Janesville Teacher Negotiation Process

Some insights into the arbitrtation/mediation QEO process:

Could teacher contract be close?

Published Friday, September 14, 2007

By Frank Schultz
fschultz@gazetteextra.com

Wednesday could be the day for Janesville teachers and the school board.

Their negotiators are scheduled to meet all day, starting at 8 a.m.

Superintendent Tom Evert said this morning he is hopeful the two sides
could even reach a tentative contract settlement.

This comes after three months of no negotiations but lots of tough
talk from both sides about how the other side is being unreasonable in
negotiating a 2007-09 contract.

Evert said this morning the school board side was encouraged by the
teachers' new willingness to discuss economic issues.

Teachers have been pushing for changes in working conditions,
frustrating the school board's negotiators' efforts to talk about
salary and benefits.

But Wednesday night, the union membership met and instructed
negotiators to start bargaining about money.

Evert described the school board as being "very optimistic" about
making progress Wednesday, because of the teachers' new approach and
because of Wednesday's schedule.

"We're going to start early and hopefully finish late with a tentative
contract in hand on Sept. 19," Evert said.

And as The Janesville Gazette reported Thursday, the teachers' co-lead
negotiator Dave Parr also said it would be possible to reach a
settlement next week.

"We could do it in five minutes if they would be reasonable," Parr said.

But another process already is under way in case the two sides can't
reach agreement.

The board Aug. 30 asked the teachers to apply jointly to the Wisconsin
Employment Relations Commission for mediation. The board said at the
time that if the teachers wouldn't go to mediation voluntarily, the
board would force the issue by filing for arbitration.

The teachers said "no" Sept. 5.

So on Wednesday, the school board did what it promised and filed a
petition for arbitration.

That process isn't likely to start for four to six weeks, while an
"investigator" is appointed, said the school board's hired negotiator,
Mike Julka.

The investigator would hold a meeting or meetings that both sides are
required to attend in an attempt to solve the dispute, Julka said. The
mediator would work with "preliminary final offers" from each side,
investigating the potential for a settlement.

If mediation doesn't work, the investigator could declare a deadlock.

After a deadlock is declared, the state would select an arbitrator. At
that point, the school board has two options:

-- The board could impose a settlement that includes a 3.8 percent
increase in the cost of salary and benefits combined. This is called a
qualified economic offer, or QEO.

-- The board could submit its final offer to the arbitrator, the
teachers would do the same, and the arbitrator would choose one or the
other.

The original investigator could continue to work even after the school
board imposed a QEO, if there was potential for a voluntary
settlement, Julka said.

But if the two sides come to agreement before the investigator begins
mediating, the mediation/arbitration process would not be needed.

It appears the two sides have several weeks to work on a voluntary
settlement, even if they don't come to terms Wednesday.