Collective Bargaining

Your union’s bargaining team is usually selected through a process outlined in the union’s constitution and by-laws, while the district designates the management team. Each team analyzes the current collective bargaining agreement to identify areas they want to improve.  

Ideally, the local will reach out to community partners, parents, and other stakeholders to seek input on issues for potential proposals. 

Negotiations usually take several rounds of bargaining. The union and management sides express the rationale behind their proposals. Some contract provisions remain largely the same from contract to contract while others, such as salary, are bargained with each contract. The parties may modify some sections, and either side may propose a new bargaining topic.  

When your union and employer teams reach a tentative contract agreement, they review the proposed contract with their respective constituency groups.  

Your union holds a ratification meeting where employees ask questions and offer opinions on the tentative contract agreement. Individuals are then asked to vote on the tentative agreement, usually by secret ballot. A majority of votes determines if the contract is ratified (accepted) or rejected.  

The management team generally seeks approval from the school board or other governing body. If both sides ratify the tentative agreement, then the parties have a new (or successor) collective bargaining agreement. If the tentative contract agreement is rejected — by either party — the teams usually return to the bargaining table and continue to negotiate until they reach a new tentative agreement for a vote.

If the parties cannot reach an agreement, Idaho law specifies how the dispute can be resolved.  

The parties can use mediation, arbitration, and/or a strike or lockout to reach an agreement. Strikes and lockouts are very infrequent in Idaho public education.

With the agreement of both parties, any section of a ratified contract can be revised during the term of the contract. In many districts, union and management representatives meet regularly during the term of the contract to talk about and resolve issues of mutual concern, often through an established joint labor-management committee.  

In addition, either at the bargaining table or during the life of a contract, the parties can bargain a memorandum of understanding (MOU) related to a specific issue. The benefit of an MOU is that it allows the parties to reach an agreement on a new or unforeseen issue that is important to both the union and the employer.