We deserve a contract! This was the cry from teachers and secretaries as they marched up and down Lahser Road last month before Southfield High School’s Open House reception, holding picket signs and chanting.
At present, teachers and secretaries in Southfield Public schools have no contract.
Until a contract between the employees and the School Board is reached, teachers and secretaries work under the conditions of their old contract, said Robert MacFarland, who is a union representative for the teachers. The effect of this, said MacFarland, is that teachers are locked into their old salaries.
MacFarland also said that teachers weren’t expecting a large pay raise. Teachers haven’t had more than a 1 percent annual wage increase in several years, he said.
The teachers picketed to draw attention to their situation. The difference between picketing and striking is that picketers continue to do their jobs as normal; striking employees refuse to work.
By law, public employees in the State of Michigan can’t strike. “If we were able to strike, we might not have returned to work after summer vacation without a contract,” said MacFarland.
The picketing should have no effect on students because teachers picket after school, MacFarland said.
Issues in contract negotiations are class size and the reduced ability of teachers to have input on the curriculum, according to flyers distributed by teachers at the Open House. The flyer also cited low employee morale and criticized the Board’s commitment to negotiating.
Deputy Superintendent Ken Siver said, “Negotiations on teacher contracts have gone slow before, and the Board of Education is intent on reaching a fair settlement.”
Freshman Verra Campbell said she supports the picketing teachers: “It’s good that they are exercising their First Amendment rights (freedom of speech, press and the right to assemble peaceably) to get what they want and what they feel they deserve.”
Bargaining sessions between the School Board and the members of the Southfield Education Association have not been going well, according to the teacher newsletter entitled “Table Talk.” The newsletter reports that teachers and secretaries have been ready to bargain since March 15, but the Board wasn’t ready to begin bargaining until July 31.
Recently the district hired an attorney to help the contract negotiations go more smoothly. The attorney is being paid $73,966 by the financially challenged district. MacFarland said union members remain hopeful that their picketing and other actions will eventually get them what they want, which is a new contract.