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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Negotiations stalled

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
   A meeting Tuesday between a Board of Education labor committee and members of the South Brunswick Education Association teachers union ended without agreement by the parties, according to officials.
   Union President Chris Hines said Thursday that while he was not able to personally attend the negotiating session, both sides were not able to come together on a new three-year contract.
   According to Hines, the union has been working without a contract since July 1 and has met with the district a few times in the interim.
   The union brought out more than 200 members at the last two board meetings to show solidarity in the negotiations.
   Neither side will comment on the specifics that are keeping the sides’ apart.
   At the last board meeting, President Stephen Parker said the district was ready to negotiate in good faith, but he felt that Mr. Hines was stalling to gain a strategic advantage in the negotiations, comparing it to a chess match being played by the union.
   Mr. Hines said that the union has been ready to negotiate, but that certain aspects of the district’s proposals must first be approved by the 700 some members.
   In the last round of negotiations, the union received annual increases of around three percent in each of the three years.
   While compensation is a major component of the talks, Mr. Hines said there are other issues that are being raised in the negotiations.