Bargaining Update: District Teams Pass Economic Proposals to USEP

Contract negotiations for the 2015-2016 school year moved forward this week as the District offered its initial “Economic Proposal” to both the SRP and Instructional Bargaining Teams. “The District’s initial proposal to provide an “average” of 3% to employees is a positive start, 4% would be good, and 5% would move towards getting our employees closer to regaining what we lost during those 6 years without any pay increases,” said USEP President Kenny Blankenship. USEP believes we need to actively review this proposal, as well as the status of several language proposals made by both sides as we prepare our counter proposal.

The District and Superintendent would like to see this year’s contract settled in time for the start of the new school year. So would USEP! It is in everyone’s best interest to settle this contract but it would not be prudent to do so without adequate review. Our obligation is to review this first proposal responsibly and prepare an appropriate response – which is what we are now doing.

Stay tuned to USEP’s notifications as the negotiation process begins to wind down and we hopefully reach an agreement soon!

Write to usep@useponline.org to let us know your thoughts about negotiations.