Editor’s Note: This article has been updated with information contained in a news release from the Saucon Valley Education Association.
The Saucon Valley Education Association’s chief negotiator told the Express-Times following a two-hour meeting Monday that the union isn’t planning a strike.
Rich Simononis said that after discussing “all alternatives moving forward,” teachers agreed to put their students first and continue to negotiate a new contract with the school board, in spite of the fact that both sides have recently expressed little optimism for an end to the current dispute.
“The [SVEA’s] membership expressed faith and trust that the school board will choose to come back to the table in a timely fashion and negotiate,” he said in a news release about the meeting.
Teachers have been working without a contract since June 30, 2012, and negotiations have been ongoing for nearly three years. Saucon teachers previously went on strike in 2005, 2008 and 2009.
The most recent threat of a strike at Saucon Valley was raised Friday by the school board’s attorney, Jeff Sultanik, following another negotiation session that failed to produce any positive results.
Sultanik also predicted that teachers would ask for a continuance of a hearing before the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board that’s scheduled for Nov. 24.
That hearing is being held because the school board has accused the SVEA of regressive bargaining; a type of bargaining that involves making less favorable offers over time.
Thank goodness.