Reduction in staff

The board wants the following:

System-wide reduction in staff, as deemed necessary by the board. The board wishes to retain as much control as possible over layoffs but may provide opportunities for the Teacher Association to make informal recommendations of various kinds.
No agreement was reached.

Final decisions about layoffs of individual teachers, as well as quotas within schools and/or grade levels, should remain with the board. The board wishes to retain as much control as possible but may offer mechanisms enabling the Teacher Association to voice its views.
No Layoffs.

1.3 Layoffs to become effective 20 working days after the contract is finalized. The board wishes to expedite layoffs as quickly as possible but has some room to negotiate on this issue.

1.4 Notifications of layoffs to affected teachers to be issued not more than 10 working days prior to layoff date. The board wishes to minimize the notification period. However, the board feels that there is some room to negotiate on this issue.

1.5 Members of the board are generally resistant to hearing grievances from individual teachers that have been laid off. However, the board is willing to accept an informal review procedure so long as it minimizes time investment and permits the retention of final discretionary power by the board.
(8) weeks time frame for grievances to be heard through formal process.

1.6 Recall: the board is willing to accept a recall list but wishes to limit formal eligibility to one year from the date of layoff. The board also wishes to retain full discretion in recalling individual teachers, particularly those whose one-year recall period has expired, if it wishes to do so.
Recall only valid until (1) year, recall list by seniority.

1.7 Notification and acceptance of recall: the board wants written response within 72 hours of notification of recall in order to expedite recall. Again, the board wishes to minimize its efforts and obtain a clear indication of recall acceptances as quickly as possible. However, there is some room to negotiate within the context of this principle.
Agreed 5 business days for recall.

In general, the board wishes to reduce the number of teaching staff in order to absorb part of the overall budget decrease. It also hopes to use layoffs to partially cover increased costs that would result from finalization of the contract presently being negotiated.

2) Workload

The board wants the following:

2.1 Student/teacher ratio: the board wants an increase in the system wide ratio from its current level of 32 to approximately 35. Although there is some flexibility on this issue, the board feels it is important for budgetary reasons to come as close to 35 as possible.
New teachers hired as needed so that core classes can be smaller and leisure classes can be larger then 33.
Class sizes of 33.

2.2 Workday: the board wants an increase in the length of the present workday from seven hours and five minutes to a full eight hours. The shorter workday was agreed to in better times when the budget was able to tolerate it. Now the board feels that it wants the time “returned”.
7.5 hour work day was NOT agreed upon due to no agreement for 2.4

2.3 Prep time: the board wants elimination of the 50-minute prep time period given to each teacher on each workday (one period per day). Same reasons as in 2.2.
No agreement was reached.

2.4 Duty-free time: the board wants elimination of duty-free time given to each teacher on each workday. This amounts to 25 minutes per day in addition to a 25-minute lunch period. Same reasons as in 2.2.
No agreement was reached.

2.5 Emergency assignments and general obligations: The board wants discretionary power to assign teachers to activities during the 75 minutes gained from 2.3 and 2.4 above. These activities include emergency substitute fill-in, bus duty, hall duty, disciplinary duty, and committee service. Also, the board wants to assign teachers to monitor and chaperone after-school athletic and social activities.                                No agreement was reached.

In general, the board wishes to increase teachers’ workload so as to regain coverage of work lost to layoffs and budget cuts, while at the same time minimizing costs.

3) Evaluation of teachers

The board wants to hire its own consultant to develop a systematic evaluation procedure. It wishes to use these evaluations as aids in each of the following areas:
Survey to agree on what is being evaluated including what the teachers are most in favour for being evaluated on as well as what management feels is most important to evaluate. The list of evaluations will then be presented to the consultant for final input.

3.1 Determining pay increases.

3.2 Assigning teachers to schools and classes.

3.3 Granting tenure.

3.4 Removing teachers.

The board feels that evaluation is a legitimate management activity and that the Teacher Association should provide only advisory assistance for the design and execution of the evaluations.

The board does not want these evaluations to be freely available to teachers, due to the confidential nature of the material included and the notes likely to be made by supervisors. Instead, the board is willing to provide limited access to evaluations by having a teacher’s supervisor, principal, or assistant principal summarize the contents to individual teachers. Here, the board wishes to retain discretion as to information revealed to individual teachers.
Teachers will have access to their evaluation data that has been obtained or that is on their file.

The board is seeking ‘unannounced visitations’ into classrooms for the purpose of conducting observations as a part of the evaluation procedure. The board wishes to be unrestricted in its freedom to conduct these observations but is prepared to accept scheduled visitations.

4) Salary

The board wants the following:

4.1 Retroactivity: No retroactivity of salary increases prior to date of contract finalization. However, if necessary, the board feels it can provide a nominal percentage of full retroactivity, but it would prefer not to do so.
No agreement was reached.

4.2 Cost of living increase: the board feels that it can only provide a percentage of the previous year’s increase in cost of living, as determined by official government figures. However, this limit may be approached in many ways, and the board is willing to entertain suggestions.
No agreement was reached.

4.3 Across-the-board increases in salary schedule: the board feels that it cannot provide such increases unless budgetary resources can be obtained through sacrifices made by the Teachers Association on other issues in the present negotiations.
No agreement was reached.

5) Binding Arbitration of Grievances

The board is hesitant to consent to a binding arbitration procedure, as a result of certain groups in the community who are adamantly opposed to erosion of management prerogatives. The board is willing to agree to some form of advisory (non-binding) arbitration.
No agreement was reached.

6) Benefits

During this time of severe budgetary curtailment, the board wants to minimize expenditures on benefits. This includes the direct costs of the benefits, as well as the costs that the school system would incur in administering benefit programs.

6.1 Accumulated sick leave upon severance: the board wishes to minimize such expenditures.

6.2 Bereavement leave: the board is willing to give up to two days’ bereavement leave in the case of the death of a member of the teacher’s immediate family (spouse or children).
(5) days paid Bereavement not limited to title of family member.

6.3 Civic duty leave: the board is willing to grant salary for jury duty only. The board also wishes to deduct the amount received for jury duty from a teacher’s regular daily rate of pay.
Agreed to paying for jury duty but deducting the jury pay from salary.

6.4 Childbirth leave: the board is seeking a maximum of 10 days’ leave for female employees who have given birth, and no more than five days’ leave for spouses or partners of new parents. In addition, the board prefers that childbirth leave be classified as sick leave.
(10) days leave for female employees who have given birth – not classified as sick leave.
(10) days leave for spouses or partners of new parents – classified as sick leave.

a-Describe the sub-processes within each bargaining stage.

b-Describe the stages of the union-management bargaining stage.