Committee, CTA headed back to the bargaining table

The Canton School Committee has reported some progress in its talks with the teachers’ union as both sides have agreed to return to face-to-face contract negotiations without the aid of a mediator, beginning August 30.

The committee also announced at its meeting on July 28 that it has reached a one-year settlement with the custodial and maintenance staff, which affects some 20 to 25 members. Committee member Cindy Thomas said the contract includes a zero percent wage increase and minimum language changes. Thomas said the talks with the union went very smoothly.

Meanwhile, School Committee Chairman John Bonnanzio announced the renewal of talks with the teachers’ union, which had turned out en masse at a public hearing on June 16 to request a return to the bargaining table.

At the hearing, the teachers had made it clear that they were unhappy with the committee’s most recent contract offer, including a proposed restructuring of the salary scale that would have doubled the number of years (from 12 to 24) that a teacher would have to complete in order to reach the top of the pay scale.

CTA President Pat Phalan had warned at the time that the committee’s proposal would put Canton far behind other communities in terms of pay rates and would potentially force many teachers to leave the system.

Speaking last week, Bonnanzio repeated what Selectmen Chairman John Connolly had told the Citizen a few weeks earlier – that the various municipal contracts contain a “me-too” clause, which would reopen negotiations if any other union settles for a cost of living adjustment. Thus far, all municipal unions, including the DPW, Town Hall, firefighters and police officers, have settled for one-year contracts with zero percent wage increases.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Aug 3 2011. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.