MAR LIN - The 67 teachers at Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29 would like raises retroactive to the date their last contract expired, June 30, 2012, according to the attorneys representing the teachers and the school board in contract negotiations.
But the school board isn't too keen on adding that into a future contract, the attorney representing the IU 29 school board, Charles N. Sweet, New Britain, Bucks County, said Wednesday.
"They think we're going to give them most of what they want, but what they want is not available," Sweet said Thursday after an hour and 45 minute bargaining session at the Maple Avenue Campus.
"The board's made it very clear they're not interested in retroactivity," said the lawyer for the teachers, Ralph J. Teti, a senior partner in the law firm of Willig, Williams and Davidson, Philadelphia.
"We're very far apart. They gave no indications they want to move rapidly," Sweet said.
One thing the parties did agree on Thursday night were two dates and times to hold future negotiation sessions at the campus, 3:30 p.m. May 19, and 10 a.m. June 11.
The IU 29's 67 teachers have been working without a contract since June 30, 2012, when their three-year pact expired. Negotiations began Jan. 9, 2012. The last IU 29 negotiation session was Feb. 19. The last session before that was June 6.
The IU 29 teachers are being represented by Teamsters Local 429, Wyomissing, Berks County, and Teti. The mediator is William D. Gross, director of the Bureau of Mediation at the state Department of Labor & Industry, Harrisburg.
In late February, the teachers emailed a proposal for a five-year contract to the school board.
"We gave them a document we believe is a starting point to discuss all of the elements that are normally a part of a collective bargaining agreement," Teti said.
At Thursday's session, representatives of the parties met face to face for an hour and 15 minutes to discuss it in the administrative board room in Room 1110.
"Our position is that everything is on the table. This is an initial proposal. And our starting point was to ask for a wage increase that covers all years of the contract period, even the interim," Teti said.
"There was a little crying on their part. They're saying we're being punitive. But we don't have any money. None of the 12 districts are working with a surplus. I think they're all working with significant deficits and the teachers are still taking about retroactivity back to 2012," Sweet said.
"We've told them we understand that that's their position now, but we're hopeful as we go on to future sessions, in good faith, they might change their minds or trade for something. Negotiations are about give and take," Teti said.
"They wanted to start agreeing to things," Sweet said.
"What we were hoping we were going to get today, given the passage of time, were detailed questions from the board about the contents of our proposal, or a counter proposal. Unfortunately, we didn't get either. We're disappointed," Teti said.
"We're going to give them a comprehensive proposal," Sweet said, and he and the school board plan to present one to the teachers on May 19. "I have promised that it will be ready," Sweet said.
The Schuylkill IU 29 and its teachers negotiated the last three-year contract for 27 months, coming to terms in April 2011. Retroactive to 2009, that pact offered no pay increases for the 2009-10 school year, a 2.25 percent pay increase for the 2010-11 school year and a 2.17 percent pay increase for the 2011-12 school year, according to The Republican-Herald archives.
Sweet said he had no idea how long the current talks would continue but said the board will make an effort to hold more negotiations sessions with the hope that it would bring the parties closer to an agreement.