FAIRBANKS - The head of the Fairbanks Education Association has criticized an unfair labor charge filed last week by the school district and its decision to postpone bargaining until the labor charge is settled.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the FEA on Friday. It accused the teachers union of several violations. The school board postponed bargaining until the Alaska Labor Relations Agency rules on the charge.

On Monday, the seven-member FEA negotiations team and teacher supporters showed up to a scheduled bargaining session with the school district. They were met by Gayle Pierce, executive director for labor relations and Clarence Bolden, executive director for human resources. Pierce told the FEA team they would have to wait to hear from the labor relations agency before bargaining could move any further.

FEA President Tammy Smith said Friday, when news of the district’s filing came out, she was disappointed with the district’s refusal to bargain. She said she received the complaint that morning.

Smith wrote a response on the union’s website during the weekend.

The district, in its complaint, accused FEA of violating agreed-upon ground rules during an exchange of initial proposals last week. The union stipulated its first bargaining proposal would expire the next day. When the proposal expired without acceptance by the school board, the FEA submitted a new, all-inclusive proposal. The district said this essentially gave the union an unfair advantage — the district gave the union its initial proposal, but the union did not give the district a realistic initial proposal until after the union had seen the board’s.

Smith wrote in her response the district was well aware of the “blue light special,” with its next-day expiration. She said it was the association’s “good faith” way of honoring contract terms that had been settled last year in a different bargaining system.

“Although the district was clearly informed about FEA’s intent and did not express any concern to (negotiator Dave) Cox, they chose to file a ULP,” Smith wrote. “This type of ‘gotcha’ bargaining hurts the process and the relationship between teachers and the district.”

Smith also wrote the district’s contract proposal shows signs of “regressive bargaining,” something the district accuses the union of in its complaint.

“The district has proposed eliminating job share, taking away teacher control of grades and narratives, a reduction in time spent with students as a result of a new schedule that allows administrators to assign additional meetings, and the loss of ‘just cause’ protection for new hires,” she said.

Many teachers lamented the potential loss of job sharing, which they call one of the district’s most family-friendly policies.

“From my point of view, there’s no reason to eliminate it at all,” said Nicole O’Donnell, a high school English teacher who has been sharing her position on and off since she had her first daughter seven years ago. She now has two young daughters and can spend the first half of her day teaching morning classes at Lathrop High School and the second half at home with her kids.

She said she is no extra cost to the district because she doesn’t take health insurance and doesn’t get extra pay for working fewer hours. The English students don’t see the difference because O’Donnell and her counterpart don’t share any of the same classes.

O’Donnell said she sees a disproportionate amount of female teachers in the job-sharing positions because they use the opportunity to spend more time with their children. She said taking away such a family-friendly option will only hurt the district.

Other teachers at the Monday meeting supported a cost-of-living increase the FEA has proposed. In its “blue light special” offer, the FEA proposed a 2.5 percent increase to raises in a one-year contract. In its second proposal, the FEA proposed a

3 percent increase to teacher salaries.

The school district has proposed a 1 percent increase.

Contact staff writer Reba Lean at 459-7523.