Cost Containment-
Key Position Point #2: Statewide / Regional Labor Contracts

Statewide / Regional Labor Contracts
It takes a great deal of administrative time and effort to negotiate individual labor contracts in Michigan’s 784 public school districts. Coupled with this are the numerous situations where local pressure is applied against a school board that many times creates a volatile environment perhaps leading to a less than favorable contract settlement. Additionally, there are compensation differences that exist under the current system that, in some cases, cannot be justified as the work performed is basically identical from district to district. For these and many other reasons, we believe the function of negotiating labor contracts would be best performed either at the state or regional level and could lead to significant opportunities for cost containment.