LWESP Bargaining Update May 17, 2013

Thanks to LWESP members for your responses to our bargaining survey and for attending our General Membership meeting.
Welcome to the many new LWESP members who have joined this school year!
Your voice is important to us all.


Your Bargaining Team has spent many hours of preparation time, reviewing member feedback and meeting with the LWESP Executive Board and Bargaining Support Team. On May 7th, your Bargaining Team met for the first time with the District's bargaining team. It was a full day of bargaining. Time was spent on introductions and how we want this bargain to proceed. Both bargaining teams expressed support for the process of negotiating your collective bargaining agreement.


LWESP bargainers arrived prepared with a written Statement of the Issues, which was shared. Among the issues were:  Compensation; Insurance; Start Dates (for seniority); Professional Development; Leaves; and Workload such as Medications and Health Room Coverage. The district shared their list of bargaining issues, focusing on Optional Hours, being able to terminate employment without completing the negotiated 90-day probation for new hires, and start dates.


The parties shared more details about the concerns and needs related to their issues lists, identified areas where additional information is needed, and set dates for more bargaining sessions.


We're off to a good start, but this is only the beginning. The Legislature is still working on a number of important issues that impact our negotiations--not the least of which are compensation and whether your health benefits will continue if you are part-time (fewer than 30 hours per week). We need to monitor progress on these issues in Olympia and deal with them in bargaining.


Your LWESP Bargaining Team is excited to be working for you and helping you advocate for your needs at the bargaining table. We will update you in the weeks and months to come, as bargaining continues.

LWESP Bargaining Team
Michael Ruiz, Lead Negotiator, Office Manager, Rosa Parks
Libby Boucher, Office Manager, Samantha Smith
Pattie Grohl, Professional Learning, Resource Center
Kristine Pluschke, Payroll, Resource Center
Beth Waters, Office Manager, Evergreen

District Bargaining Team
Robin Davis, Lead Negotiator, Associate Director HR
Darryl Pernat, Associate Director, HR
Kelly Clapp, Principal, Redmond MS
Karen Barker, Principal, Dickinson