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Proctor school board approves MOU with AFSCME Local 66; superintendent says bus drivers ratified contract
Summary
The Proctor School Board approved a memorandum of understanding with AFSCME Local 66 that allows the district to offer different vacation benefits during employee probationary periods and heard that bus drivers ratified a labor contract. The motion passed by voice vote Nov. 10.
The Proctor School Board voted Nov. 10 to approve a memorandum of understanding between Independent School District 704 and Local 66 of AFSCME Council 5 that permits the district to offer vacation benefits during the probationary period that differ from those in the current collective bargaining agreement. The motion was made and seconded and carried by voice vote.
The agreement, described to the board by the chair during the meeting packet presentation, was presented as an administrative tool to allow flexibility in how vacation accruals and probationary-period benefits are applied for certain classifications of employees. Chair (name not given) said the board was being asked to "approve the memorandum of understanding between independent school district number 704 and local 66 of AFSCME council 5," language taken from the meeting motion.
Superintendent Tim Roeeder told the board that the district's bus drivers had voted that day to ratify their contract. "The bus drivers voted today to ratify their contract, so we're happy about that," Roeeder said, noting that all three major union groups in the district have now ratified agreements. He also said that staff would continue to work through outstanding issues with independent contracts.
Why it matters: the MOU alters how the district can structure probationary vacation benefits for represented employees; any such changes affect payroll, benefits administration and labor relations. The superintendent and staff indicated additional work may be needed to implement changes for affected hires and that one or more employees in custodial/maintenance may have already been covered under the MOU in recent hires.
What happens next: Board members approved the MOU by voice vote; staff will implement the administrative changes and coordinate with human resources and bargaining unit representatives as needed. Roeeder indicated the district may need to negotiate an MOU with unions on related technical points as statewide policies and paid-leave rules change.
Details: The MOU approval was recorded on the consent agenda and carried by the board during the Nov. 10 meeting. The MOU was described in the meeting packet; specific text of the agreement was not read into the record during the motion discussion and is in the board packet.
