It was practically unanimous. The teacher’s union voted to accept a contract renegotiated by their union leadership and the school committee and deferred 1% of their salary for this year. At last night’s school committee meeting (9/8) member Glen Pavlicek accompanied by Milton Teacher Union President Margaret Gibbons announced the terms of the contract and the union’s acceptance. Gibbons characterized the talks as “historic” and was lavish in her praise of the negotiations and the respectful manner in which they were conducted.Mr. Pavlicek reviewed the terms of the agreement. The sides agreed to reopen the contract which would have expired at the end of this year. That contract would award the teachers a 3.5% raise. The new agreement is a 3 year contract that provides an 2.5% increase in year 1, a 2% increase in year 2, and a 2.25% increase in year 3.  Gibbons said that all the pieces were in “alignment” and she questioned if it would happen again; but was clearly impressed with the “outstanding labor relations” that had occurred. In addition professional development was revised. It will be altered from 4 days + 7 hours to 3 days + 10 hours.

There are actually two contracts, Unit A and Unit B. One is for rank and file faculty and the other is for director level individuals. The terms were the same for both groups. superintendent Gormley supported the agreements and recommended committee ratify them.

Member Mary Kelly did not vote in favor of the contract saying “[it] was too much for what we can afford as a town.” She is concerned about the financial commitments made in uncertain financial times. She felt the committee should “have driven harder.”

Mr. Pavlicek said “We’ve built a lot of trust. . . it is a relationship money can’t buy. . . Once you’ve lost it, it is hard to get it back.” He said the ~2% increases were “low watermarks” in terms of increases and also noted that Kevin Mearn, the Selectmen’s representative who could not be present due to a schedule conflict, supported the agreement. Pavlicek framed the options in financial terms. “This costs us $100,000 over doing nothing.” That is, the difference between paying the contracted 3.5% and doing nothing versus the amounts that will be paid out over the next three years per the new contract.

The committee ratified the agreement in a vote of 5 to 1. The union approved the agreement in a vote of 294 to 5.

In a separate comment, Chairman Sheridan stated, “Our teachers understand the economic constraints of today. This new contract is the result of great collaboration between the MEA, the Administration and the School Committee.” Pavlicek echoed that sentiment, “The Milton Educators Association recognized the severity of the current financial crisis and we are grateful that they took steps to mitigate it.”