Metro
Hillel teachers march outside the school late
Monday afternoon.
11111e1 Impasse
Day school's board withdraws union recognition;
start of school up in air.
ALAN HITSKY
Associate Editor
I
n the middle of contract negotiations with its
teachers union, the board of Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit on Sunday announced it
was withdrawing recognition of the bargaining unit
and ceased talks.
On Monday, teachers began the school year at a
meeting with the administration in which they individ-
ually signed to receive a booklet of terms and condi-
tions for employment. Students are scheduled to begin
classes next Monday, Aug. 29.
Meanwhile, teachers began informational picketing
in front of the school on Middlebelt Road in
Farmington Hills before and after school hours. The
teachers were continuing to work their regular hours in
preparation for the new school year. .
"We still have a contract until Aug. 31," said Robin
Lash, president of the Hillel Federation of Teachers and
a 17-year Hillel teacher. On Monday and Tuesday, as
the Jewish News prepared for publication, she declined
to speculate what action the union might take.
The Hillel board acted following a Michigan Appeals
Court decision last week that said Brother Rice High
School, a Catholic school in Bloomfield Township, did
not have to allow their teachers to vote on unioniza-
tion. The court ruled that the Michigan Employment
Relations Commission did not have jurisdiction over a
parochial school.
Hillel board president Rob Goodman of West
Bloomfield said Hillel took the action to withdraw
recognition of the union because "the educational
needs of our children are best served by Hillel Day
School's teachers, administrators and parents interact-
ing directly and candidly with one another, unimpeded
by organizations outside the Hillel community."
Goodman said the board had consulted its labor attor-
ney before taking the action.
Steve Freedman, Hillel head of school, said that "all
critical aspects of the former bargaining agreement"
were maintained in the new terms and conditions
booklet. That statement was disputed by the teachers.
Freedman and Goodman said that a 2 percent raise
and step increases for experience would provide the
teachers with salary increases of 4 to 17 percent. The
teachers already receive a health package, and a 403(b)
retirement plan after two years; Hillel contributes 7
percent of salary if the teachers contribute 4 percent.
Goodman said, "This is the best package the school
can offer these teachers."
According to the administration, Hillel's full-time
teachers last year averaged $52,892. The highest
teacher salary was $60,141 and starting salaries were
$30,975. Goodman said Hillel teacher pay ranks favor-
ably in comparison with figures provided by independ-
ent school associations.
Freedman believes Hillel teachers feel respected by
the administration. "We are representing ourselves hon-
orably and in good faith," he said.
He called the teachers "a dedicated staff of educators
who also serve as mentors."
Teacher president Robin Lash said the two sides had
been bargaining on a new contract since October
2004. Negotiations were halted for vacations in July,
but had resumed Aug. 2.
As of Sunday, she said, the two sides were working
on some educational issues and had just begun talks on
economic issues: wages, the length of the school day,
the school- calendar, overtime and stipends.
"Some of the language [in Hillel's terms and condi-
tions booklet] is radically -different," Lash said. "They
have maintained some things that were important to
us, but some things we agreed to have been radically
changed or eliminated."
Due process for reprimands or dismissal was one
item Freedman said was maintained, but Lash said it
was changed. "We want due process," she said, "not a
unilateral process."
A group of Michigan labor leaders met with Lash
and other Hillel Federation of Teachers leaders Monday
night, and'all the Hillel teachers were scheduled to
meet Tuesday night.
David Hecker of Huntington Woods, president of
the Michigan Federation of Teachers, the parent body
of the Hillel teachers union, called the Hillel adminis-
tration's move "abhorrent. From my Hebrew school
days, I remember the Rabbi Hillel quote: 'If I am only
for myself, then what am I?'
"They need to remember who the school is named
for. We're hopeful that we can convince the Hillel
board to reverse this decision and continue what is
right," Hecker said.
The school has 87 teachers. All 60 eligible teachers
are union members. The other 27 are part-time, spe-
cialists, resource teachers or librarians. It is believed that
Hillel is the only Jewish school in the metropolitan area
that has a collective bargaining unit.
Lash declined to speculate on what actions the teach-
ers might take. She said Tuesday there has been no fur-
ther communications between the union and the
administration after Sunday afternoon.
"Truthfully," she said, "[both sides] are all good peo-
ple and we all care about Hillel Day School. But we
have a philosophical difference about labor-manage-
ment issues ... Hopefully, by this time next week,
this will all be forgotten."
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8/25
2005
27