McGuffey teachers will strike Monday

McGuffey School District teachers will strike Monday because an agreement on a new contract cannot be reached with the school board.
The two sides have been bargaining for more than a year, efforts that included bringing in an independent fact-finder to make recommendations for a new contract.
The board unanimously voted against the fact-finder’s report twice while the teachers voted for it both times.
“This is the last thing we want to do, but the school board has left us with no other options,” said Andrew MacBeth, spokesman for the McGuffey union.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education will determine how long the teachers can strike, but the district must complete 180 days of instruction by June 30, said spokeswoman Leah Harris. The department will also determine how many days they can strike to complete school by June 15, after which the sides can begin non-binding arbitration, Harris said.
The last student day, as of Tuesday, is June 11.
MacBeth said the board has not been bargaining in good faith.
“They’ve said no at every turn to things that could resolve this dispute,” MacBeth said, adding the union is trying to come to a fair agreement that teachers can live with and the district can afford. He said the total payroll in the fact-finder’s recommendation would have been less than it was last year.
Doug Teagarden, a school board member who is on the negotiating team, said the board has negotiated in good faith. He said all contracts come down to money and benefits and the board’s most recent proposal called for teachers to split the increased costs of health insurance in each year of the contract.
Union representatives told the board negotiating team last week that offer wouldn’t be accepted, Teagarden said.
The union’s counterproposal was the fact-finder’s report. Teagarden said he would take that back to the board if the union wanted, but he suspected the vote would remain the same.
“We said ‘Come back at us with a proposal and we’ll take a look at it’,” he said.
That meeting was an open discussion, Teagarden said. He said the board is still willing to talk and that he has no animosity toward the teachers.
“I’m not sure that striking is going to get us where we need to go,” he said. “I just hope it doesn’t adversely affect the kids.”
MacBeth said the teachers waited until Monday to strike because seniors have graduation projects to present Friday. Teachers didn’t want to stop that from happening as planned, he said.
Teagarden said the union published a full-page advertisement in the Observer-Reporter and sent postcards to residents, asking them to call board members about the contract negotiations.
Teagarden said he received about 10 calls. Only one caller asked him to give in, while the rest told him to stay the course, he said.
MacBeth said many people in the McGuffey community have voiced their support for teachers over the past several months.
“We are very grateful for the community’s support,” he said. “When so many people want this contract resolved, I just don’t understand why the school board won’t work with us.”