Muncie teachers ratify new labor contract
Seth Slabaugh
MUNCIE, Ind. — Members of the Muncie Teachers Association have voted to ratify a new labor contract that was negotiated by the union and state-appointed emergency managers.
The contract provides no salary increases but does lower teacher health insurance premiums and will save the deficit-ridden district about $1.9 million a year in what it pays for health insurance.
The contract covers the 2017-18 school year.
Teachers voted to approve the contract during meetings at Southside Middle School on Thursday.
While teachers aren't "overjoyed" by the contract, it provides a sense of relief, MTA President Pat Kennedy says.
"Teachers will not have to continue through another year of financial uncertainty, which has caused a great deal of stress in the lives of the teaching staff and been a significant factor in the exodus of teachers from Muncie," Kennedy said in a prepared statement.
Muncie Community Schools remains self-insured and teacher premiums are lower. So how does the contract save the district nearly $2 million a year?
The plan "is not nearly as good," Steve Wittenauer, a member of the emergency management team, told The Star Press. "It''s not a Cadillac plan for sure. The plan has changed. What's important to know is this contract was a collaborative effort. The parties worked together. This was not a knock-down-drag-out deal at all."
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"It is a difficult time for the school district," Steve Edwards, another member of the emergency management team, said in his prepared statement, "and both sides came to the table with the realization that costs had to be reduced."
Negotiations for the last collective bargaining agreement, covering the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school years, resulted in an impasse that was time-consuming and expensive to conclude.
A state fact finder ruled in favor of the teachers in that dispute and against the district, which proposed retroactive pay cuts for teachers.
The district appealed the fact finder's order to the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board but lost in June of this year.
Seth Slabaugh is a reporter at The Star Press who can be reached at (765) 213-5834 or seths@muncie.gannett.com.