District, Union Hopeful About Noninstructional Contract

Representatives from the Dearborn Schools and its second-largest union, the Dearborn Federation of School Employees, are confident that an agreement will be reached before the end of the month, eliminating the possibility of a public showdown similar to the one between the district and its teachers earlier this year.

“I’m confident we will come to an agreement before the end of the month,” said Rodger Bartles, president of the DFSE.

“We understand what’s happening to school financing, and we’re prepared to deal with that, and we’re prepared to get the best deal we can for the membership,” he added. “We’ve agreed to regularly scheduled meetings.”

Superintendent Brian Whiston said he’s also hopeful an agreement can be reached soon.

“I hope (there will be an agreement),” he said.

The 1,100-member DFSC is operating under a one-year collective bargaining agreement, which expires on Aug. 31.

The DFSE represents noninstructional, nonsupervisory staff, including food service, clerical, transportation, maintenance, custodial and paraprofessional workers, among others.

It’s likely that big concessions are on table for workers, but what remains to be seen is what those concessions will look like. Bartles said he could not comment on what is being considered, citing ongoing negotiations.

Bartles has previously stated that the union is seeking a 10-year agreement, with several opportunities for wage re-openers.

Givebacks Likely

The DFSE has so far been able to avoid a situation where the contract has to be extended incrementally, as the .

With the DFT, talks between the district and the teachers began in June 2009, when the collective bargaining agreement expired. After operating under temporary extensions of the expired agreement for nearly two years, the two parties inked a four-year agreement in May 2011.

That contract contained major concessions and changes for the teachers, including a pay cut of 6 to 7 percent, increases in the step system that would delay the number of years it would take a teacher to reach maximum pay, and increases in health premiums.

The biggest change was the creation of a health care trust, which will be managed by the union and the Michigan AFL-CIO public employee trust. The district will provide a fixed amount of $997 per employee, per month, to the union, which will then manage its own health care program, isolating the district from cost increases for the life of the contract.

It’s unclear at this time whether the district will ask DFSE members to form a health care trust, or what concessions are being sought from union members.

No Privatization

One aspect of negotiations that has caught on in other districts regarding support personnel is privatization of services, which appears to be off the table in Dearborn at this time. Last month, both the Plymouth-Canton Community School District and Northville Public schools elected to privatize bus services.

“We have been assured that privatization of services is not something that will be considered if we can meet (the district’s needs),” said Bartles.

Whiston also does not favor privatization, even though seeking bids from private firms is one of five requirements put into place by Gov. Rick Snyder to receive additional per-pupil funding.

“(Privatization) has to be part of the discussion, based on the new law that requires us to at least bid,” Whiston said. “My preference is to work with employees to get the savings we need and not to privatize—but we will see.”

Privatizing services can benefit districts in terms of cost savings, but also carries risks for the local district.

One big consideration is that once a private firm is brought in to do the work of public employees, the state prohibition on employee work stoppages cannot legally be applied to employees of private firms, opening the doors to strikes.

The district and the union have several meetings on the calendar to further discuss the agreement. Any deal struck by the two parties would have to be ratified by a majority vote of DFSE membership, and then approved by the Dearborn School Board.