Public employee bargaining: Designed to protect citizens
(02/11/10)
(Editor's note: This story is the first of two stories taking a closer look at public employees' bargaining.) In the business world, salaries and benefits of a business' employees are somewhat dependent on how well the business is doing. However, in the public sector, employees like teachers and city workers are given the chance to organize and bargain collectively based on Iowa Code Chapter 20...
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Labor Unions
Gehlen opens Catholic Schools Week with special Mass
(01/29/10) A Mass at Gehlen Catholic Schools gymnasium at 8:45 a.m. Monday will kick off Catholic Schools Week under the theme, "Dividends for Life." The week will celebrate the life-long impact of a Catholic education. Catholic Schools Week is observed Jan 31 through Feb. 6 and is celebrated by the National Catholic Education Association and schools throughout the Diocese of Sioux City...
LCS board proposes no teacher salary increase for 2010-11
(12/22/09) No increase in base salary. No step movement on the salary schedule. No changes in contract language other than date changes. That's the opening proposal put forth by the Le Mars Community Schools board of education negotiating team in response to contract talks with the Le Mars Community Education Association (LCED) for the 2010-11 teachers' contract...
R-U students meet people from the 1800s
(12/08/09) Nikki Schubert grew up near a small Norwegian cemetery in Holstein and helped her parents maintain it. "I've always been fascinated with the history there -- who were these people?" she said. While Schubert is now a teacher at Remsen-Union High School, those childhood questions remained with her and recently helped spark a social studies class project for her freshmen...
LCS board appoints negotiating team, purchases vehicle
(11/13/09) Opening negotiation sessions between teachers and the Le Mars Community School District will be held in December. In a letter to the school board president, the Le Mars Community Education Association (LCEA) notified the board of its intent to bargain, with the first bargaining session for the 2010-2011 master contract to be held at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7...
Wal-Mart gives R-U teachers $1,000 in gift cards
(10/07/09) What would you do if someone just handed you a $100 gift card? That's a question 10 Remsen-Union Community School teachers are faced with after Wal-Mart representatives made a surprise stop Tuesday. The 10 Remsen-Union teachers, selected randomly, were presented with a $100 Wal-Mart Teacher Reward gift card to help purchase much-needed classroom supplies...
LCS enrollment, state aid numbers point to cuts
(09/30/09) Le Mars Community Schools budgets for both the current school year and the 2010-11 year will take a hit in state funding. A preliminary report on LCS enrollment for the 2009-10 school year and information received at an Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB) Employee Relations Conference indicate more cuts will be coming...
Iowa's employment recovery may lag
(09/16/09) While the unemployment rate in Plymouth County and Iowa are staying well below the national level -- 9.7 percent for August -- numbers aren't improving much. That's according to Kerry Koonce, spokeswoman for the Iowa Workforce Development. Iowa's economy, she said, is slower to go into recession and slower coming out of it...
No paper Monday
(09/04/09) In observance of Labor Day, the Le Mars Daily Sentinel will not be printed Monday. The next edition will be printed Tuesday. The newspaper office will be closed Monday as well, with regular business hours beginning on Tuesday.
Arbitration hearing set for LCS teacher contract negotiations
(04/22/09) An arbitration hearing for the Le Mars Community School District and Le Mars Education Association will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at the Education Service Center, 940 Lincoln St. S.W. The meeting will be conducted by arbitrator Sharon Gallagher, who will receive information from both the school district and the teachers' association regarding contract negotiations for the 2009-10 school year...
Thrift store gives child care center a hand with costs
(04/03/09) Akron community members joined hands last year to help save parents money on child care. Helping Hands thrift store was born to help with costs at Akron Children's Center after minimum wage increased last year and the nonprofit center had to hike its rates to offset employee salaries...
Negotiators propose 1.19 percent raise for teachers
(12/16/08) Members of the Le Mars Community Schools Board of Education bargaining team presented their initial proposals for the 2009-10 master contract to the Le Mars Community Education Association bargaining team members at a 5 p.m. meeting Monday. The board's proposal calls for a 1.19 percent total package increase, or $122,059 spread among the teachers as set forth in the teacher salary schedule in the Master Contract. The proposal also includes no benefit changes...
