THE UEA BARGAINING, PROFESSIONAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES COMMITTEE (BPR&R COMMITTEE)

Contact: Mike McCoy, Director of Legal Services & General Counsel
Board Member Assigned: Terie Maxfield

One of the committees established by the UEA Bylaws is the BPR&R Committee. The activities and services of the Committee are among the most important provided by UEA to our members. The Bylaws provide:

The Bargaining, Professional Rights and Responsibilities Committee: (a) trains members to protect and promote the employment rights of members through bargaining and professional negotiations; (b) promotes and encourages Association members to engage in conduct consistent with the ethical principles set forth in the UEA-NEA Code of Ethics of the Education Profession; (c) directs case studies involving professional conduct and ethical behavior; (d) fosters professional attitudes and stimulates professional performance on the part of each member; and (e) promotes sound personnel policies that will clearly define the civil and human rights of members.

The UEA Board of Directors has assigned to the BPR&R Committee duties to promote membership, educate members about their rights and responsibilities by:

1. Hearing and deciding appeals of actions of the general counsel denying or limiting attorney representation of members and appeals of the general counsel to the Committee.
2. Making presentations to members in their local associations about the role of the Committee, UEA’s legal services program, and reasons for joining UEA, focusing primarily on teacher rights and responsibilities.
3. Training members of their local(s) to promote membership by making presentations to members about the role of the Committee, UEA’s legal services program, reasons for joining UEA focusing primarily on teacher rights and responsibilities.
4. Assisting and encouraging the creation of local BPR&R Committees.
5. Acting as liaisons between local Committees and the UEA BPR&R Committee. (Liaison means keeping local Committees informed about the activities of the UEA BPR&R Committee, encouraging the local BPR&R Committee to promote the UEA’s BPR&R programs, and keeping the UEA BPR&R Committee informed about these activities. It also includes sharing ideas with other members of the committee to accomplish the objectives of the UEA and local BPR&R Committees.)
6. Participating in training sessions or seminars for members of the Committee and the Association. The training sessions should be designed to give Committee members the skills and resources to accomplish their responsibilities as Committee members.

The BPR&R Committee’s responsibilities include informing members about teacher rights and responsibilities. (The Committee’s emphasis on responsibilities has substantially increased in its efforts to address the number of complaints made regarding unprofessional behavior by teachers in the past.) Two pamphlets prepared by the BPR&R Committee describe teacher rights and responsibilities. Copies of the pamphlets are available to members on request. The BPR&R Committee’s newest responsibility is to provide and improve bargaining skills for members and local associations.

The Member Advocacy Guide, designed to provide assistance to local associations and members participating in bargaining, is available to members on request. The BPR&R Committee also publishes UEA’s Professional Agreement Reference Manual—Model Language also available to members on request. The Manual contains a short history of bargaining in Utah, the law applicable to bargaining in Utah and a description of common problems in negotiated agreements. The major part of the Manual is model language for collective bargaining agreements on almost all topics that can be bargained, alternative language and rationales for the language. The objectives of the Model Language include identifying common problems in negotiated agreements, finding solutions acceptable to educators and boards of education, promoting better relations with school administrators, promoting professional development, and involving educators in designing and promoting quality education programs.