EAST PALESTINE SCHOOLS Board, union approve pact for 3 years
Teachers receive a 3-percent pay raise each year.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
EAST PALESTINE -- Negotiators willing to compromise kept teachers in the classroom and off picket lines, school officials said.
The East Palestine school board unanimously approved a three-year agreement Wednesday with the teachers union, the 95-member East Palestine Education Association.
Teachers had ratified the agreement Oct. 25.
Both sides compromised to get a settlement, Superintendent Jeff Richardson said.
Teachers will receive a 3-percent pay raise each year of the contract. They agreed to a network provider health-care plan.
Don Carson, spokesman for the union, declined to comment Wednesday. He said the EPEA will issue a press release later this week.
Teachers had issued a notice that they'd strike at 5 a.m. Oct. 21 if no contract agreement were reached. The board and teachers negotiating teams reached a tentative agreement at 3 a.m. Oct. 16, ending a session with a federal mediator that began at 5 p.m. Oct. 15.
Board Member Karen Gorby said the board is pleased to have an agreement with teachers after hours of negotiations. Gorby and John Hersh were on the board's negotiating team.
She said the long hours of negotiations are a necessary part of the school district process and well worth the effort.
"Negotiations are give and take," she said. "Neither side gets all they want, but both can walk away feeling good about the process."
Negotiations began May 8 and continued until impasse was declared June 20. Both parties met about six times with a mediator from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service before Oct. 15.