EAST PALESTINE Teachers' picketing protested

The teachers said they have been conducting informational picketing sessions.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
EAST PALESTINE -- Members of the East Palestine teachers union want the public to attend school board meetings and generally be more informed about the school district's operations, said Dan Carson, union spokesman.
The 95-member teachers union, the East Palestine Education Association, issued a notice Tuesday of intent to strike at 5 a.m. Oct. 21 if no labor agreement is reached.
Carson said the teachers conducted informational picketing Wednesday in front of the schools and will do so again Friday, passing out fliers primarily to encourage the public to attend the next school board meeting Oct. 30.
He said the board's attorney is considering filing an unfair-labor-practice charge because of the picketing.
"We're giving information without using public tax dollars," Carson said. "The board is keeping the public in the dark. They don't meet regularly like other boards do. We have more emergency meetings than any school district I know."
Kevin Locke, the board's attorney, said in a prepared statement that it is an unfair-labor practice to engage in any picketing without giving written notice to the employer and the State Employment Relations Board 10 days before the picketing, and that the notice include the time and date the picketing will occur.
Superintendent Jeff Richardson also said the picketing was not informational because the teachers held signs but did not pass out any information.
"As to the board keeping the public in the dark, the teachers haven't made any of their proposals public; the Oct. 30 meeting has been scheduled since the last board meeting," Richardson said.
Locke said although the teachers' bargaining team still has several issues on the table, most if not all of the recent negotiation sessions have centered on teachers salaries and changes to the health insurance plan.
No new meetings have been scheduled with a mediator.
History of talks
Negotiations began May 8 and continued until an impasse was declared June 20. Both parties have met about five times with a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
A session Oct. 3 ended after about five hours with no agreement reached.
A three-year contract expired June 30.
Under that contract, teachers' salaries for 183 days in the classroom range from $25,021 for a starting teacher to $50,043 for a teacher with a master's degree and 15 hours of additional training.
Teachers hired July 1, 1996, or after pay 10 percent of monthly health-care premiums, then do not contribute after paying into the plan for 10 years. Teachers hired before that date do not contribute.
Health-care premiums for the 2002-03 school year are $393 for single coverage and $943 for family coverage per month, with teachers paying $39 or $94, respectively.