DALLAS TWP. — The Dallas Education Association will file an unfair labor practice complaint against the Dallas School Board, lead union negotiator John Holland said Tuesday.
The news comes just a week before teachers have threatened to strike for the second time this school year and third time since the labor strife began.
With no scheduled negotiations on the calendar, it seems inevitable teachers will follow through on the Nov. 22 strike date set by the union last month.
Holland’s statement follows a near half-hour negotiation session Tuesday where the union turned down the board’s Oct. 30 comprehensive proposal and countered with its own offer, Holland said.
The teachers’ offer exceeded what the district could raise in property taxes to cover expenses under state guidelines, said Vito DeLuca, board solicitor. The district did not accept the offer and did not agree to meet Wednesday, DeLuca said.
“The board refused to meet with us,” added Holland.
DeLuca said the board has met with union leaders nearly 200 times over the course of the past several years to negotiate in good faith.
“Let them file (the complaint),” DeLuca said. “This is a play right out of John Holland’s playbook.”
The Dallas School District’s contract with the union expired in August 2015, and both parties began the negotiation process in 2014.
“We asked them that if they believe their offer is fair, to submit to non-binding arbitration, and they refused,” DeLuca said.
Non-binding arbitration involves both sides agreeing to let a third-party mediator review proposals and develop an offer. Both the union and district would have to agree to the new plan to enact it. If either party refuses, the negotiation process starts again.
“Non-binding arbitration is a waste of time and money,” Holland responded.
On Tuesday, the union gave the board a “full comprehensive proposal that was cost neutral,” Holland said.
The union’s offer included a health care program that projected $500,000 in savings, he explained.
Holland said the union did not accept the board’s previous offer because the “salary scale was skewed.”
“Some teachers would get large raises, and some would lose money.”
Under the board’s Oct. 30 proposal, the 2017-18 wage matrix included a minimum annual salary of $46,000 and a maximum pay of $83,500. The salary schedule awards teachers a raise for each year (columns) up to 16 years and for every six college credits above a bachelor’s degree (steps) up to 36 credits beyond a master’s degree.
The 2018-19 and 2019-20 salary schedules reflect the same employment and education credit formats, but the starting wage increases by $1,200 for each of the school years.
Under the expired pay matrix, the starting salary was set at $34,501 and the maximum at $80,866.
Holland called the increase in the minimum wage a “public relations” move by the district.
The union’s offer also included a change to the early retirement program that removed the 35-year employment cap.
“Their early retirement program would cover everyone with a minimum of 25 years and more,” DeLuca said, adding the employees would receive 40 percent of their last year’s salary.
Under the union’s proposal, if six teachers retired in one year, it could cost the district $300,000, said DeLuca.
Meanwhile, the union’s health care proposal contained no premium sharing, DeLuca noted.
Dallas teachers do not currently pay a portion of their premiums and have resisted proposals to start making those payments.
“They are holding fast to not paying one penny for health care,” said DeLuca.
