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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lee Enterprises

Friday, August 22, 2008 9:14 PM CDT
Shelbyville support personnel, school board seek contract arbitration

By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com

SHELBYVILLE — The union representing 54 support staff in the Shelbyville school district is headed for mediation with the school board, as negotiations so far have yielded no new contract.

“I’m confident we’re going to get a settlement,” said Superintendent Bob Verdun on Friday. “This is part of the process.”

But the head of United Auto Workers Local 2384, which represents the Shelbyville non-certified staff as well as the Mattoon Educational Support Personnel Association, did not sound so optimistic.

“We’re miles apart,” said Kay Pease, local president, on Friday. “The negotiations have not gone well.”

The contract for Shelbyville’s non-certified personnel expired June 30, and both sides have requested a federal mediator.

But the union in Shelbyville also is laying the groundwork for a possible strike. The members who attended a meeting Thursday voted unanimously to authorize their collective bargaining team to begin the strike process should mediation prove unsuccessful, said Pease.

“It gives (the bargaining committee) the power to proceed with that if that’s what needs to happen,” she said.

For now, both sides are waiting to hear back from a federal mediator about scheduling new talks.

“There are some very strong issues about workers’ rights and treatment of employees that are on the table,” said Pease.

Verdun said Shelbyville negotiations were delayed while the local UAW hammered out a deal with the Mattoon school board last spring. In May, the Mattoon board approved a new three-year agreement that calls for annual salary and benefit increases of 4.07 percent for Mattoon schools’ support personnel.

As for the action taken by the Shelbyville union members Thursday, “There’s been no communication to us” about a strike, Verdun said Friday.

Classes in Shelbyville begin Monday.

Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.

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