At long last, Westport teachers get a contract; three-year deal reached Thursday

Posted 7/10/15

The long road toward a new Westport teacher contract that began back on November, 2013, has apparently come to an end.

By a 3-0 vote with two abstentions, the school committee voted Thursday to approve a new three-year deal that provides …

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At long last, Westport teachers get a contract; three-year deal reached Thursday

Posted

The long road toward a new Westport teacher contract that began back on November, 2013, has apparently come to an end.

By a 3-0 vote with two abstentions, the school committee voted Thursday to approve a new three-year deal that provides raises and gradually adds pay steps.

Voting in favor of the contract were Nancy Rioux, Melissa Pacheco and Carolina Africano.  Town Administrator Timothy King and school committee member Antonio Viveiros abstained (Mr. Viveiros cited a conflict of interest since his wife is a Westport teacher).

Top step teachers — those with enough years of service to reach the 10th step — will receive 2.5 percent raises in each of the three contract years.

Pay steps will be added to the 10 — one retroactively for this past year which gives those who moved up to step 11 a 2 percent raise and those on lower steps a.5 percent raise.

Moving forward, those who moved to step 11 will move to a new step 12 and get a 2 percent raise in September followed by another .5 percent raise in the middle of the year.

This process will continue until the system reaches a 14th step by the contract’s final year — the 2017-18 school year. The contract runs through August 2018.

Contract details can be seen on the school district website under the July 9 school committee agenda.

Andrew Cottrill, president of the Westport Federation  of Teachers (the union representing Westport teachers), said, ”While we are disappointed our original agreement did not come to fruition, we believe what was ultimately ratified by both sides is fair for both the students and teachers.  There is still a long way to go, but this will begin to close the pay gap between Westport teachers and teachers in surrounding towns.

“I think it's fair to say that our entire membership (including myself) are very pleased that this process is completed.  It caused several people to leave the district for other opportunities and several more to begin exploring other employment options.  We can now focus on what we do best, teach.  We look forward to working cooperatively with the school committee going forward to do what is best for the students of Westport.”

More details to follow.

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