I am pleased to announce that the BTU PSRP bargaining team has reached a tentative agreement concerning your pay for the 2021-2022 School Year. There is a provision in the PSRP Agreement that allowed the Union to open negotiations for a pay raise this school year. The same provision allowed the Board to open negotiations to attempt to make changes to your health insurance.
We were able to negotiate a historic pay increase, something we have not been able to accomplish in over a decade.
We negotiated a pay raise of 2.25% on your base pay and on longevities (if your pay scale provides longevities). If a 2.25% raise does not equal an increase of $900, your base pay will be increased by $900. All increases will be retroactive to July 1, 2021.
Fortunately, the Board’s bargaining team expressed no interest in making any changes to your healthcare plans.
We are proud of the pay increases that we negotiated, but want you to know that we will continue to fight for even greater increases to pay. We sought additional pay for paraprofessionals who agree to serve as substitutes, and we sought a stipend for all members of the bargaining unit to reward us for the increased workloads and health risks we are being subjected to as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were not successful on these issues in this set of negotiations, but we will be back at the bargaining table for a new PSRP agreement this coming spring and will continue to fight for greater and more equitable pay for PSRPs.
One of the reasons why we were so successful was because some of your colleagues came to negotiations and told the Board’s team how hard the work is and how dangerous it has become. We will need to do even more this coming spring so I ask you to think about what you can do to help us negotiate the best contract possible.
Information about voting to ratify the increase in pay and information sessions for those of you who may have questions about the pay increase will be shared shortly in an email blast. If you do not receive email blasts, please contact Cristina Duncan Evans at cduncanevans@baltu.org to be added to the list for email blasts.
Please vote to ratify this historic pay increase,
BTU PSRP Bargaining Team:
President Diamonté Brown, Chief Negotiator
Sandra Davis, PSRP Chapter Chair, Renaissance Academy High School
Natalia Bacchus, Executive Assistant to President Brown
Ron Osei Beazer, ConneXions: A Community Based Arts School
Chris Bilal,PSRP Member Engagement Specialist
Zach Taylor, Middle School VP
Keith Zimmerman, Esq. BTU Attorney