They can deal with the fact that the St. Paul Public Schools face a $24 million budget deficit. But school clerical workers refuse to accept that they must pay more for their health insurance than the district?s highest-paid employees pay.
The 400 clerical workers represented by AFSCME Local 844 say the school district is stonewalling their attempt to reduce the disparity, in which their monthly premium for family insurance is $275 higher than the premium paid by the superintendent and other administrators who receive six-figure salaries.
online pharmacy order stromectol no prescription with best prices today in the USA
online pharmacy elavil buy with best prices today in the USA
?It?s the same plan,? said Rita During, the local?s business agent. ?They just give some employees more money toward health insurance than they give to other employees.?
online pharmacy buy proscar online with best prices today in the USA
online pharmacy purchase anafranil without prescription with best prices today in the USA
The clerical workers, whose average salary is $32,000, discovered the disparity while trying to settle a new contract to replace one that expired on June 30, During said. ?We didn?t realize this was happening. We don?t know how this came to be.?
The district contributes $575 a month toward the clerical workers? insurance, she said, but kicks in $629 for principals, $655 for non-teaching professionals, $715 for district supervisors, and $850 a month for top administrators, During said. (Teachers have a different type of insurance, she said, so their figures are not a fair comparison.)
The school district is willing to increase its contribution to $650 a month in 2005 and $710 in 2006, During said. But Local 844 wants that figure raised to $800 in 2006, when insurance costs are projected to increase as much as 18 percent.
That would help offset a pay freeze in the second year of the proposed contract, after an initial pay raise of 2.5 percent retroactive to July 1. ?We can live with the wage proposal,? During said. ?We can live with the other stuff. But we?re just asking them to be fair to us, to start addressing some of the inequities.?
After district negotiators refused to respond to Local 844?s proposals during mediation, the union took the unusual step of taking a ?settlement offer? directly to the school board. The board met in executive session Dec. 7 to discuss that proposal.
The union has heard nothing concrete from board members, During said. Several school board members contacted by The Advocate said they had agreed not discuss details of their meeting. ?We were given an update and we gave our bargaining team direction,? board member John Brodrick said.
He said the board hoped negotiations could wrap up on Jan. 5, when both sides meet again with their mediator.
Adapted from The St. Paul Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org
Related article
St. Paul school workers phone in their request for a fair contract
Share
They can deal with the fact that the St. Paul Public Schools face a $24 million budget deficit. But school clerical workers refuse to accept that they must pay more for their health insurance than the district?s highest-paid employees pay.
The 400 clerical workers represented by AFSCME Local 844 say the school district is stonewalling their attempt to reduce the disparity, in which their monthly premium for family insurance is $275 higher than the premium paid by the superintendent and other administrators who receive six-figure salaries.
online pharmacy order stromectol no prescription with best prices today in the USA
online pharmacy elavil buy with best prices today in the USA
?It?s the same plan,? said Rita During, the local?s business agent. ?They just give some employees more money toward health insurance than they give to other employees.?
online pharmacy buy proscar online with best prices today in the USA
online pharmacy purchase anafranil without prescription with best prices today in the USA
The clerical workers, whose average salary is $32,000, discovered the disparity while trying to settle a new contract to replace one that expired on June 30, During said. ?We didn?t realize this was happening. We don?t know how this came to be.?
The district contributes $575 a month toward the clerical workers? insurance, she said, but kicks in $629 for principals, $655 for non-teaching professionals, $715 for district supervisors, and $850 a month for top administrators, During said. (Teachers have a different type of insurance, she said, so their figures are not a fair comparison.)
The school district is willing to increase its contribution to $650 a month in 2005 and $710 in 2006, During said. But Local 844 wants that figure raised to $800 in 2006, when insurance costs are projected to increase as much as 18 percent.
That would help offset a pay freeze in the second year of the proposed contract, after an initial pay raise of 2.5 percent retroactive to July 1. ?We can live with the wage proposal,? During said. ?We can live with the other stuff. But we?re just asking them to be fair to us, to start addressing some of the inequities.?
After district negotiators refused to respond to Local 844?s proposals during mediation, the union took the unusual step of taking a ?settlement offer? directly to the school board. The board met in executive session Dec. 7 to discuss that proposal.
The union has heard nothing concrete from board members, During said. Several school board members contacted by The Advocate said they had agreed not discuss details of their meeting. ?We were given an update and we gave our bargaining team direction,? board member John Brodrick said.
He said the board hoped negotiations could wrap up on Jan. 5, when both sides meet again with their mediator.
Adapted from The St. Paul Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org
Related article
St. Paul school workers phone in their request for a fair contract