MEA proposal addresses new bargaining law

     The Monticello Education Association (MEA) submitted its initial contract proposal to the Monticello Community School District Wednesday, March 29 at a special meeting in the Administrative Board Room.

     The proposal asks the district to consider all aspects of its initial proposal, including those that by law are now excluded from formal bargaining.

     The MEA is proposing a five-year contract with a total economic increase of 4.589 percent the first year, 4.393 percent the second year, with the remaining three years to be determined through negotiations.

     The MEA is requesting a base salary of $34,615, up from $33,615 this year; along with a non-BA nurse base salary of $31,704, up from $30,794.

     Insurance, supplemental pay, transfer procedures, and procedures for staff reduction – no longer part of formal bargaining – are included in the proposal.

     Those items are included, chief negotiator Shannon Guyer read in a statement, “to emphasize the fact that most of these topics are also critical to employees.”

     One of the new proposals by the MEA is for both it and the district to establish a joint Labor Management Committee, to discuss employment matters not referred to in the master contract.

     The committee, the MEA says, will help keep discussions open about those issues.

     “It is our experience that an open discussion of these issues has provided language that works well for both sides,” Guyer read. “We believe those same discussions can occur through a Labor/Management Committeee and meetings that occur outside the formal bargaining process.”