Mead schools’ secretaries exasperated

It takes a lot to get the “frontline ladies” riled up, but the Mead secretaries are miffed because they believe that everyone gets cash for new computers, new buses – but they can’t get paid for the extra work they’ve been asked to take on, said the union president.

Secretaries in the Mead School District have asked a state mediator to help with negotiations, which have gone for about eight months without reaching a new contract.

There are nine bargaining units in the Mead School District. The union representing the custodial and maintenance staff has also asked the state for help in reaching an agreement.

The previous secretary contract expired July 31. The Public School Employees Union represents 49 workers.

“We’re doing jobs that used to be done in the administration. We’re working hard, we’re really working hard,” said Robin Anderson, president of the Mead Association of Educational Office Personnel. “They’re just not stepping up to the plate for us. … We’re not asking for the world. We just want to be treated fairly.”

Typically, the secretaries’ union accepts the first offer, Anderson said.

The prolonged negotiation is unusual for Mead, said interim superintendent Al Swanson.

“We have an increased enrollment, and there’s no doubt that all of our bargaining groups had to incur more workload,” Swanson said. “We’ve added office support as well.”

Swanson said what has been offered is good, but Anderson said it’s not good enough.

“Our board has offered salary increases and insurance benefits increases that go above and beyond what the state has allocated,” Swanson said.

Anderson maintains that workers in her union are underpaid when compared to other workers in Eastern Washington. Swanson disputes that characterization and said compared to school districts in Eastern Washington with 3,000 or more students, Mead ranks third in pay for secretaries.

Marvin Schurke, the executive director of the Public Employment Relations Commission, said a mediator has been assigned to both the secretary and custodial negotiations.