Talks progressing slowly; major issues remain pay, health benefits

By alison granito

Staff Writer

Millstone school board and union officials both said their representatives are still actively attempting to come to an agreement on a contract for the members of Millstone Township Education Association (MTEA).

"We are still talking," MTEA lead negotiator Irene Pearson said Friday, noting that another mediation session between board and union officials was scheduled for Jan. 30.

"It is slow going," Pearson said of the negotiations process. "Certainly we were hoping that we would have some results by now.

"It’s already January, and we are still without a contract," she added.

The MTEA’s contract expired in June. Teachers have been working without a contract since school opened in September.

Since that time, MTEA members, dressed in matching blue T-shirts that call attention to the fact that they are working without a contract, have consistently packed the house at school board meetings.

An update given by board officials also characterized the negotiations process as slow but ongoing.

Board of Education Vice President Kathy Winecoff, who chairs the board’s negotiations committee, said at last week’s board meeting that although the negotiations were moving along slowly, "progress is being made."

"There are a lot of issues on the table," she added.

Board President Linda O’Reilly said that both sides were "working diligently" to come to an agreement on a contract.

The Jan. 30 meeting will represent the third bargaining session since board and union officials decided to bring in a mediator from the state Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) last month.

According to Pearson, the major sticking points between the two parties have been salary and health benefits.

She said that little progress has been made on those issues.

Union officials have said that low pay and the requirement that members pay extra for family health coverage has contributed to a number of teachers leaving the district.

"The association is concerned about the number of teachers that left and those who are considering looking elsewhere," Pearson said.

Last month, school officials said that 18 teachers have resigned from the district between September 2001 and October 2002. District Superintendent Dr. William Setaro said that of the 13 staff members who completed exit interviews, three were part-time staff who left to pursue full-time employment opportunities, three left to accept positions in other districts that offered them promotions, four cited the fact that the district did not offer paid family health coverage, two moved out of state, and one cited difficulties encountered due to teaching and residing in the same community.