"Collective bargaining is under attack in Iowa"

On Thursday afternoon the Decorah Education Association (DEA) presented its first proposal for a 2017-18 master contract to the Decorah Community School Board. But that proposal was almost secondary to its show of support for the concept of collective bargaining in Iowa.

About 30 DEA members attended the meeting in support of collective bargaining. DEA chief negotiator Steve Peterson read a statement at the meeting saying that "collective bargaining is under attack in Iowa." The statement continued with praise for the long standing cooperative relationship the DEA has had with the School Board in working toward mutual interests and educational goals. Superintendent Mike Haluska and board members reciprocated with comments in support of the DEA and the board relationship with that group.

The master contract proposal itself was simple, and included a request for an increase of $300 to the current first year base salary of $32,566. The DEA also requested continuation of the current health insurance plan (see related  decorahnews.com story).

Both the DEA and Decorah school officials acknowledged that the negotiation process was totally up in the air due to current Iowa legislative efforts to cut budgets.