ROCKLAND, Maine — Contract talks between teacher aides, custodians, bus drivers and cooks have reached a stalemate with the Rockland area school board after more than two years without a new deal.
The Maine Labor Relations Board appointed a mediator late last month to try to bring the two sides together.
A contingent of employees turned out Thursday night to urge the school board to reach a new contract agreement with the support staff. The employees were sporting buttons asking for “Respect.”
Ken Pride, a teacher at Oceanside High School East in Rockland for the past 31 years, voiced support for the employees who have been without a new contract since the last one expired June 30, 2012. Though it expired, the employees have been working under the terms of the old contract while negotiating a new one. The one exception is that the district has not been granting step increases since it expired.
“As a veteran teacher, I can tell you that every day we couldn’t get the job done without them,” Pride said. “I know contracts are difficult but these people are profoundly deserving.”
The district and teachers have a contract that runs through August 2016 while the administrators’ contract expired July 31, 2014.
Connie Beal, who has been employed with the district for 15 years and cooks at the Gilford Butler School and Rockland District Middle School, said the support staff workers are highly trained and should be rewarded with a contract.
Superintendent John McDonald said he could not discuss the status of negotiations with the employees.
Under the old contract, support staff are paid on a sliding scale based on the job. For example, pay for an educational technician ranges from $10.66 an hour for one with no experience to $16.03 for a technician with at least 20 years of experience. The pay for food service workers ranges from $9.99 to $13.34. Custodians get paid $11.72 to $15.17.
The district pays 100 percent of the cost of health insurance for the employee.