LCS teachers group proposes salary, insurance increases
(12/02/08) Le Mars Community Education Association members are proposing increases in base pay and insurance for the 2009-10 school year. Members of the bargaining team for the LCED met with Le Mars Community Schools Board of Education members Monday to present their initial proposal...
School board, LCEA set first contract negotiation dates
(11/12/08) The Le Mars Community School Board of Education and the Le Mars Community Education Association have set dates to begin the opening rounds of contract negotiations for the 2009-2010 master contract. In a letter to board president Dr. Mark Stelzer, LCEA president Robbin Hermsen suggested the first bargaining session be held at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, in the board room. At that meeting, the LCEA will make its initial proposal...
Negotiations begin on new Wells' Dairy labor contract
(09/22/08) Negotiations are underway on a contract that impacts about 1,400 hourly manufacturing employees at Wells' Dairy in Le Mars. "A corporate team is sitting down and meeting with an employee team," said Dave Smetter, spokesman for the ice cream and novelty company...
Le Mars native to speak on behalf of National Education Association
(09/19/08) A Le Mars native who is now president of the National Education Association will be speaking in West Des Moines at the end of this month. Dennis Van Roekel, who was elected to the position in July, will be talking at an IowaPolitics.com forum about the November election and answering questions educational issues...
LCS board OKs allocation of state money for teachers
(09/11/08) An agreement between the Le Mars Community School District and the Le Mars Education Association provides for the distribution to teachers of more than $800,000 in additional state money for the 2008-09 school year. The Educator Quality Basic money is allocated by the Iowa Legislature in an effort to increase the average teacher salaries in Iowa and raise Iowa's ranking in average teacher salary in the United States...
Offices closed for Labor Day
(08/29/08) Americans will celebrate the country's 126th annual Labor Day, the three day-weekend that marks the unofficial end of summer. There will be several closings in Le Mars for the day. The first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 1882, after the Central Labor Union came up with the idea and planned a demonstration and picnic for that day...
Employee health insurance plan awarded to Avera Health
(06/19/08) Le Mars city council members Tuesday voted to continue the city's Employee Health Plan with Avera Health with Northwood continuing as the city's reinsurance carrier. City Finance Director Bill Cole said that while the plan represents a 10 percent cost increase, the plan was the lowest of 15 proposals received. Despite the increase, he said, the city will be paying less for the insurance fixed costs in 2009 than in 2006 due to the health contract accepted at that time...
Council approves city administrator pay hike
(06/18/08) Le Mars City Administrator Scott Langel is in line for a 3.75 percent pay increase for the coming year following action Tuesday by the city council. The council, meeting in a closed executive session, approved a fiscal year 2009 salary of $118,119 for Langel, compared to his present salary of $113,850...
Supervisors approve deputies' salaries for 2008-09
(05/28/08) Plymouth County Sheriff deputies' salaries and others were approved Tuesday for 2008-09. The Plymouth County Supervisors approved salaries for the sheriff deputies, the deputy recorder, the auditor's deputies, the tax, motor vehicle and driver's license deputy, and the assistant Plymouth County attorney...
LCS middle school principal hired
(05/16/08) The Le Mars Community Schools board of education approved the hiring of a new middle school assistant principal for the 2008-09 school year. Christopher Schmit, a middle school instructor at Waterloo, was recommended from the candidates interviewed for the position. He will replace Amy Johnson, who resigned the position this spring...
Corn oil producer planned near Merrill ethanol plant
(04/21/08)
Better together. That's what Dave Hoffman of Merrill says about the $30 million corn oil plant he and others are planning to build next to the Plymouth Energy ethanol plant near Merrill. The corn oil plant will produce up to 60 tons every day of the oil used for human food and cooking. Employing 25 people, the plant is slated to be in operation by the spring of 2009... |