By: Nate Williams, Collective Bargaining and Research Director
Collective bargaining gives educators a voice. Through collective bargaining, MEA members negotiate for more than their own economic security. They are also securing vital resources to help their students and the communities in which they live. Every organization, including schools and higher education institutions, can benefit from the ideas and expertise of its employees. Negotiations ensure that education employees have a respected voice in the workplace and are involved in both identifying and solving school and classroom issues, which in turn promotes student learning. In the last year, there were several new laws in addition to a global pandemic that affected contractual provisions across the state. Below are some of the most recent collective bargaining successful efforts in contracts across the state of Maine.
Earned Paid Leave
Maine’s new Earned Paid Leave Act (26 MRS 637, or “EPL”) went into effect on January 1, 2021. For new collective bargaining agreements, this opened an entirely new category of paid leave with different rules than educators and administrators have been used to.
MSAD 42 Central Aroostook agreed to 5 days of earned paid leave in accordance with the law while requiring only 4 days’ notice for planned leave. EPL will not be deducted from accumulated sick leave, and there is a limit of 4 members using planned EPL at a time.
RSU 21 Transportation Employees agreed in a side letter that their 2 personal leave days would have all restrictions removed to provide EPL in accordance with the law. They also won agreement that the superintendent can grant additional personal leave days to comply with the law.
Brewer Education Association reached agreement that their existing sick leave and personal days could be used in one-hour increments in compliance with the requirements of the new law.
RSU 71 Education Association agreed that 2 sick days and all 3 personal days would be used to make up the 5 days of EPL, and if the 2 sick days were not used for EPL they would be returned to the member’s accumulated sick leave at the end of the year.
Rehired Retirees
Another change in law that impacted bargaining was LD 1220 (5 MRS 17859) which governed health insurance coverage for rehired retirees and Medicare eligibility.
Portland Benefit Association of School Employees agreed that cash in lieu shall not be available to any employee receiving health insurance coverage through a government sponsored insurance plan such as Medicare or Medicaid and extended employer health insurance coverage to those employees, the same as non-retired employees.
Pandemic-Related Language
The pandemic brought a LOT of changes and modifications to how schools operate. Extra thought had to be given to how and where work is performed, and how to do it safely. Many MEA members worked longer hours in difficult circumstances to provide the best education possible to students. Some of the following items were in Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) or side letters, but they are still items worthy of consideration for inclusion in the full collective bargaining agreement. One option to consider would be to extend an MOA if there are items you like but the Board is not willing to include them in the contract.
Lewiston Education Association was able to secure an MOA that provided stipends of $600 for certificated staff and $300 to support staff in recognition of the additional workload the pandemic caused.
Mt. Blue Regional School District Education Association was able to create a district joint health and safety committee that met regularly to review conditions and the plan for the school district operations.
Mount Abram Teachers’ Association was able to protect its members from any alleged FERPA violations occurring during remote instruction raised by remote learners or their families in an MOA.
Megunticook Teachers’ Association extended their MOA to run concurrently with the new contract expiring in August 2024, and it prevents teachers from having to prepare for and teach both in-person and remote instruction simultaneously.
