TEACHER CONTRACT HITS SNAG; GLENDALE UNION IN FEE DISPUTE STALLED TALKS COULD COST DISTRICT.

Byline: Jennifer Hamm Staff Writer

GLENDALE - After more than six months of negotiations, Glendale teachers union contract talks have hung up over a clause that would require nonunion teachers to support the union financially, officials said Wednesday.

The proposal of a vote for the so-called agency fee is among the items listed in a two-page collective bargaining update that enumerates the Glendale Unified School District's position on several key issues. Salary and benefits have not been negotiated.

More than the contract could be at stake. Union officials have said they will not take part in discussions to implement a statewide program that could bring more than $1 million to the district until the agency fee matter is resolved.

The update, which was put in every teacher's mailbox this week, explains that minor issues have been hammered out but ``progress has been quite slow on the major items.''

Union officials said the bargaining teams have met 14 times since June and have negotiated only 11 of up to 70 items.

``It doesn't show progress'' said Ken Niemeyer, president of the Glendale Teachers Association. ``And it doesn't show progress because they don't come prepared.''

The district's chief negotiator, Dick Fisher, countered that the bargaining process has been put on hold by the union's insistence on the agency fee.

The union is proposing that a vote be held to decide whether all teachers, whether association members or not, should be required to pay union fees.

The Glendale Teachers Association represents about 80 percent of the district's teachers. Union contracts apply to all instructors, whether or not they are union members.

The board of education has said it is opposed to such a vote and policy, contending that individual employees should have the right to choose for themselves what private groups they give their money to. Plus, the letter states, an agency fee would cost the nonunion teachers a total of $200,000.

Union officials have said they will not begin discussions on the State Peer Assistance and Review Program until the agency fee matter is resolved. School districts are required by law to negotiate all components of the program, which requires teacher participation, before implementing it.

Without negotiating with teachers about the program, the district stands to lose more than $1 million in state funding.

``Simply stated, GTA is threatening the loss of $1.1 million in teacher pay as a tactic to gain $200,000 for the GTA in agency fees from teachers,'' the district's letter reads.

The district has offered a more than 4 percent salary increase, according to the letter. That is broken down into increased pay, staff development days and health benefits.

The union has not made a proposal or counterproposal because it should be the last item discussed during contract negotiations, Niemeyer said.

Niemeyer said he would like to resolve the agency fee issue and then discuss teachers' needs for more planning time, smaller classes and a list of other concerns.

Neither side would speculate on how long the remainder of the negotiations could take, although both agreed they have lasted too long. Contract negotiations are typically concluded by late fall, Fisher said.

``It could be resolved very quickly, whenever they are ready to resolve it,'' Fisher said.