McGuffey teachers approve contract

The McGuffey teachers union overwhelmingly voted in favor of a new contract Monday.
The union vote came less than a week after the union and school board reached a tentative agreement to avoid a strike for the second time this year. The tentative agreement addressed salary, health care, retirement incentive and length of contract.
Union spokesman Andrew MacBeth said McGuffey teachers are pleased that they can accept the agreement that both negotiating teams approved.
“We’re glad we voted to accept it, and we hope the board follows through and does the same,” he said.
Now, the union waits for a board decision.
The board is expected to vote on the contract Wednesday. MacBeth said specific details of the agreement won’t be released unless the school board ratifies it as well.
The two sides had been negotiating for 18 months before the tentative agreement was reached last week.
The union struck earlier this year and was prepared to strike again if an agreement couldn’t be reached.
As a part of the negotiating process, both sides agreed to bring in an independent fact-finder. The union voted for the fact-finder’s recommendations, while the board said those suggestions were unaffordable.
After the first strike, both sides began nonbinding arbitration. That arbitration panel again recommended the fact-finder’s report.
The union again supported it, saying it was fair. The board again rejected it, saying it was too costly.
That led to the late-night negotiating session that ran from Wednesday evening into Thursday morning, when the tentative agreement was reached.

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McGuffey board, union meets with arbitration panel

McGuffey School Board and teachers union representatives met with an arbitration panel Monday night to discuss a new contract.
Each side presented a shortened version of its last best offer to the three-member panel, said school board member Doug Teagarden. The unresolved issues are salary, health care, length of contract and retirement incentive.
Teagarden said the panel met for about 20 minutes in executive session before adjourning the meeting.
The panel will meet again in the next 10 days and will come back with a proposal. If necessary, it will issue a finding, Teagarden said. However, the finding is nonbinding.
The panel can come back with one of three findings: supporting the union offer, supporting the board offer or supporting the fact-finder’s report.
The board and union have been negotiating for more than 15 months. Together, they decided to bring in a fact-finder. The union accepted the fact-finder’s report, while the school board rejected it.
The union struck for two days earlier this year and the arbitration began.

McGuffey rejects teacher's contract

Edited to add: Find out about the fact-finder's report in the Observer-Reporter.
McGuffey School Board rejected a fact-finder’s report that made suggestions for a new teachers contract Thursday night.
The vote came two days after the teachers union voted to approve the fact-finder’s report. School board member Carl Group was absent from the meeting; all others voted against the report.
The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board appointed a fact-finder to give recommendations about changes to the contract. McGuffey teachers are working on an expired contract.
Under state law, the two sides cannot discuss recommendations contained in the report before the vote. The report will be posted on the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board Web site today.
School board President Joyce Knestrick said even though a vote had been taken, board members couldn’t comment because they had a verbal agreement with the union team not to comment publicly about the negotiations.
However, union spokeswoman Colleen Imbriale said in a news release earlier this week that the report didn’t give either side everything it wanted.
“But we think that it reflects a good, balanced agreement,” she said.
Since one side rejected the agreement, both sides will have to vote again after the public has been given the opportunity to review the report. The vote will have to take place between five and 10 days of each side’s original vote. They must notify the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board of the results.
If one side votes no again, the union and school board will return to the bargaining table.
The school board scheduled a meeting for 7 p.m. Thursday to vote on the fact-finder’s report again. It wasn’t clear Thursday night when the union would vote again.
McGuffey is one of five districts in Washington and Greene counties where teachers are working without a contract. The others are Canon-McMillan, Charleroi, West Greene and Southeastern Greene.

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