Landmark settlement is "just another step" for Dallastown Area EA
On September 17, 2009, Dallastown EA, Southern Region, settled a landmark contract. They became the first local association in Southern Region to achieve a $50,000 starting salary. And they did it as part of their fourth consecutive early bird settlement.
President Rick Rabuck explained that a bitter month-long strike in 1991 has moved all parties toward trying to iron out their differences in early bird talks rather than in traditional bargaining. “Our last traditional bargaining included a month-long strike. Since that time both sides have recognized the importance of narrowing down discussions to only those truly most important items. We then work through those discussions without the pressure of formal negotiations.”
He went on to say that though they are comfortable with the early bird format, that there were many factors that led to their current settlement. “Previous settlements put us in a good position where we could settle for what we did (lower than the county average) and still make $50K.
“I believe that 25 years ago our local leaders put into motion a plan that has led us to where we are today. We compacted our salary schedule and reduced the increments on the schedule to allow more money to be placed on each step.”
Dallastown has one of the lowest incremental costs in the state – a situation they have worked diligently to achieve. In fact, this time they received grudging acknowledgement from the local media for “settling for lower raises that other schools around them.”
“A solid salary schedule is many years in the making,” Rabuck continued. “It requires some sacrifices early on to create a good scale. The one piece of advice I could offer is to keep working on making it better. We are still working to improve ours.”
A decent working relationship with the school district can also be a factor in bargaining a win-win deal. Rabuck said that though they have had their disagreements over the past few years, both sides have made a concerted effort to work together – which translated well moving into negotiations.
Being well-prepared doesn’t hurt either. He continued, “We identified the priorities of our members and also identified and researched what we felt would be the priorities of the school board. The economic conditions did not affect our planning. However, we might have pushed harder on salary if not for the current economic situation.
“We may have been able to get a bit more in salary, but ultimately that might have cost us more in other areas such as insurance.”
The three-year settlement tops out at $94,000 on a 14 step schedule. They made improvement in sick and bereavement leave and added fair share, which the district agreed to initiate a year early. The local also agreed to switch from traditional indemnity insurance coverage to a PPO plan. Average raises beginning in 2010 are 2010-11: 2.34% or $1,796 – 1.83% or $1,406 on scale; 2011-12: 3.30% or $2,589 – 2.86% or $2,241 on scale; and 2012-13: 3.26% or $2,645 – 2.86% or $2,317 on scale.
Rabuck wants PSEA members to understand that whatever the numbers, they (DAEA) doesn’t look at this as a landmark contract. “Yes, we hit $50K for a starting salary. Our next contract might have $100K at the top. The key is getting a solid salary schedule and building upon that.”