Collective Bargaining in Public Schools

Collective Bargaining In Public Schools

By: John Buscemi

Loyola High School is a Jesuit Catholic High School and operates under the umbrella of the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Jesuit Secondary Education Association. Teachers at Loyola do not belong to a union and contracts are negotiated by individual teachers on a year to year basis. Therefore, collective bargaining does not occur at Loyola High School, or any other Catholic School for that matter. The Michigan Educational Association (MEA) is the teachers' union to which Michigan public school teachers belong. The MEA has more than 160,000 current members. Collective bargaining is a negotiation tool that is used by union teachers to work with their school districts. During a collective bargaining period, teachers' union representatives approach the district administrators and attempt to negotiate a contract which both sides can agree with. Some issues that are covered in a labor contract include hours, wages, stipends, benefits, working conditions, leave time, teacher evaluation and the rules of the workplace. Once both sides have reached a contract that they agree on, it is signed and kept in place for a set period of time. The final contract is called a collective bargaining agreement. This reflects the fact that it is the result of a collective bargaining effort. In public schools, teachers are represented by a union. Collective bargaining actually begins with joining a union, agreeing to abide by the rules of the union, and electing union representatives. Experienced teachers from the union will usually assist other teachers with putting together a draft of a contract, and will help them present their desires to the district. A number of meetings between representatives of the district and teachers will be held