Marathon bargaining session ends without agreement; no further talks until Tuesday
A 14-hour marathon bargaining session between the Princeton Regional Board of Education and its teachers union ended at 6 a.m. Friday without negotiators reaching a contract.
According to a statement released by the Princeton Regional Education Association, no further talks will be held before Tuesday, when teachers are scheduled to return to work. The teachers will meet at 7 a.m. at the Marriott Hotel in Plainsboro "to go over our options," PREA co-president Suzanne Thompson said Friday.
"I think it’s going to be a rough week," Ms. Thompson said.
The board is planning to keep schools open in the event of a strike.
"We’re preparing for the possibility of a job action," said the school board’s vice president, Anne Burns. A strike on Tuesday will have little effect because the students don’t return to the classroom until Thursday.
"A strike is a strike against the children," said school board President Charlotte Bialek.
"I thought there was a possibility we would close it out," Ms. Burns said of Thursday’s all-night negotiating session.
The aftermath of the breakdown in talks, held with a state mediator, was a war of words, with the PREA blaming the school board for not making time for another bargaining session that could avert a strike on Tuesday.
"When pressed, the board indicated the earliest it would entertain a meeting would be Wednesday," Ms. Thompson said. "At that point we knew it was hopeless."
Ms. Thompson said the board negotiators were "more interested in going on vacation than in settling our contract."
Ms. Bialek and Ms. Burns both said they have commitments that will take them out of the area this weekend.
Ms. Burns said the board offered to sit down with the PREA earlier this week and the union had not been able to meet.