Contract Enforcer
Who must enforce our
contract?
All local association members
should be involved. But contract
enforcement is a special responsibility
of the association representatives,
committee chairs, officers, Executive
Committee members – in short,
everyone who is a leader in the local
association.
What steps are necessary to
enforce our contract?
Local associations must:
1. explain the new contract to
members.
2. establish appropriate grievance
machinery to protect the rights
of bargaining unit members.
30 – AR Handbook
What is the best way to explain
our contract to members?
Local associations use different
methods based on conditions. Some
associations have used all these
ideas:
• Conduct briefing sessions for
all members to explain the
contract’s major provisions.
Members of the negotiating
team, for example, can serve as
a panel which conducts afterschool
meetings in each building
in the district.
• Write specific guidelines to new
concepts and procedures in
the contract. These guidelines
should be given to ARs and
other association leaders with
specific suggestions for making
certain the agreement is not
violated.
• Print the contract, and distribute
it to all association members.
(The AR is the logical person to
distribute contracts personally
to the members he/she
represents.)
• Obtain a copy of school board
policies for distribution, as
needed, to ARs.
ARs promote contract
enforcement
Initiate checks on the contract’s
enforcement. As a vital association
leader, the AR is best able to detect
small problems at early stages,
where they can be solved with less
difficulty. The AR must enforce the
contract.
• Make contract enforcement
a regular agenda item at AR
meetings.