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BOARD
OK'S LIBRARIANS CONTRACT
By ANDREW NELSON,
Telegraph Staff
nelsona@telegraph-nh.com
Published: Wednesday,
May. 25, 2005
NASHUA
- Applause mixed with whispered cries of "shame" in the crowded
aldermanic chamber as the board of aldermen first approved a contract
with the city's librarians and then scrapped a contract with school
principals.
Local education leaders said the contract defeat"It wasn't unexpected.
Three no's previous to this doesn't leave you a lot of hope," said
Philip Schappler, assistant principal at Birch Hill Elementary School
and a member of the negotiating team for the Nashua Association
of School Principals.
He said the principals cut out all the issues demanded by the aldermen,
from removing an annuity payment to the sick-day buyback provision.
"I don't know where we can go next," he said. Rick Dowd, clerk of
the board of education, backed him up. Dowd told aldermen there
have been "one-sided concessions." Board of education President
Kim Shaw said the district is losing an alarming number of leaders.
"We're hemorrhaging administrators. It's getting to the point where
I am very, very concerned," she told the aldermen. A high school
principal, two headmasters, and an elementary school principal have
taken jobs elsewhere, according to speakers at the meeting. The
rejected two-year contract would have awarded principals a 3 percent
pay increase each year. It would have expired in June 2006. There
are about 20 members of the principals union. An unusually large
number of speakers, mostly city librarians and principals, urged
the board to approve the two contracts. At the same time, the library
director and members of the board of education also appealed to
aldermen to approve the contracts and give the workers their first
raises, in some cases since 2003. Aldermen refused to give in with
the principal's labor agreement and rejected the contract, 8-5.
Ward 6 Alderman Robert Dion noted how the city's proposed budget
freezes salaries for nonunion merit employees so it is not fair
to reward union workers with raises. "It doesn't make sense," he
said. Alderman-at-Large Jim Tollner agreed. Tollner said he recognizes
the city principals deserve the fair contract, but said the city's
fiscal issues force him to reject it. "I think we need to be consistent
and fair with everyone," he said.
Meanwhile, workers at the city public library went away upbeat.
Aldermen voted 7-5 in favor of the contract. Alderman-at-Large Steve
Bolton abstained since his wife is a librarian. "We're relieved.
It was actually very tense," Bruce Marks, the union vice president,
said. Approximately 45 workers are in the library union, which is
affiliated with the AFL-CIO. The proposed two-year contract gives
workers at the library a combined pay increase of about 6 percent.
It would cost about $39,000 for the first year of the contract and
$40,000 for the second year. During the debate, aldermen hit on
the extensive and costly medical insurance coverage the city provides
to its employees and the need for workers to carry more of the burden.
The approved contract is about half way through its lifespan. Librarians
will start to talk about a new contract in the next couple of months.
The contract expires about a year from now. Marks said the union
is aware of the city's goals. "We'll cooperate. We know what the
city wants," said Marks, who works in the media services department.
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