BREAKING: Teachers call for outside mediation for contract negotiation process

Wenatchee educators voted unanimously yesterday to call for mediation between the Wenatchee School District and the teacher’s union to establish a contract for the 2015-16 school year and beyond.

“It’s a big step. Tomorrow morning we will file paperwork with PERC (Public Employee Relations Commission) … hopefully they will assign us a mediator who will shuttle diplomacy between both sides,” Wenatchee Education Association President Kris Cameron said directly following the meeting. “[An agreement] is really what we want. Our contract expires today, so starting tomorrow teachers are basically working without a contract.”

“We would have liked to have settled the contract without mediation,” Deputy Superintendent Jon DeJong said. “Both the union and the District agree that mediation is preferable to a strike.”

This is the first time Wenatchee teachers have ever called for mediation in contract negotiations, according to Cameron. Until a new contract is put in place, teachers will continue working under the conditions of the old contract. Educators could be working under the current contract for a year under Washington state law.

“The call for mediation is not easy, but the continued lack of urgency shown by the district administration to address some important issues facing our classrooms left us with little choice,” Cameron said in a press release. “For now, our members will work without a contract rather than accept one that doesn’t properly invest in students and teachers.”

According to the press release, the two sides are far apart on the following issues:

• Reducing student-to-teacher ratios
• Requiring teachers to do double duty, reducing time to work with students and planning
• Giving educators a raise to make up for six years of lost COLAs (Cost of Living Adjustments) from the state.