UPDATE: West Bloomfield School Board Imposes Contract, 10% Pay Cut as Angry Teachers Protest

The West Bloomfield School District Board of Education voted  5-2 Thursday night to impose a collective bargaining agreement on its teachers union as about 450 supporters of the teachers protested outside ,  expressing anger at the latest development in a monthslong, rancorous process.

The two-year contract proposal includes a 10 percent pay cut retroactive to Dec. 1, 2010, which does not require teachers to pay back the district for money received between the expiration of the last contract on Aug. 31 and Dec. 1. The proposal also includes a salary step freeze.

The contract was as the “best, last offer" by Cyndi Austin, Uniserve director for the Michigan Education Association.

Prior to the public meeting at 8:30 p.m., the board conducted a one-hour closed session. Simultaneously, there was picketing organized by the Michigan Education Association, which brought together as many as 12 other school districts, according to Austin.

Imposition of the contract was announced before a crowd of largely West Bloomfield Education Association supporters numbered at about 450, according to West Bloomfield Fire Marshal Pat Riney. Most were wearing red T-shirts, indicating support for the teachers, and expressing anger from the moment the board walked on stage.

The tense mood continued until the meeting ended around 10:05. There were about 15 public comments, including by teacher Heather Crewes, who reported that she received a pay cut on a check given to her Wednesday. Crewes said just before the meeting that the pay cut was calculated to have been at least $450 from her normal check, equating to a 10 percent pay cut retroactive to December.

The pay cut, which the board was legally obligated to vote on before imposing,  will be reflected in pay checks issued April 1 “if a salary reduction is imposed," said Pam Zajac, public relations coordinator for the district, in an email earlier Thursday.

“I changed my bank to do direct deposit just before (imposition) happened, and the board told me they would send a paper check,” said Crewes, a Spanish teacher at West Bloomfield High School and a West Bloomfield resident. “They sent it to the school and instructed me to pick it up.

"After I did and noticed the decrease, without any changes to my deductions, I called the office and got no answer. They called me back and asked me to return the check, so I refused and went to the union.

"I’m just not sure how it is you can have a board meeting to vote to impose a contract when on Wednesday I received a check which already reflected a pay check," Crewes said.

President David Einstandig said that the board would respond officially on the matter on Friday.

'I'd hoped that this day would never come'

Lori Tunick was one of a few union members from outside of the district who commented Thursday. She said that based on her experience working for Southfield Public Schools, in which she claimed to have worked for 12 years and been under contract for only three of them, that West Bloomfield would be in for difficult times as a result of the board’s decision.
 
“I have never seen a board rush to make such a decision. The school did not wake up last week and say, ‘I think we’re broke,’” said the Southfield-Lathrup biology teacher to nervous laughter and applause. “Five years ago, you knew things were getting bad. Look at what other districts are doing. It will not get better over night — think about what you’re doing, how you’re hurting these people. It has to be an equitable peace.”
 
Prior to public comments, trustees Melanie Torbert and Matt Chase cast the dissenting votes to raucous applause, citing bad negotiating tactics from both sides and regret toward the decision.
 
“I am not and have never been afraid to impose a contract … what I’m having trouble with is the lack of structural changes in the board’s proposal. This board has hijacked this process and made a mockery of it. I cannot see how the end justifies the means,” said Torbert, a member of the board since 2005.
 
“I was appalled by apparent bragging that the district was the fastest to fact finding,” Chase said of other area school districts who resolved their contract negotiations over longer periods of time. “An agreement could have been reached if both sides were serious about negotiations.”
 
The meeting ended with comment from Superintendent JoAnn Andrees, who expressed a profound regret for imposition with a sympathetic, even tone. As Andrees spoke of “reaching a mutual agreement,” members of the teachers union left the auditorium en masse while shouting at her, and she began to speak louder.
 
“The goal is to continue moving forward in a positive, but fiscally responsible action. I’d hoped that this day would never come. We must control our destiny and provide for our future. Without this decision tonight, we continue to cut until we decimate the district,” Andrees said.
 
Affirmative votes were cast by Randi Sakwa, Nelson Hirsch, Raman Singh, Bruce Tobin and Einstandig. Of the five, only Tobin and Einstandig commented during the meeting.
 
“The absolute unwillingness of the union to agree to the concept of a permanent cut to the district’s budget versus a ‘one time savings’ is an unsure obstacle and one of the most concrete blocks that has resulted in impasse,” said Einstandig. “Every one of you sitting here is completely aware that this permanent cut has resulted in a complete stalemate.”
 
“As long as there was money in the bank, we gave it to our teachers. Unfortunately, we don’t have any money,” said vice president Tobin of the district’s $1.7 million deficit. “Today’s resolution … is going to help, but it isn’t going to solve the deficit. This is putting a Band-Aid over a large cut.”

Negotiations over the contract reached an impasse in February, after which the West Bloomfield Education Association that its latest proposal  had been left on the table.  WBEA President Kim Pilarski said that proposal would have saved the district $3.7 million. 

, the board passed a resolution allowing Superintendent Andrees to take "any actions she deems necessary" in dealing with negotiations, which included legal action to impose its contract on the teachers union.

The standstill in negotiations has become a sore point for some parents and residents as well. In early March, a group of parents formed to indicate their desire for a civil discourse rather than a rancorous one. Organizer Nancy Cooper spoke for the group , saying: “My individual classrooms are well-supported. It’s the bigger community I see suffering. I never thought I’d say that. I want to get that pride back.”