Professional Negotiator Hired By School Board

The af ppointment of Thomas W. Hill as chief negotiator and assistanit in personnel for the Ann Arbor Public Schools was appro ved unanimously last night by the Board of Education. Hill, 33, who presently resides in Deariborn, will begin his new duties Honday. Until the present sahary dispute is resolved with the teachers and a 1968-69 contract is signed, howeverj Supt. W. Scott Westerman Jr. will rermain as chief negotiator. Hill will'. attend the negotiating sessions with the teachers this summer as an adviser. This :is the first time a fulltime professional negotiator has been hired by the Ann Arbor school system. Hill will plan and direct for the Boa rd of E'ducation all negotiations with the schools' five bargaining units- the teachers' lassociat.ion, custodians, secreItaries, bus drivers and cafeteIria workers. . Hill will function as chief negotiator with the teachers land custodians. He will serve las the resource person to the I chief negotiators for the secreItaries, bus drivers and cafeteIria workers. In addition, he will maintain Icomparative statistical data on I salaries and fringe benefits for I personnel; assist in analysis of teaching and non-teaching funcItions; including salary requireIments; compile statistical data Ion staff members; provide inI service workshop training on Icontract administration for Isupervisory personnel; serve as la resource person on grievlances to supervisory personnel; Iprepare and coordínate press eleases concermng negotia- ions, and serve on special pro-1 ects assigned by the Director' of Personnel or thej uperintendent of schools. Hill's salary, for a 12-month , year, (including one month's vacation) will be $14,500. "We are very fortúnate ini having secured Mr. Hill for this osition," Westerman said last ; light. "Those who know him . recommend him very highly." , The riew professional 1 tor is presently chief negotiator or the Lakeville Board of Education in its negotiations with, the Lakeville Education Asso-: ciation. For 2Vi years previousy, Hill was assistant to the jresident and director of organzation for the Michigan Federation of Teachers, a position which actively involved him in negotiations with the Dearborn, Gibralter, Melvindale, Allen Park, Highland Park, East Detroit, South Bend, Ind. and Youngstown, Ohio, school districts ,as well as Henry Ford and Kellogg community col- leges. As chief negotiator for the Michigan Federation of Teachers, he developed strategy, formulated collective bargaining demands, and was involved in mediation, fact-finding, arbitration and grievances. As director of organization, he was responsible for the direction of the MFT negotiating staff in 25 districts. This included in-service training programs and workshops for local teacher negotiators. He has served as editor of the MFT newspaper and bulletin and appeared on various radio and televisión programs as official spokesman for the MFT. Hill received his bachelor's Idegree at Northern Illinois I _____ i Jniversity and a master's legree in education at Eastern Michigan University. In addi;ion, he has completed all work owards an MA in political science at Northern Illinois except for the thesis. From 1965-68, he was assisJ tant to the president and direcJ tor of organization for tha MFT. From 1962-65, Hill was i secondary teacher in Melvinl dale, and an elementary teach er in West Chicago, 111., fronj 1960 to 1962. He was associatea with the Public InformatioJ Office of the U.S. Army in Ger many from 1953-56. - Hill is married and has threJ children.