Kent Education Association
BARGAINING NEWSLETTER
Keeping  You Informed & Up-to-Date
Article No. 1                                                                                          February 26, 2016 
At the Bargaining Table 

Your KEA Bargaining Team met February 23 with the District for the first time. We were joined by several teachers from the Dual Language Schools, who came to speak about their issues with respect, workload, and compensation.  They helped us express to the District their frustration with the progress of the bargaining over their program-which has been going on since last year! We have been trying to reach agreement on this issue since last April. The teachers talked about the changes that have been made to their program, and their lack of appropriate curriculum and resources. They expressed their love of the program but how overwhelming the workload has become.

We addressed several other issues that we will be sharing at the upcoming General Membership Meeting March 2nd at 4:30 at Kent-Meridian High School in the E-Wing Auditorium.  

Please plan on attending! 

Bargaining Support Team in Action 
On Wednesday, February 24 nearly 30 KEA leaders representing 20 work sites met at the KEA office for the purpose of discerning all the information collected from our listening sessions.  Every comment that was made by our members was categorized, creating a visual representation of our members' priorities. The work is not finished.  We still have 10 buildings to go before we hit all 41!

As a large union it is very important to have diverse participation from every work site as we build power through the bargaining cycle. 

Your Bargaining Support Team is planning activities to engage all 1,900 members as we proceed through our bargain.  

Thank you to each and every one of you for your interest and involvement in the upcoming bargain.  Our current contract expires August 31, 2016.  Your bargaining team is headed back to the table on March 11, 2016.

Stay in the Loop

You can now opt-in to receive bargain updates, information on upcoming events and other timely information via text. To sign-up follow the directions below:

Send a text message to # "81010" in the message field put "@keaba" and hit send. You will get a message with directions to complete the set-up. 
You can opt-out anytime. 

Where will You be on March 2?
Please do your part to support your bargain and team by joining us at the General Membership Meeting:

Wednesday, March 2 @ 4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Kent Meridian High School
East Auditorium
10020 SE 256th St. Kent
Bargain Team Profile
________________________

 Christie Padilla

This week we will begin our bargaining team profile with our KEA President and Bargain Chair, Christie Padilla.  Christie has been a middle school math and science teacher in the Kent School District for 24 years.  She has served in various KEA roles including building rep, exec board, and as the vice-president.
 
"My goal is to get as many people to have a voice in this bargain as possible."  

Christie has organized listening sessions for every interest-based group in the district. 

"We have taken comments from 800 people who answered the bargaining survey, and interviewed over 1.000 people. I feel like we did an amazing job  in making sure that all groups are represented." 
 
Her priority for this bargain is to make significant improvements in working conditions and increasing compensation in order to improve the lives of all of our certified staff.  Ultimately, this will attract and retain a strong workforce that will benefit our students.  

2016-2017
Bargaining Team
____________________ 

KEA President

Secretary/Treasurer, NW Middle School

CW Elementary

KL High School

Tim Martin
EP Elementary


Louise Sargent
NW Middle School
 
Kent Elementary

KEA UniServ Rep

OT/PT