Grievance Chair
Intersession Grievance Settlement
On Wednesday, March 23, 2011 SEA and the District met in an attempt to resolve a grievance that originated with the Fall Intersession Session of 2010. The SEA team consisted of President, Alex Anguiano; Executive Director, Lian Shoemake; MVM teacher and SEA Board of Directors member Colleen Cook-Salas; and SEA Grievance Chair, Chuck Patterson. Representing the District were Dr. Tom Glover and Wes Braddock of the Human Resources Department and MVM Principal, Derelyn Kalafer. The neutral third-party mediator was Michelle Kieth.
Some SEA members who worked the Fall Intersession of 2010 session had not been offered the contractually guaranteed hours. SEA was able to secure a minimum guarantee of four (4) hours per day per member at the contractual rate of pay. Members who worked more than the four hours were compensated for the additional time.
The biggest news, however, is that SEA was able to get the District to agree to a 30 minute Preparation Period for teachers who will work the Summer Session this year and the upcoming Intersession. (Our current contract does not include prep time for summer school or intersession.) The agreement will expire on July 18, 2011. This, and other negotiable issues, will be addressed at the table when SEA and the District meet to begin negotiating a successor agreement to the current contract.
The lengthy mediation lasted from 10:00 AM until 4:15 PM with the mediator shuttling between the two teams, working hard to bring them to an agreement. While exhausting, the SEA team agreed that the effort was worth it for all our members. This experience once again demonstrated that when both sides are willing to work collaboratively, a mutually beneficial solution can be reached.
Chuck Patterson
Grievance Chair & Vice-President SEA
