Congratulations, Milton Freewater EA!

After nearly a year of bargaining Milton Freewater EA reached a tentative agreement Thursday shortly after 12:30 a.m. It has been a long, hard haul for the group but they stayed strong and were united.

What happened to finally make the district move? According to bargaining chair Laurie Hackney and consultant Dave Fiore there were several factors. First, Larry Wolf and the strike assessment team arrived last week to determine the readiness of the group to strike. Members were united and had shown this through a series of pickets that included members from surrounding locals Pendleton EA and Athena Weston EA among others. This was a signal to the district that Association members were serious and would indeed walk out if the contract was not resolved and that these educators had support. Second, the full school board was in attendance during the last session. Apparently the bargaining team from the district included the 2 most conservative board members who were unwilling to move. When they had pressure from the remaining board members the district was willing to move. Finally, the mediator walked into the Association caucus unannounced during the talks and saw the time lines for strike on the whiteboard and must have reported back to the district that members were serious.

In an email Laurie Hackney said "It feels great to have it over. I didn't think that it would happen on Tuesday. I went in at 4:30 thinking that we would declare impasse by 8:00. But, our superintendent had our school board president call for an executive session so they were all there. Things started rolling pretty quickly, and we were able to get some huge concessions from them. "

But there is irony in the situation. Had the district been reasonable and made this offer last May the contract would have been settled right then and there. Why did everyone have to wait all these months to reach an agreement? Why did the district want to sit on a $6 M bank account yet leave educators underpaid and paying huge health insurance premiums? Power. The superintendent wanted to prove that she could control the Association members and that they would cave in at the first sign of trouble. Fortunately members stood up for their rights and made the district take notice.

A ratification meeting will be held later this week. The hope is that since the agreement is retroactive both for the salary increase and for the insurance increase that members will agree to the settlement.

Congratulations to the members of Milton Freewater EA! Thank you for standing up for yourselves and for members across the state!