District 88 teachers vote on contract settlement

Salary increase will

be 1 percent annually for two years

By MARTHA KRIENKE

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- District 88 teachers voted on the tentative settlement for contracts Monday afternoon.

Results of the vote were not immediately available.

Not expecting a significant increase in salaries, Head Negotiator Todd McKeeth said he heard fairly positive comments about the negotiations, but nobody was thrilled.

"Considering the circumstances we're up against with the state freezing all the funding, the district seeing declining enrollment and the real large insurance increase our district was facing, a lot of people felt that we were doing OK," McKeeth said.

Last Wednesday the teachers received notice of the board's offer for the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years.

According to McKeeth, members of New Ulm Education Minnesota presented a 1-percent salary increase for each year. The district also increased its amount of contribution to health insurance "but not to the point of covering it in full, so people are going to have to pitch in about 10 percent of the cost," McKeeth said.

Superintendent Harold Remme said, "The board has tried to look at the entire negotiation process in terms of what is fair to the employee, what will keep us competitive in all employee situations as well as what we are able to afford."

Nonetheless, McKeeth said some teachers were still not pleased.

"One percent doesn't really cover the cost of living increase," said McKeeth. "But you have to look at what the district's costs are and face up to the fact that there are expenses to the district. It's pretty hard to argue with those costs."

McKeeth hoped NUEM members would approve the settlement and said he did not foresee mediation being necessary in the future.

"If it were voted down, we would head back to the table with our teams and see what the major things [issues] are," he said.

Meanwhile, negotiations are under way for all contracts of the district's unions. A mediated settlement has been reached with the food service, which those employees will vote on in the coming days.

"There isn't any employee group that has any higher priority than any other employee group because every group has a function and service they provide to the overall operation of the school district," said Remme. "We value all employees and try to treat all employees as fairly as we possibly can in the employment situation."

If both the teacher and food service contracts pass, the board will vote to approve them at its Jan. 22 meeting.