No contract signed for Moses Lake classified staff

Unsettled issues involve salaries, health insurance

MOSES LAKE -The Moses Lake School District and Public School Employees union have yet to solve contract issues since a meeting Nov. 3.

The union and district had a tentative agreement for a new contract last July, but the Public School Employees union did not ratify the agreement. Their old contract expired at the end of August.

Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations Monte Redal said the district is operating under the 2006-2007 contract until an agreement is reached.

The Public School Employees union had planned to meet Tuesday night, said Co-President of the Public School Employees Union Moses Lake Chapter Rosemary Trowbridge.

"We are looking at our options of what our plans are as a group," she said.

She said a vote is planned to determine the group's next action, which could include striking or accepting the contract offer.

Trowbridge said 412 school employees are impacted by the contract.

"We all work together to support Moses Lake schools," Trowbridge stated. "There's no reason any employee group should be treated differently, especially when the money is clearly there."

Trowbridge claims teachers are getting a 5.48 percent pay increase, while support staff were offered a 3.9 percent pay raise.

Redal said the state provided a 4.3 percent salary increase to teachers and a 3.7 percent salary increase to classified staff. The district negotiated a two-tenths of a percent increase above state pay for classified staff, which they agreed to in July, Redal said.

Classified staff changed their mind about the agreement after teachers met with the district and negotiated their contract, Redal said.

Trowbridge claims teachers were given $300,000 for health insurance from the district, while support staff were offered $165,000 for health insurance from the district.

Redal said, although the $165,000 in health-insurance money is a smaller total than what teachers are getting, the amount for classified staff covers a higher percentage of medical benefits.

Trowbridge stated union members are concerned they could lose health-insurance coverage as a result of the disagreement over wages.

"Employees with excessive medical bills stand to lose insurance coverage because the administration refuses to deposit money into the account unless we go along with their offer," she stated.

Redal said the district is providing $150,000 from the previous contract, plus unused funds that were pooled. The district is unable to deposit the $15,000 proposed increase, he said.

"We can't do that because we don't have an agreement," he said.

According to the Public School Employees Web site, classified staff include paraeducators, campus security, technology positions, transportation personnel, secretaries, maintenance and grounds workers, custodians and food-service employees.

The union and district met for more than 12 hours on Nov. 3 to discuss the contract, but no agreement was reached.