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Tuesday, February 01, 2000 Page: 2A
WILKES-BARRE – The Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers on
Monday filed a complaint against two lay teachers asking that the men stop
calling meetings on behalf of the union.
Defendants James McKeown, of Wilkes-Barre, and Joseph E. Szewczyk, of
Hughestown, are teachers at Bishop O’Reilly High School in Kingston, according
to the complaint filed in Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.
Neither are members of the Diocese union or its subsidiary, the Bishop
O’Reilly Education Association, the complaint states.
According to the suit:
On Jan. 11, McKeown and Szewczyk wrote to all high school faculty members
calling for a reorganization meeting of the union and “to nominate
negotiators for this year’s contract negotiations.”
They conducted the meeting at the high school on Jan. 20 to nominate a
slate of negotiators to meet with the Board of Pastors.
The union claims the teachers had no authority to call the meeting, and
said the actions interfered with contractual rights and violated the unions’
constitutions.
In addition to asking for attorney fees and court costs, the suit requests
the court to order the teachers to stop attempting to nominate and elect
negotiators and “holding themselves out as authorized agents” of either
union.