Salary increases and benefits are the main issues unresolved between the board and the union.
By: Eileen Oldfield
The Board of Education and the Manville Education Association (MEA) have tentatively planned to meet with a mediator Monday to continue the teachers’ contract negotiations, said district Superintendent Donald Burkhardt.
The meeting will include representatives of the Board of Education, the MEA, both organizations’ negotiators, and the mediator.
A representative from the NJEA and a labor representative for the board chose the mediator jointly from a list of qualified people after the two sides failed to reach agreement on a new contract.
MEA President Cathie Miskov could not be reached for comment.
The district’s teachers’ contracts expired June 30. Salary increases and benefits are the main issues unresolved between the board and the MEA, which represents approximately 170 district teachers and staff members.
Some recently signed teacher contracts in the state have included salary increases above the spending cap imposed by the state this year. School officials say Manville could see fewer teachers or program cuts if teachers’ raises exceed the salary cap here.
"If the teachers’ demands exceed what is in the budget, the money would have to come from somewhere else, or there would have to be fewer teachers," said Dr. Burkhardt. "You’re sort of bound by the amount of money you have in the budget, and you have to go from that."
The 2007 to 2008 school budget was reduced from $17,078,178 to $17,028,178 in May, after being voted down during April’s elections.
District teachers will work under the old contract’s conditions, until a new contract is signed.
Other districts surrounding Manville, including Branchburg, Bedminster, and Hunterdon Central, are also in mediation for teachers’ contracts. According to the NJEA spokesman handling Bedminster’s contract negotiations, Bill Render, teachers and administrators there completed one mediation session and are in the process of scheduling a second session.
"We’re hopeful that something can be worked out at the next session," said Mr. Render. "We’re not ready to make any comments (about the session) at this point."
The last MEA contract included a 4.7 percent increase in average salary in 2004-2005, followed by 4.9 percent increases for 2006 and 2007, respectively. When the contract was signed, Ms. Miskov noted Manville teachers’ salaries were about 12 to 15 percent below nearby districts’ average salaries.
MEA members on the Point-of-Service Health Plan saw their co-payment increase from $5 to $10 in the last contract as well; however, members did not have to pay toward plan premiums.
The Board of Education and the MEA entered mediation in 2004, after bargaining sessions failed to produce a contract. In April 2001, teachers held a three-day strike after going 11 months with out a new contract.

