Metro We're Celebrating Our Newly Opened Wixom Branch Office. Invest Bi e l itlet School Days Hillel teachers agree to individual contracts; union representation ends. ALAN HITSKY Associate Editor GRAND OPENING MONEY MARKET * APY Account Balances of 2.500 or inorc Available at all MHB branch locations. 1111114- Ems JR& MICHIGAN HERITAGE Let us lend a hand Visit www.miheritage.com for current Special Rates. FDIC bmirecl *Annual Percen Yield (APY) is effective as of July 25. 2005. New Deposits . Minimum $2,500 requited. Lower interest rates for balances under $2,500. Brokered accounts not eligible. $7.50 statement fee on balances under 52,500. Rates subject to change without notice. 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According to a statement from Hillel Head of School Steve Freedman, the agreement was conditional on three issues the teachers said were crit- ical: • Their employment can only be ter- minated for just cause. • Any disciplinary disputes may ulti- mately be determined by an impartial arbitrator. • Teachers will form a committee that will work closely with the admin- istration on educational and other matters of mutual concern. As a result of the teachers' vote, informational picketing before and after school hours was halted Wednesday, Aug. 24, and classes began on schedule Monday, Aug. 29. Hillel teachers union president Robin Lash said Friday, Aug. 26, that "just cause" and "arbitration" language had been included in the "terms and conditions of employment" manual distributed to the teachers by the administration last week. "But other aspects of that manual offended teach- ers," she said. "They feel hurt by the process. Although we have come to an agree- ment, many teachers feel strongly about the process the [Hillel] board engaged in to dissolve the union. "Many teachers feel hurt and are trying to come to terms with how and why this was done to Jewish teachers at a Jewish day school." The Hillel board broke off contract negotiations with the teachers on Sunday, Aug. 21, four days after the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that Brother Rice High School in Bloomfield Township, as a parochial school, did not have to comply with a ruling of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission and allow its teachers to vote on unionizing. On Monday, Aug. 22, the Hillel administration distributed its terms- and-conditions manual to the teachers. Michigan Federation of Teachers President David Hecker said Aug. 26 that he respects the Hillel teachers' decision, "but we don't feel it's the right course." The MFT was the par- ent union for the Hillel teachers. Hecker said the Hillel union had "an enforceable contract for 40 years" and "people struggled long and hard to obtain the benefits the Hillel teach- ers now enjoy. Lash said there are "aspects of the terms-and-conditions manual that do address the needs and concerns of the teachers. 'Just cause' and 'arbitration' were big concessions for the school. Although many teachers may not rec- ognize this, the [teachers'] negotiating team does. "The finer points," she said, "will be discussed and hopefully worked out to the management's and the teachers' satisfaction." On Friday, the last day of teacher preparations before school began, Steve Freedman was relieved that the issue had been resolved. "Everybody's back to doing what we want to be doing," he said. "Emotions are lighter. People are smiling. "The board and the administration stand 100 percent behind the faculty," he said. "We will continue to work to keep our teachers among the highest paid independent school faculty." Hillel, he said, has 596 students enrolled in kindergarten through 8th grade. "That's down slightly from last year, but up substantially from [the 575] we projected." Freedman said Hillel had to add a third kindergarten class and a fourth 1st grade class because of the enroll- ment, and construction started this summer on a new gymnasium and theater that are being paid for by donors. On the other side, Robin Lash said, "We don't have an official union" any- more. "Only time will tell how this will work ... "There is a vulnerability that the teachers feel. But I hope that disap- pears over time and the administration promises become a reality." Li "