Perkiomen Valley Education Association warns of looming strike - Daily Local News 2/15/2011

The Daily Local (dailylocal.com), Serving Chester County, PA

Perkiomen Valley Education Association warns of looming strike

Tuesday, February 15, 2011
By Phil Ellingsworth Jr.
Special to the Local News


COLLEGEVILLE — A room packed full of teachers, parents and residents turned out to Monday night’s Perkiomen Valley School Board meeting, voicing disapproval about the ongoing contract dispute and supporting the members of the Perkiomen Valley Education Association’s bid for a “fair” contract.

About 125 people turned out to support district educators who have been working without a new contract since June 30. Negotiations have reached an impasse, leading the union to say the district has until Feb. 28 to meet its demands or they will go on strike.

Education Association President Bill McGill said he was attending Monday night’s meeting on behalf of the 435 "highly qualified and dedicated professionals" who work with students on a daily basis.

"We are the teachers, counselors, nurses, school psychologists and therapists," McGill said.

Members want a "fair and equitable" contract, much like the two-year agreement given to district administrators last summer that included a 2.9 percent salary raise and contained no concessions, he said.

"That is all we're looking for. We want to be treated as fairly as you treated the administrators last year," he said.

McGill said it is "worthy to note" that when the administrators’ agreement was reached, it was during the same time educators were trying to reach their own contract.

"It is easy to see by the actions of this board that you view the admin team as being a more important piece of this educational system," he said.

McGill once again warned the board if an agreement is not reached by Feb. 28, it "will strike after providing the required 48-hour notice."

"We do not want to strike, but will in order to get a fair and equitable contract like the one you gave the admin team," he said. "We may bend, but we will not break."

McGill said during the last time the two parties met Feb. 4, the union gave its “rock bottom” proposal to help "expedite" the negotiation process, but it was rejected by the board.

"We have nowhere to go after that offer because we would be bargaining against ourselves," he said.

Several parents echoed McGill’s statements, including Collegeville resident Mindy Strohecker, who said she was upset to see the district's website does not accurately tell what is occurring during negotiations, painting educators in a negative light.

"This didn't seem right," Strohecker said. "Where's the appreciation?"

The teachers are not fighting because they want to, but to achieve salary and benefits they deserve, she said.

Many parents expressed concerned that a disruption due to a strike would affect their children, including Skippack parent Cindi Veverka.

Perkiomen Valley teachers are still doing a "tremendous" job, despite the stress that comes along with the negotiation process, explaining it has not hindered the education of the students, Veverka said.

"There's a lot of stress there, not knowing what is going on," she said.

It is not fair to students to miss school for a few days because of a strike, then have them return and have to pick up where they left off in their lessons, she said.

"It is the children that are going to suffer," she said. "We would love to have this settled."

Skippack resident Pam Kirkman felt the same as Veverka. "We do want an end to this as a taxpayer, as a parent," Kirkman said.

Kirkman asked the school board what concessions have been made during the negotiation process, with board solicitor Brian Subers saying there have been concessions made in salary.

The board wanted salaries to come in below the Act 1 index and the fact-finder's report came in above that, so that was one of the concessions agreed up, Subers said.

Subers did not give any additional details on any other concessions.

The board did not comment on the public’s remarks, and Subers said to another person who asked the board a question that this is "a public comment period" where the board accepts comments and will not answer all of the questions brought before them.

"It is not a public debate, period. The board is not required to debate every issue the public wishes to debate," he said.

Subers also gave insight into the negotiation process, saying there are four school board members on the contract negotiation team who then report back to the entire board.

More negotiation sessions are scheduled between the two parties' lead negotiators and the third-party mediator, but Subers said the meetings are “informal.”

According to the district’s website, if a work stoppage does occur, the Freedom Valley and North Penn YMCAs will run full-day childcare programs for students in grades kindergarten through eighth.

URL: http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2011/02/15/news/doc4d5b02bfc9b66786924972.prt
© 2011 dailylocal.com, a Journal Register Property