


Saying they're fed up with the actions of their teachers union, Grand Rapids (MI) Public Schools board members turned the tables Friday and declared they have no confidence in the union leaders' ability to resolve stalemated contract talks. Members also hope to hit the union in the pocketbook, announcing the district no longer will deduct and transmit union dues from teachers' paychecks.
Other districts embroiled in labor disputes have taken similar steps, but they are rare, said Justin King, executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards.
"It's certainly not a move that will foster a good relationship but, at this point, I guess they don't care," King said.
Grand Rapids Education Association President Paul Helder said he is not deterred by the board's vote and said he thinks it will strengthen his members' resolve.
"The board seems confused, because it's not the board's confidence I need to maintain," Helder said. "They say they support the teachers, and I guess that's reflected in how they treat the teachers' elected representation and undermine the bargaining process."
School board President Kenneth Hoskins said he acted against the advice of Superintendent Bernard Taylor and was spurred by what he called an unproductive meeting Thursday with the union negotiators and a state mediator.
Hoskins said the union refuses to recognize what he called the district's "deteriorating" financial situation. Administrators expect to lose about 900 students -- and the state aid that goes with them -- by next year.
"The GREA leadership is blind if they cannot see the fiscal realities facing this district and the state," Hoskins said, reading from a prepared statement on the steps of the district's administration building, surrounded by six other board members and the district's lawyer.
He called the union's leadership "dysfunctional" and said Helder rejected multiple opportunities to discuss the district's books before the mediation session.
"Enough is enough," Hoskins said. "It was a waste of taxpayer dollars and time to spend that session talking about the numbers."
Hoskins said finances were a factor in the decision to stop transmitting the dues, saying the district no longer could afford to provide the free service.
"We're at the point where we have to watch every nickel we spend," he said.
But no board member knew how much it cost to deduct and transmit the dues, though staff later determined it cost $2.50 a year for each of the 1,700 GREA members.
The district transmits about $57,000 in dues every two weeks, and Barb Ruga, the board's lawyer, said the union can negotiate the matter as part of current talks.
Ruga said the move does not mean the union won't get the dues, but it will have to collect them from members directly.
Board member David Allen, who suggested a no-confidence vote at a May 5 meeting, said the decision on the dues is intended to be symbolic and stressed the moves are aimed at union leaders and not rank and file.
The district will continue to honor grievance and binding arbitration procedures, even though it has not been obligated to do so after the contract expired Aug. 20, 2007.
Thursday's session with the mediator was the first time the sides sat down to bargain since late March, when district staff walked out of a session because teachers were picketing outside.
The sides are about $4 million apart, based on recent contract proposals. The board is offering no raise for this year outside of annual longevity payments and a 1.5 percent salary increase for next year, with a 1.5 percent stipend for teachers at the top of the scale.
The union wants a 2 percent raise this year on top of the longevity payments, and 3 percent for next year, plus any money saved from reduced insurance costs.
The district wants teachers to pay $90 a month toward their health insurance; the union proposes paying $50 a month.
The GREA's Representative Assembly in February announced it had lost confidence in Taylor.
(mlive.com)