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Rogue River teachers vote 66-6 to ratify new contract By VICKI GUARINO ROGUE RIVER -- Rogue River teachers, as expected, ratified a new, three-year contract Tuesday, ending 16 months of negotiations and the threat of a strike. Teachers met after school hours to approve the plan by a vote of 66-6. The contract had been endorsed by their negotiating team on Monday night. The vote came just a week before a planned strike. "We're real pleased," teachers union negotiator Steve Straughn said after the ratification vote. "The community really backed the teachers and that was what really got this settled. That, and the way the teachers held together." The ratification vote and a discussion that preceded it occurred in a closed meeting, so specific reasons for the six "no" votes are uncertain. Straughn, however, noted that some teachers remain bitter over the negotiating process, feeling that they were forced to bring the matter to the brink of a strike before they were heard. He suggested that those votes might be a way for the teachers to make that feeling known. Teachers met for about an hour before casting their ballots. "There were a lot of questions about how this contract would affect them," Straughn said. "And there were a lot of congratulations all around." Rogue River's 80 teachers had been set to walk off the job March 3 over the contract dispute. They had been working without a contract since July. The package, which gives raises of 2 to 3 percent with additional increases of more than 3 percent for experienced teachers, goes to the board for adoption March 11. The raises in the new contract will be retroactive to the start of the school year. Like the teachers, board members are expected to adopt the contract. They are scheduled to receive teachers' ratification and vote on the measure at a March 11 board meeting. "Everybody is very pleased and relieved," said Superintendent Charles Hellman. "A strike would have been a losing situation for the board, the teachers, and particularly the students." At the start of the contract talks, the school board called for a freeze on wages, and an end to an early retirement incentive program. Talks bogged down last summer, and sessions with a state mediator last fall failed to bring the sides together on key issues. When more meetings failed to resolve matters, teachers on Feb. 4 voted unanimously to strike. In addition to giving in on the raise issue, the board agreed to preserve the retirement program for current teachers. New teachers will not be offered the incentive. Both sides compromised on a job-performance issue. They agreed that the board could alter some working conditions, but teachers could appeal job changes to binding arbitration. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA