GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Education Association is pushing for changes to the bargaining process with the school district following a delayed contract this school year.
Negotiations took 18 months to complete, leaving teachers working without a new contract. Now, the teachers union wants to update how negotiations are carried out and who is involved.
According to the union, lawyers currently lead negotiations for the district. The union is asking for a district employee and a board member to sit at the bargaining table instead.
Jayne Niemann, a Union High School teacher and vice president of GREA, said the current process forces teachers to explain their jobs to people who are not educators.
"If we were to meet with a superintendent, and if there was a board person present to witness what is discussed firsthand at the bargaining table, I feel like we would move a lot more quickly," Niemann said.
Niemann said no teachers should have to wait 18 months to have a settled contract. While it was not 18 months from the expiration of the contract, there was a year of bargaining and negotiating.
The union and the district finally settled the contract in December. Niemann said teachers did not receive their additional pay raises until mid-February, which the union said was not enough to offset the cost of health care.
Niemann added that educators, whether in administration or the classroom, are closest to the students and should be the primary negotiators on either side of the table. She said lawyers should only be brought in at the end to write out the legal language.
Currently, the union has a petition circulating called "Our Schools. Our Contracts. Open the Bargaining Table and Keep it Open," requesting support as they ask the district to update its policy.
Grand Rapids Public Schools confirmed the union has submitted questions regarding the process.
"We’re working together on reaching a resolution," a Grand Rapids Public Schools spokesperson said.
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