Rockwood NEA proves collective bargaining does work in the state of Missouri
Less than a year after the historic Supreme Court decision that gave teachers and other public employees the right to bargain collectively, Rockwood School District and Rockwood National Education Association have ratified a contract for its teachers and other non-administrative certified staff.

Rockwood NEA, a local Missouri NEA affiliate with nearly 100 percent membership, sought voluntary recognition of MNEA as its exclusive bargaining representative. The district recognized the union and proceeded into negotiations as they typically did every year. Only this time, instead of negotiating excerpts from board policy, they were formulating a legally binding contract.

“Rockwood NEA has negotiated board policy for several years now, but having a real contract that is protected by labor relations law is a real plus,” says Rockwood NEA President Erik Graham. “Now, compensation and working conditions cannot be changed by the school board without negotiating with the union first.”

“We have confidence in the agreement since it contains a recognized course of action for impasse and grievance filing," Graham adds.

March 13, 2008, marks the date of contract ratification of the first collectively bargained contract in the public school systems of Missouri.

For more information, contact MNEA UniServ Director Bob George (bob.george@mnea.org) or Rockwood NEA President Erik Graham (grahamerik@rockwood.k12.mo.us).