Contract Approval
Our present contract expires on June 30, 2020. If a tentative agreement is not reached before the deadline, do not worry. It is not unusual to have a contract expire and if it does, we will continue working under our present contract language until an agreement is reached. Our salaries will also remain the same and then when an agreement is reached salaries will be retroactive back to the 1st day of the new contract.
According to our By-Laws, negotiations & a ratification vote (approval of the contract) with SLPS is as follows:
- Negotiation committee solicits membership views and interest on issues related to their employment
- Negotiation committee presents information based on #1 above along with recommendations to the Executive Board
- Once those recommendations are finally approved by the Executive Board they become the basis for negotiations with SLPS
- Negotiation committee then meets with the district representatives until a tentative agreement is reached or the district issues it’s last best and final offer.
- When a last best and final offer is presented the membership must vote on the offer
- The tentative agreement is first presented to the Executive Board. The board either recommends or does not recommend the tentative agreement. Either way, the membership must now vote on the tentative agreement
- A membership Ratification meeting is held to explain the tentative agreement to our members and then the membership can vote either to accept or reject the tentative agreement vote by secret ballot
- If the tentative agreement is rejected, concerns are recorded and then the negotiation committee then again meets with SLPS until a new tentative agreement is eventually reached. The process then returns to #7 until #9 is reached
- It the tentative agreement is accepted, the contract is signed and becomes our new collective bargaining agreement
We are currently engaged in step 4 of the process. Some have expressed concerns about if a tentative agreement is reached while many of us may be on vacation over the summer, then what happens? If a tentative agreement is reached during the summer, the ratification vote will not be held until we return to school in August 2020.