Seattle Association of Educational Office Professionals

Negotiations Update Notes
4/16/09 

·        The first official exchange of proposals between the SEA and SSD was April 10, at the SEA building.  Norms were agreed upon and an understanding was  reached that proposals would continue to be exchanged for the next couple of sessions with an eventual cut-off date established.

·        Bargaining will take place both at the SEA building and the John Stanford Center.

·        Dates have been confirmed for May and June for negotiations.

·        Proposals have been developed based upon the bargaining input meetings (of which SAEOP had many), surveys (with possibly a second one to come), and examination of the three contracts to be sure they are consistent and all units enjoy the same privileges.  Wherever possible our goal is to have the same wording in all three for consistent application of contract provisions.

·        The district has informed us that they intend to post the proposals brought to the table on the district’s web site.  This is a major departure from previous bargains.

·        This will be a traditional bargain, not interest based.  A traditional bargain means there will be a spokesperson for each side:  Glenn Bafia for SEA and Ricardo Cruz for the district.  They will do the speaking at the table with the rest of us called upon if clarification is needed.  Otherwise, our job is to listen, and send notes asking questions to Glenn.  If need be, a caucus will be called to clarify positions.

·        TA’s will be set aside until all issues are bargained.  Although we will have TA’d some provisions, TA’s are not considered “final” until all parties are finished at the table. 

·        Due to issues surrounding SAEOP jobs being lost out of the unit, especially at the John Stanford Center, SEA is doing a Bargaining Unit Clarification Study with assistance from WEA.

·        Bargaining Support Meetings have been scheduled for members to attend and become involved with the bargaining process.

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