Richland teacher contract talks resume Tuesday

A state agency is stepping in to help Richland’s teachers and the district come to a contract resolution.

The Richland Education Association and school district administrators jointly asked the Public Employment Relations Commission last week to mediate the impasse.

Teachers returned to work last week without a contract, after their previous two-year agreement ended.

Association President LaDonna Sterling said Richland district officials are claiming budget problems are to blame for offering only a 2 percent pay increase and adding 2.2 more days to teacher contracts.

“This is unacceptable in comparison to Pasco, which just settled for a one-year, 5 percent raise with no additional days of work required,” Sterling said. “The state has made a significant increase in its allocation to fund public schools.”

School board President Rick Jansons and Tony Howard, the district’s executive director of human resources, are confident a resolution can be reached.

“Both the District and REA are working hard and professionally towards getting the contract resolved in short order,” Howard said. “We’ve got great teachers and are confident this will all work out fine.”

While Sterling said the pay raise is an issue, she did not say if it is the main sticking point in the disagreement.

Mike Sellars, the commission’s executive director said a mediator was assigned and is meeting the parties Tuesday.

The district negotiates contracts with eight groups of professionals, including paraeducators, nutrition services and educational office personnel.

The commission averages 352 mediation requests a year, Sellars said. This includes requests to mediate resolutions for grievances and unfair labor practice disputes.

Sellars said it’s rare the parties aren’t able to reach an agreement, though he added, “Sometimes it may take a while.”

This story was originally published August 30, 2017 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Richland teacher contract talks resume Tuesday."