Upcoming Bargaining Dates:
August 12th-13th
Contract Ends: August 31st
PSO has never worked without a contract
PSO AT THE TABLE
RESPECT
The Indiana Professional Staff Organization believes ISTA should respect the professionalism of ISTA staff in the same way that staff fights to ensure ISTA members are respected on the job and in our society.
Indiana PSO members have steadily worked to help locals become stronger, increase membership, and win better contracts.
Indiana PSO members regularly volunteer to work weekends to help build leaders for our union because we believe in our members and want ISTA be strong, inclusive and successful.
Several Indiana PSO members have continued working during medical or personal adversity that merited hospitalization of themselves or family in recent years because of their dedication to ISTA members.
However, recent proposals and statements by management at the table accuse us of gaming the system and treat us like untrustworthy teenagers.
TRUST
The Indiana Professional Staff Organization believes ISTA should respect the professionalism of ISTA staff in the same way that staff fights to ensure ISTA members are respected on the job and in our society.
Indiana PSO members have steadily worked to help locals become stronger, increase membership, and win better contracts.
At a minimum, being a human being means we each have families, friends, and communities apart from reporting to work.
Indiana PSO member Sue Ellen Sopher's family means everything to her, but recent proposals by management means that she might she have to uproot her 13 year old son from the school he knows and the circus he loves to perform in; it means that she not might be able to take her son's fall break with her vacation days.
It means that about half of ISTA staff might need to sell their houses and move, regardless of finances, interest rates, or personal factors, every time ISTA reorganizes (3 times in the last ten years) or school districts close buildings (impossible to calculate).
Fair Pay & Benefits
The Indiana Professional Staff Organization believes ISTA should respect the professionalism of ISTA staff in the same way that staff fights to ensure ISTA members are respected on the job and in our society.
Indiana PSO members have steadily worked to help locals become stronger, increase membership, and win better contracts.
It is well known that among ISTA affiliates, Indiana expects more expertise from its staff than other states.
Meanwhile, ISTA continues to place more on the plates of already overworked Indiana PSO members. Yet ISTA’s wage and benefit packages have fallen behind those of NEA affiliates in neighbor states.
We’ve been losing long-time Indiana colleagues to other states. When you are a small, cohesive and committed team, each departure leaves a wound. And, as you know, causes additional work for those experienced staff who remain.
Despite these mutually known facts, ISTA’s proposals at the table result in a net compensation cut for many staff members.
Bargaining Updates: August 5th-6th
Bargaining Updates: July 12th & 13th
We urge ISTA management to come to the bargaining table with respect and engage in good faith bargaining. Time is running out with PSO’s contract ending on August 31. It is essential for ISTA's future to reach a fair and just agreement. We are committed to finding solutions that enhance our ability to serve ISTA members and uphold the union values we all share.
ISTA members rely on their union staff to help meet the challenges they face each day. However, uncompetitive salaries and a lack of resources are increasing turnover, making vacant positions harder to fill, and pulling staff away from the members they serve. PSO has proposed a course correction that addresses these issues without straining ISTA’s budget.
Every year Indiana PSO volunteer their personal time with the ISTA Aspiring Educators on their amazing Outreach to Teach project.
Attending an ISTA Board Meeting last spring with our ASO Siblings in an attempt to stop ISTA management from closing the Scottsburg Office.
Why We Ended Expediated Bargaining
PSO & ASO Siblings doing a solidarity action at a staff meeting to protest the closing of the Scottsburg Office and the possible loss of an ASO position.