Burlington Teachers Strike Ends

Teachers in South Burlington went on strike last Tues., Oct. 14, canceling classes and other activities in the district for most of the following week. After five days of striking, a tentative agreement was reached on Saturday concerning health care coverage and salaries for teachers. Classes resumed on Monday though both sides need to vote on the agreement before it can be implemented. More specific details of the compromise have yet to be released.

The teacher’s union decided in a meeting the week before picketing began to set a strike deadline on negotiations with the board. The decision followed months of unproductive discussion about teachers’ pay and health benefits. The cause of tension was the teachers’ desire to keep their existing health care plan. While the school board had conceded to retain the plan, they were proposing changes in salaries and premiums to offset costs.

The board members stated that rising health care costs would make it difficult to continue with the same health insurance policy while maintaining reasonable property tax rates, which have risen by 13 prercent in South Burlington over the past two years. South Burlington teachers are, on average, the highest paid statewide, according to a fact-finder report that was produced in August.
Both parties spoke out against how the other side handled the situation. The union accused the school board of stalling negotiations by showing up to a scheduled meeting unprepared the week before the strike. Teachers were additionally irritated by a meeting held for school staff about health insurance plans that they claim was an attempt to negotiate directly with teachers, outside of the negotiation process outlined by state law.

The school board, for its part, felt it had made significant concessions. Elizabeth Fitzgerald, the board’s chairwoman, said about the proposed health care plan, “This is not the exchange, it’s not single-payer, it’s not speculative, and it’s far more generous than many of the plans the taxpayers in our community enjoy.” They were furthermore disgruntled by the extremity to which teachers went to further their cause, saying, “They were willing to put the education and activities of the students at risk despite the fact that the board has demonstrated significant compromise.”

Discussions could not commence until Thursday, when the entire board would be available to meet. Talk between both sides occurred in the Franklin Tuttle Middle School library and continued until 1:30 a.m. Friday morning, at which point the board members postponed negotiations. Though the teachers were resistant to disbanding without reaching consensus, the school board said in a statement, “At this point there is little if any progress that can be made in resolving this dispute this morning.” Negotiations reconvened at 3:00 p.m. on Friday.

Extracurricular activities, including sports, were reinstated on Friday as well, as other staff and administrators could run them without the teachers. “I am reinstating student activities at this time because academic days of instruction will be made up, yet the events within the co-curricular schedule will not,” Superintendent David Young said.

A mediator, John McNeil, was brought in to work with both sides toward an agreement. He commended both the board and the union for their efforts, stating on Saturday, “This was no longer about what you really wanted, this was about what you could accept. Even though you might have to - from your perspective - hold your nose and accept it. Both parties compromised from where I’m sure they would have preferred to be, but in the end I think they found an agreement that works to the advantage of the public here in South Burlington and the community at large, and especially the kids that are attending school here.”

Though classes recommenced on Monday, the incident has brought attention to policy regarding teacher walkouts. Governor Shumlin expressed disapproval of the teacher strike. “When you see what’s going on in a community like South Burlington, the people that get hurt are the kids, the moms and the dads who suddenly have no place for their kids to go during the day,” he said.

Shumlin hopes to outlaw teacher strikes in favor of mandatory binding arbitration, which is the policy for a number of other state employees. The change would make it illegal for districts to impose contracts and for teachers to strike as a means to gain concessions. Walkouts are illegal in 36 states and Vermont is the only state in New England where it is still allowable.

Steve Dale, the head of the Vermont School Board’s Association, explained that the boards are opposed to the change because they feel the nature of the process would decrease the likelihood of innovation in times of economic constraint and that involving an external arbiter is not a good method to resolve issues.

Despite support from the NEA for the change, the organization did not feel such discussion was appropriate at the time of the strike. “We really don’t appreciate the Governor’s taking the time to have this policy discussion while, you know, several hundred of our members are walking the picket line,” said David Allen, spokesman of the Vermont NEA. Now that the strike has come to a close, changes in policy might gain momentum.