Officials usher in 'new era'
School district, teachers' union reach compromise on longstanding feud

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Officials for the county public school district and the local teacher's union said Monday that a "new era" between the two has now begun.

What's behind this new era talk is the fact that both entities have signed a settlement that ends more than three years of infighting and bickering, not to mention lawsuits and a little name calling here and there.

The settlement signed by the Gallup-McKinley County school district and officials for the McKinley Federation of United School Employees (McFUSE) puts an end to almost 20 complaints that the union has filed against the district before the state labor board.

"It's a win-win situation" for both sides, said Brian Bernard, McFUSE president.

The school district wins, he said, because it will save the money it has been spending fighting the union before the state labor board. The union wins, he added, because it will get the one thing it has been trying to get for the past three years access to teachers for recruitment purposes.

Most of the complaints filed by the union against the school district deal in one way of another with this question of access.

Just before the school year begins, the district has an orientation for new teachers and the union has been trying without success to be allowed into the building where the orientation is to tell the new teachers about the union and the benefits of joining.

But the district has refused to allow them into the building. Last August, the union was allowed to have a table outside the building but then complained that district officials stood in front of the table telling teachers they had to go inside because the session was about to begin.

The union has also been complaining that it was not given access to mailing lists of teachers so they could mail them information about the union. There were also accusations that they did not have access to the teacher's mail boxes in the schools as well.

Under the agreement, Bernard said, the union will have a table in the hallway during the orientation session. The union will be allowed to have four people to man the table but the four will not be able to wander the halls.

The union will also have access to the teachers 30 days before a union election to recruit and provide information about the election.

No date has been set for an election, but to district officials, this election is the key to everything.

County Superintendent Karen White has said that until an election, the union is unofficial and has no standing. Union officials disagree because state law says unions in power when former Gov. Gary Johnson had the state legislature pass anti-union legislation have first right to be bargaining agents when unions were again sanctioned by the new administration.

Which brings up the chicken or egg question. The district wanted an election before it gave access to teachers, but union officials said they needed the access before they could have an election in order to recruit as many members as possible.

Bernard said negotiations between the school district and the union were almost derailed in February when the union membership passed a resolution critical of the school board for giving White an extra year on her contract.

White already had two years to go and the union resolution came out against any further extensions until a bargaining agreement had been reached with the union.

White said she viewed the resolution as a "personal attack" against her and Bernard said district officials made it quite plain that they did not like the tone of the resolution. One person told him, Bernard said, that the union needed to rescind the resolution and given White a public apology in the newspaper.

Bernard said that the union didn't want to back down since it reflected the views of many of the union's membership.

But union officials also knew that if they kept that position, there would never be a settlement, and the union would have to wait until the state labor board had a hearing before it had a chance of getting access to teachers.

So, he said, union officials agreed to compromise.

The intent of the resolution was kept, but the union agreed to delete the whereas clauses which dealt with criticisms of actions taken by White, her staff or the board. It also removed White's name and instead it became a policy statement supporting no further extensions for any school employees until a collective bargain contract was signed.

"We did not mean this to be a personal attack on anyone," Bernard said. On the other hand, the union didn't want to play the political game and cave in completely to the district.

The compromise worked and the settlement talks were back on track.

White said that the settlement also solves one of the problems the school district has been having at every teachers' orientation.

"We always have a lot of organizations trying to get a table," she said. To make sure that teachers keep focused, the district only has allowed those organizations that need to be in the building such as those providing health insurance and other direct services to teachers.

The others including the union have been denied access to the teachers.

Beginning in August, she said, because of the settlement with the union, other organizations will have an opportunity to set up tables inside the building.

She said the core organizations that now have had access in the past will be located along one section of the hallway and the union and the other organizations will be located on the other side.

But Bernard said that doesn't match the language of the agreement which allows the union to be located among the core group of vendors.

This still may have to be worked out but it appears at least that the two sides are talking to each other.

"We're still disagree on some issues," Bernard said, "but that doesn't mean we aren't cooperating."

He said there has been no determination of when or even if the union will be holding an election in the near future.

Bernard said the union is talking about an election sometime in the future but there is still a lot of talk that the union doesn't have to go through an election to be the collective bargaining agent because of the way the law reads.

And as for the settlement, that appears to be in force as long as both sides want it to be.

"The settlement is without prejudice, which means that it can be brought up again," Bernard said.