B-REA: Negotiations Not Done This Way

A statement made by the board of education Tuesday concerning negotiations with the is leaving some unsure about how the process of neogtiating is working.

Steve Beatty, president of the B-REA and teacher at the , said negotiations normally work with one side offering something, another offering something else and concessions happening.

"And as we agree on pieces, we put those away," he said. "When you are done with the whole package, the negotiations are settled."

In the board's most recent statement, board of education president Evan Lerner said the board offered to switch from the current private health insurance plan to a state-sponsored plan to reduce the items to be negotiated. But, Lerner said, the B-REA declined.

According to Beatty, the health care change was presented to him one evening in December, and a decision was requested by the following evening, without anything offered in return.

"The board is saying we are declining something that could save money in a vacuum," Beatty said. "They are asking us to give in our chips, and then we'll keep negotiating."

But, Beatty said, the process should not work that way. All the pieces of the puzzle—health care, salaries and time—should be negotiated as one total package, rather than as separate pieces, he said.

And, Beatty said, the union agreed to concessions about health care in March, but the board never moved forward with those.

"The insurance plan we agreed to in March is a concession, because it is not equal to or better [than what we have]," he said. "Otherwise they could have [changed the plan to one equal or better] on their own, by law."

"This is like the union saying to give us a 3 percent raise and then we'll keep negotiating," he added.

Beatty said the implication from the board now is that the union has declined something that would save the district money.

"It is a sad tactic that they continue to take," he said. "And they never give us a counter offer."