On the Importance of Labor/Management Meetings

We have a standing once-a-month date with our superintendent to talk about the state of the district, and it's been a great thing for us to have.

Take today, for example. We were able to talk about a couple of different staffing issues that could involve some involuntary transfers, and I was able to share some concerns that my preschool team has. They feel like decisions are being made without their input, to them not with them, and our super agreed to talk to the administrators at the school and encourage them to get the teachers involved.

The piece that amazes me is that the majority of districts in my area don't do this, and I think they should--it's been a fantastic tool for us. The reps are able to feed their building-level concerns to us on the exec board and we're able to take them right to the top, and by taking it to the level we do we ensure some sort of action.

So I'm asking the other union reps out there: what is the chain of command for expressing contractual concerns in your local, and what sort of relationship does your association have with your district-level administrators?