TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

BY JEFF NACHTIGAL

The Kern High teachers' union chief called board member Ken Mettler's public interference in contract bargaining a "side show."

"I'm disappointed in Ken Mettler's actions; he's not honoring the process of negotiations," Kern High Teachers Association President Mitch Olson said of Mettler's Tuesday call for public school employees to take a 5 percent pay cut.

Mettler agreed that he knew he would stir up reaction, but said his press release urging the pay reduction, written on Republican Assembly of Kern County letterhead, was aimed at all state public employees, and that Kern High teachers could be the model for the across-the-board pay cut.

"As a trustee my first obligation is to kids and a quality education, and I thought this was a reasonable method to do that," Mettler said.

The district is engaged with the teachers union, as well as classified employees and employees in supervisor positions, to negotiate new labor contracts.

Mettler's role as a board member is to advise the district's negotiating team.

Board members don't take part in the private negotiations, but they do hear reports about the progress.

The current situation

The district's contract proposal for teachers includes language that would allow salaries to be adjusted year-to-year if revenue from the state declines, or if there is a mid-year revenue cut, according to Bill Jones, assistant superintendent of personnel.

The proposal does not ask for a change in teacher compensation next year.

No district employee has taken a pay cut as yet, Jones said.

Labor contracts are typically negotiated every three years with each of eight employee groups; the district completed successful negotiations with two groups last year.

"We have a long history since the 1980s of bargaining in good faith with our employee groups, and we are following those procedures by putting proposals on the table and negotiating," Jones said.

"Up to now, we feel that bargaining has been very productive this year," Olson said about the teacher's contract.

Superintendent Don Carter and three assistant superintendents are the only group whose salaries are set directly by the Board of Trustees, and as such could be in line for a pay cut.

"They know that's what I'm proposing," Mettler said.

Board members receive the same health benefits package as teachers, and if a 5 percent cut were enacted, Mettler said "we would share in that at the same reduction."

Mettler acknowledged the "practical application" of everyone taking a cut "isn't that easy."

The process

Unions "sunshine" their proposals in early spring, and the district in turn makes its counter proposal available for public review.

Bargaining -- where each sides strikes out or puts in bold ink the things that are new, Jones explained -- begins in late winter, slows down in the summer, and an agreement is usually reached in late August to mid-September. The contract is available for public review before the board ratifies it.

"My position is exactly that of Mitch Olson's: We bargain in good faith and there are processes to move forward," Jones said.