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August 1, 2009

NW Area sides talk over weekend

Union rep: Unfair labor complaint filing would only delay agreement.

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter
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UNION TWP. – Northwest Area School District teacher contract talks – still mandated under court order – continue this weekend, and union lead negotiator Matt Gruenloh said one reason the sides are at the table rather than each others’ legal throats is the union decision not to file an unfair labor complaint regarding the board’s overwhelming rejection of tentative agreement on July 22.

The 7-1 vote to reject the agreement was “a clear unfair labor practice,” Gruenloh said, because it obviously meant someone on the four-man negotiating committee had agreed to the deal at first but changed his mind once it came up for public vote.

“How can the teachers now trust anything these guys say?” the negotiator asked.

But the union decided against filing an unfair labor practice complaint with the state Labor Relations Board because such a move would almost certainly add to the delay in agreeing to a new contract. The last contract expired in 2005.

“Why spend all those resources and time” filing a complaint, Gruenloh said.

Teachers pushed the issue into the courts when the union announced plans to strike June 22. The state Department of Education determined even a one-day strike would make it impossible for the district to have the state-mandated 180 days of school by June 30, and sought a court injunction barring the strike.

Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge James Burke granted the injunction, but in a pre-hearing conference the two sides agreed to a schedule of court-ordered bargaining until a settlement was reached.

On June 30 they announced a tentative agreement that the union approved July 8, but after some controversy the board rejected it two weeks later. Since the court order was still in effect, the sides returned to mandated talks.

Gruenloh said the two sides will meet today, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Sunday for five hours in the afternoon. He added that the union’s position is that it already agreed to overall terms of a contract and it is up to the board to make a new proposal.

A key sticking point is retroactive pay. Board members have said the tentative deal proved too costly.

Gruenloh said the union’s stance is that both sides agreed to retroactive pay, and that “teachers are willing to work on how the board pays it,” including paying in installments over a set time frame.

In an e-mail, district lead negotiator attorney Richard Galtman wrote “there is nothing substantive to report,” and that “there were several frank discussions related to where we are and how we got here … Beyond that, there was no progress made toward reaching an agreement.”

Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7161

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