Section 1: Purpose

A.  The purpose of these procedures is to establish a relationship between the individual parish schools and the Confederation, and to set forth an orderly procedure for discussing and settling matters which arise when either party hereto has been notified by the other, in writing, pursuant to Section 3 of this article of its desire to change or terminate this Basic Contract.

B.  The individual parish school and the Confederation agree to abide by and enforce the provisions of this agreement.

A.  The negotiations model will be selected by properly appointed representatives from the Office of Catholic Schools and the Confederation, by January 15, 2000, to allow sufficient time for all preparations.

B.  Professional negotiations means conferring, discussing, exchanging written proposals and negotiating in "good faith" by the parish school or its designated representatives, and a recognized teacher organization through its designated representatives in an effort to reach agreement with respect to salaries, fringe benefits and working conditions.

C.  "Good faith" involves coming in to the negotiating table with the intention of negotiating, not of dogmatically pursuing preconceived stands. "Good faith" requires that the Confederation and individual schools be willing to react to each other's proposals. If a proposal is unacceptable to one of the parties, that party is obligated to give its reasons. "Good faith" requires parties to recognize negotiations as a shared process. The obligation of the parish schools or their representatives and the representatives of a recognized teacher organization to meet for the purposes of professional negotiations does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession.

D.  Representatives of the parish schools and the Confederation shall participate in negotiations freely without fear of penalty, sanction, reprisal or recrimination.

A.  If either of the parties desires to negotiate changes in the terms of this agreement, it shall notify the other party, in writing, no sooner than January 1 and no later that January 15. Notification, in writing from the Confederation, shall be sent to the pastors of the individual schools by certified mail. Notification, in writing from the individual parish schools, shall be sent to the president of the Confederation by certified mail.

B.  Should either party exercise its option, on or before February 1, an initial meeting will be held at which time each party shall present to the other its list of detailed proposals upon which it desires to negotiate. No further items may be added to that list of negotiating items without the consent of both parties.

C.  Proposals shall, in form and detail, specify that to which agreement is sought.  Topical listings of items proposed for negotiation shall constitute a clear failure of compliance with this requirement and may be disregarded.

D.  Additional ground rules for conducting negotiations which are deemed necessary and are not covered in this article shall be discussed and implemented upon mutual agreement.

E.  Both parties shall commence negotiations within thirty (30) days after the initial meeting. Either party may request an exact date for the start of negotiations. Agreement on the exact date shall be reached within one (1) week of the request.

A.  Issues to be negotiated may be of two different levels:

1.  Local: issues that have financial implications, such as salaries and fringe benefits; except Article X, Leaves, issues and working conditions that are unique to the individual school.

2.  Diocesan: issues that do not have a financial implication; issues and working conditions that relate to diocesan policy.

B.  Local issues will be negotiated at the local level according to procedures determined and agreed to there.

C.  For diocesan issues, the individual parish schools and the Confederation shall be represented at all negotiations by a team of negotiators consisting of the pastors, principals/directors and teacher representatives. Members of both negotiating teams will be employees of the Diocese of Youngstown or diocesan elementary schools. All team members shall be identified, by name, at the first negotiations meeting. Team members shall not change during the period of negotiations unless a team member is disabled or in some other way rendered unable to attend negotiating meetings for a prolonged period of time.

D.  In addition to said teams, each team shall be authorized to admit no more than two (2) observers at one time to negotiating meetings. Observers shall be without right to speak or otherwise comment to either team during negotiating meetings.

E.  Each team is privileged to call upon consultants or resource people. No more than two (2) consultants may be admitted at one time to negotiating meetings. Consultants may be permitted to address the negotiations when requested by the chief negotiator of their respective teams.

A.  Negotiating meetings shall be conducted outside the regular school day.

B.  Negotiating meetings shall be in executive session unless otherwise agreed upon by both parties.

C.  Until all negotiations are completed or severed, each meeting shall include a decision on the date, time and place of a subsequent meeting.

D.  Either team may be granted time for independent caucus at any time.

E.  Meetings shall be adjourned upon mutual agreement of both parties but not extend longer than four (4) hours.

F.  The meeting place for negotiating sessions will be mutually agreed upon.

G.  The time period between negotiating sessions shall not exceed ten (10) calendar days unless mutually agreed upon by both parties.

Section 7: Reporting

A.  Interim reports of progress may be made to the Confederation by its representatives. Interim reports of progress may be made to the parishes by their representatives.

B.  While it is expected that the negotiating teams will keep their constituents informed of progress, every effort should be made to prevent the release of information which will interfere with the negotiations process. No information will be released to the public about matters under negotiations without the approval of both parties prior to achieving agreement or severing negotiations.

Section 9: Agreement

A.  Tentative agreement on negotiated items shall be reduced to writing and initialed by the chief negotiator of each party, but such initialing shall not be construed as final agreement.

B.  Final agreement shall be reached when the teachers and the parish school ratifies the final negotiated package that consists of both diocesan and local issues. The negotiators of both parties shall urge ratification. If ratified by both parties, the agreement shall then be signed by the pastor of the individual school, a representative of the teachers and a representative of the Confederation.

C.  The purpose of the "tentative agreements" is to develop a package that will be submitted to the teachers and the parish school for ratification. Initialing of "tentative agreements" shall be done in "good faith."

D.  "Tentative agreements" may be brought back to the table when it is believed that it will result in progress toward developing a final package. Each "tentative agreement" brought back to the table shall be discussed.

B.  The mediator chosen to assist shall come from the previously agreed to list of names of third parties named in the grievance procedure. Names will be stricken from the list alternately until only one remains and that person shall serve as a mediator.

C.  That mediator shall have authority to hold hearings and to confer with any persons deemed advisable in seeking to effect recommendations for resolving the disagreement. All hearings conducted by that mediator shall be in closed sessions. No news releases shall be made concerning the progress of the hearings.

D.  Within fifteen (15) days after the final meeting convened by that mediator, the mediator shall make written recommendations to both parties for settlement of the issues referred to him/her.

E.  The parish schools and the Confederation shall act upon the recommendation of that mediator within ten (10) working days from its receipt unless an extension is mutually agreed upon.

F.  If either the parish schools or the Confederation fails to accept the recommendations of that mediator, each team shall present within five (5) days a written report describing the disagreement and offering recommendations to the board.

G.  If disagreement continues after the use of the mediatory procedures outlined above, the services of a mediator from the American Arbitration Association would be employed. The cost, if any, of such mediating services shall be shared equally by the individual schools and the Confederation.

H.  The mediator from the American Arbitration Association has the power and authority as outlined in Section 10 B,C, and D.
 

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