have been bargaining for a successor contract since February4, 2016. Ten formal negotiating sessions have been held, not counting additional informalmeetings and conversations. A mediator was present at one of those sessions.

The Districts negotiating team is comprised of the Boards lead negotiator, Richard Kass of thelaw firm of Bond, Schoeneck, & King, Assistant Superintendent for Business and AdministrativeServices Mark Betz, and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction AndrewPatrick.

OverviewThe Problem We Face

The Board of Education values the fine work of the dedicated educators who teach our childrenevery day. Although we may disagree over the rate at which their salaries can reasonably beincreased over the next several years, there is no doubt that our teachers are a superb group ofprofessionals. The work they do is what this school district is all about.

The reason why it is difficult to negotiate a contract with BTA is that the union contract providesfor automatic salary increases that exceed the rate of inflation, and exceed the maximum tax levyincrease under the New York tax cap law. Like almost all teachers union contracts in New YorkState, our contract with BTA contains a salary schedule that links salaries to seniority. Forexample, the salary schedule provides that a teacher with seven years of service (Step 7) mustbe paid about 4.5% more than a teacher with six years of service (Step 6). Teachers who havebetween 4 and 17 years of service are entitled to automatic salary increases that average about4% per year. Under a New York law called the Triborough Law, these increases must begiven regardless of whether a new contract has been negotiated.


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This system of automatic salary increases worked satisfactorily when the rate of inflation wasclose to or above the automatic increases in the contract. But year after year of automaticincreases in excess of inflation have taken their toll, causing much of the Districts current fiscalpredicament.

When senior teachers retire, and are replaced by junior teachers who are entitled to less payunder the contract, the District saves money. But these savings have not been sufficient tocounterbalance the automatic increases built into the BTA contract.

Since 2008, the Board has worked hard to reduce the automatic increases built into the BTAcontract. In 2010, we negotiated a contract covering the years 2009-2013 that paused theautomatic increases for one year, and increased teachers health insurance contributions from10% of the total premium to 15%. In 2013, we negotiated a contract covering the years 2013-2016 that introduced a new compensation system for teachers hired on or after July 1, 2013.Under this new compensation system, which is unique in the state, the automatic increases builtinto the contract are limited to 2% per year. With each passing year, as teachers under the old

system retire and new teachers are hired under the new system, the burden of automatic payincreases will become less and less onerous for the District. But it is still too soon for us to enjoya significant benefit from that trendespecially since the recent layoffs we have been forced toimplement disproportionately affect teachers who are under the new compensation system. NewYork State law requires layoffs to be in reverse order of senioritylast hired, first fired.

The District has contracts with two other unionsthe CSEA, which represents civil serviceemployees such as secretaries, teacher aides, and custodians, and BASA, which represents all butthe highest-level administrators. We have worked hard to reduce the automatic salary increasesbuilt into those contracts as well. In 2012, we subcontracted bus driving work that had beendone by CSEA employees to a private company, and we negotiated a contract with CSEA thatincreased the percentage of health insurance premiums paid by CSEA employees. In 2015, wenegotiated a contract with BASA that reduces the automatic increases from 2.25% per year to1.5%.

The District is not permitted to negotiate pension costs with its unions. Pension benefits foremployees are mandated by state law, and so are the Districts contributions to the state pensionfunds.

Under New York law, the District cannot unilaterally change its union contracts. The unionsmust agree to any changes. Therefore, the most we can hope for are gradual, incrementalreforms. Simply by withholding their consent, the unions can continue the old contractsindefinitely. The unions are not permitted to strike, but they do have the power to maintain thestatus quo.


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The Districts Proposals

In our current negotiations with BTA, we have asked to continue the process we started in 2008of gradually lowering of the automatic increases built into the contract.

Because health insurance costs have been increasing even more than salaries, we have proposedchanges to our current self-insured health insurance plan. We have suggested increasing the co-pay for doctor visits from $20 to $40, and extending the $400 deductible to in-network care. Wehave also asked for the right to switch from our self-insured plan to the insured Blue Cross/BlueShield plan that most school districts use. We have also asked teachers to pay an increasedpercentage of health insurance premiums.

With regard to salaries, we have asked that teachers limit automatic increases to the rate ofinflation, or to the tax cap imposed under New York law.

We have explained that any savings that the District can achieve in these ways could be used to

reduce the number of layoffs necessitated by our fiscal crisis. We also suggested that some ofthe savings could go toward cost-of-living increases for teachers who are already on the top stepof the salary schedule, and who therefore will not receive an automatic salary increase.

We are not saying that teachers should never get salary increases. What we are saying is that weshould minimize the increases that are built into the contractincreases that have nothing to dowith economic conditions, and that take effect automatically, without negotiations. We aresaying that salary increases should be negotiated every few years, based on economic conditionsand the job market. At the moment, we cannot afford any salary increases beyond what thecontract requiresin fact, we cant even afford that. But we are committed to paying ourteachers fairly, in line with economic conditions and the job market.

BTAs Response

BTAs response to our proposals has disappointed us. They have stated that they will refuse toagree to any contract that ends up costing the District less money than the contract we have now.They said they would be willing to agree to short-term savings, but only if those savings aremore than outweighed by increased costs in future years. Such a deal would make it even harderfor us to balance our budgets in the future.

BTA has even asked for increases beyond those already built into the current contract. Theywant to add additional stipends for various purposes, and improve the benefits available underthe health insurance plan.

BTA has repeatedly stated that they are tired of the District asking them for concessions. Theypointed out that they gave the District important concessions in the last two contracts, especiallythe 2013 contract that instituted the new compensation system for teachers hired after July 1,2013. We explained that although we greatly appreciate those concessions, more work needs to


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be done to make the BTA contract compatible with the new reality of low inflation and low taxlevy increases.

The Road From Here

As this summary makes apparent, the District and BTA are far apart in their positions. It is forthis reason that both sides have agreed that they have reached an impasse. This means thatPERB, the Public Employment Relations Board, will assign a mediator to try to facilitate anagreement. Mediation will probably take place in the fall.

Although we strongly disagree with BTA over what the terms of our new contract should be, wehope that as the negotiating process continues in mediation, we will continue to communicatewith each other in a respectful and collegial manner. We appreciate the hard work that ourteachers do every day for our children, and we promise to continue to work with them closely toprovide our children with the highest quality education anywhere.

bedford central's school board declares impasse with teachers' union

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