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Welcome to the United School Employees of Pasco We represent all the teachers and school related personnel in the Pasco County Public School System. We currently serve over 4200 teacher and SRP members and look forward to serving you! USEP
is the professional organization whose only interest is its members. |
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Mt Carmel Cemetery Cleanup
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USEP Bargaining Surveys for 2008-2009 Online NOW! Pasco School Employees Ratify New Contracts Land O’Lakes, FL. December 10, 2007 – Pasco school teachers and employees will have a little extra in their pay checks just in time for the holidays. After counting just under 6,000 teacher and school related personnel votes, the United School Employees of Pasco Elections Committee announced approval of the most recently negotiated contracts with the District School Board of Pasco County. Sixty-eight percent of eligible employees cast ballots on Thursday, December 4, 2007. The USEP Election Committee counted the ballots On Monday, December 10th at the USEP office. 90 percent of the teachers and 92 percent of school related personnel voted in favor of the tentative agreements which provided a little over 4 percent salary increase for teachers and school related personnel (SRP) and continued fully-paid employee health insurance. Five months after negotiations began in June, employees finally got to weigh in on the tentative agreements. Financial negotiations stalled in July when the state announced a revenue shortfall and education funding cuts. Financial negotiations didn’t resume full force until after the special legislative session in October which slashed 6.6 million from Pasco’s education funding, leaving little discretionary funding for raises. After analyzing all of the figures, the USEP bargaining teams determined that the settlement, although “disappointing,” was realistic based upon the District’s current financial status. “This is the first time I can remember since the early nineties having negotiations drag out this long,” USEP President Lynne Webb remarked. “That’s a long time to wait for such a meager settlement. While 4 percent surpasses the cost-of-living benchmark, it doesn’t go far when trying to remain competitive with surrounding districts,” Webb stated. Without the special revenue sources that were available this year to Hillsborough and Pinellas to use for salaries, Pasco had to rely solely on state revenue. Employees had over two weeks from the date the tentative contract agreements were signed on November 19th to review the terms of the settlement, which was recommended by the Executive Board and Representative Council of the USEP. Last week, the Pasco County School Board voted to accept the tentative agreements contingent upon employee ratification. “The results show acceptance of the most recent salary and working condition improvements, but I certainly wouldn’t mistake acceptance for satisfaction or endorsement,” Webb stated. “Considering the great strides that the School Board and Union have made to improve salaries these last several years, this contract feels like a step backward, so I urge the District to start determining their priorities now to ensure a better outcome next year.” Follow the links below for summaries of the settlement and salary schedules. Summary of Instructional 2007-2008 Tentative Agreement 2007-2008 Instructional Salary Schedules 2007-2008 Instructional Actual Language for Ratification Summary of SRP Tentative Agreement 2007-2008 SRP Salary Schedules SRP Positions & Schedule Numbers 2007-2008 SRP Actual Language for Ratification 2007-2008 Tentative Agreements PowerPoint To get the latest information on legislative issues affecting public education, click on the icon below to join FEA's “Pump Up the Volume.” You do not need to be a USEP member to receive these email bulletins!
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