School board, MEA heading to mediator

Teacher contract negotiations stuck on salary, benefit costs.

By: Eileen Oldfield
   The Board of Education and the Manville Education Association (MEA) have hit an impasse in negotiating a new contract, and will enter mediation, according to an NJEA official.
   Talks between the board and the MEA stalled over salaries and benefits, and both sides agreed to meet with a mediator. The NJEA and a labor representative from the board will choose the mediator jointly, once a list of qualified people is compiled.
   The teachers’ contract expired on June 30. The MEA represents approximately 170 district teachers.
   According to county NJEA spokesman Bill Render, issues with the current contracts involve teachers’ salaries and health benefits, and focus on the low average salary that Manville teachers receive.
   "If you have a low pay scale, and you’re building a budget from a board’s perspective, it becomes difficult to compete when you have school districts in the area with a higher budget," said Mr. Render. "The association feels there’s a need for the board to realize there’s a salary gap."
   Local MEA president Cathy Miskov was unavailable for comment.
   The just-expired MEA contract included a 4.7 percent increase in average salary in 2004-2005, followed by 4.9 percent increases for each of the last two years. When the contract was signed, Ms. Miskov noted Manville teachers’ salaries were about 12 to 15 percent below nearby districts’ average salaries.
   The contract also increased the co-payment for MEA members using the Point-of-Service health plan from $5 to $10, but did not require the members to pay towards the plan premiums.
   The recent contract issues follow contract problems in 2004 and 2001 that also stemmed from salary issues.
   In 2004, the Board of Education and the MEA entered mediation after eight bargaining sessions did not result in a contract. That year, low salaries and high staff turnover concerned the MEA. The issue was resolved during September of that year, two months after the contract’s June expiration.
   The contract problems in 2004 followed a three-day teachers strike in 2001. Contract negotiations were unsuccessful that year, and the strike prompted the Board of Education to get a court order forcing the teachers to return to work, hiring substitute teachers to cover classes, and docking the striking teachers’ pay.
   The 2001 contract settlement raised teachers’ salaries from an average of $44,554 per year to $52,154 per year, required union members to pay a deductible on medical insurance claims, and added 55 minutes to the school day.