Union: Slow Movement Led to 109 Impasse

A to respond to counter proposals from the teachers’ union before the groups’ last mediation session led to the impasse declared by the teachers Thursday.

Union President Dennis Jensen claims theand purposely trying to weaken the DEA. Though Jensen did not accuse the District of trying to dismantle the union, he stopped just short of that accusation.

“They seem to want this to be a one sided relationship,” Jensen said. “They’ve made a decision they want us to follow their direction with no negotiation or collective bargaining.”

School Board President Ellen London called Jensen’s claim a distortion. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” she said. “The negotiations have been ongoing and we intend to negotiate more.”

When the union felt the talks were moving slowly, it took steps to move them along prior to the Feb. 29 mediation session. The two sides have been working with a mediator since October. The teachers have been working on an expired contract since August.

“We sent proposals to them in advance (of the Feb. 29 mediation session) hoping for a response at the mediation,” Jensen said. “One proposal from them was much like the last. That’s OK in the beginning but we’re past that now.”

School Board President Ellen London believes the progress has been satisfactory. “We disagree with that,” she said. “We’ve been negotiating in good faith.”

The next mediation session is March 15; the day final proposals are due to the mediator. According to Jensen, the mediator was available Thursday but the District’s representatives could not make it. The union team took the opportunity to reflect.

“We reached the classic definition of an impasse,” Jensen said. “We were pretty disappointed (after the last session) and felt the same way yesterday (Wednesday).”