Free speech issue enters school dispute.
The good news is Santa Fe Public Schools and the local National Education Association teachers
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union reached a temporary agreement on Aug. 10 to raise employee salaries by at least 5 percent.
The bad news is the Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) regarding the raise is basically the only thing the two sides have agreed on after months of wrangling that may land both parties in District Court.
That's because SFPS and NEA-Santa Fe are awaiting a verdict from state Public Employee Labor Relations Board (PELRB) hearing officer Pilar Vaile on complaints filed by each side earlier this year.
The drama began in April when NEA-Santa Fe President Koo Im Tong expressed her disapproval at a school board meeting of the district's hiring of labor lawyer Dina Holcomb (who did not respond to an interview request) to handle union contract negotiations.
The union interpreted the hiring as hostile, an assertion that SFPS lead negotiator and Deputy Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez denies.
"That was not the district's intent at all," Gutierrez says. "The intent was simply to have a professional help train us because the entire bargaining team for the district is new."
In fact, both sides of the bargaining table are new after the district's lead negotiator retired earlier this year and the NEA-Santa Fe executive board underwent an overhaul in the spring. But inexperience isn't the only complication.
Soon after Tong spoke at the board meeting, NEA-Santa Fe placed information about ongoing contract proposals in the mailboxes of union employees. The district subsequently halted negotiations and filed a "bad-faith bargaining" complaint with the PELRB. The union responded by filing a complaint alleging the district was refusing to bargain.
"Basically the school district took speech they didn't like and slapped a 'bad-faith bargaining' label on it," says union lawyer Andy Lewinter. "This isn't Mexico, it's New Mexico. The First Amendment applies to Santa Fe Public Schools employees as much as it does anyone else in this country."
The union considers the conflict a free-speech issue while the district alleges the union violated bargaining ground rules by sharing details of ongoing negotiations.
"We never agreed to not share information with our members," Tong says. "In fact, I think that we have a responsibility to keep our members informed."
Instead, Tong (also a Santa Fe High math teacher) views the district's complaint as an attempt to strip teachers of First Amendment rights while breaking the union financially. Furthermore, she says the "pointless litigation" has been rendered moot now that both sides have amicably resumed negotiations.
Certainly, news of the salary raise was encouraging, but neither side expects a contract when school starts on Aug. 28.
"It's very unlikely," Tong says. "But we're not as concerned with how long it takes as we are about making sure we get a good agreement."
That will take more time (and resources) considering the district has refused a union proposal to drop the complaints. Gutierrez says the district merely wants to clarify acceptable conduct for future negotiations.
"This has never been punitive on our part," Gutierrez says. "We are simply looking for some guidance and direction about how to play by the rules and engage in good-faith bargaining on both sides."
Some guidance may come when Vaile announces her verdict later this month, but it won't be the final word. The union plans to appeal an adverse decision if necessary.
"This is an important constitutional issue," Lewinter says. "Teachers should be able to stand up and voice their opinions without worrying that they'll wake up the next day with a complaint filed against them."
