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PEOPLE BRIEFS

First Posted: 3/7/2014 KINGSTON &#8212; The union representing teachers in contract negotiations at the Luzerne Intermediate Unit has filed a claim of unfair labor practice against the unit and its lead negotiator, contending he has illegally bypassed the union&#8217;s appointed negotiator and contacted members directly.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t mind a tough fight,&#8221; Pennsylvania State Education Association Northeast Region Director John Holland said of LIU negotiator John Audi. &#8220;But you have to stay within the law.&#8221;
Audi responded that he is working within the law, and that Holland is attacking him because the union membership has turned on Holland and he&#8217;s panicking.
The union contends the two sides met for negotiations March 4 and that two days later the LIU provided offers that were on the table directly to union members, then had administrators &#8220;pressure employees to accept an agreement.&#8221;
Audi said negotiations had been ongoing for four years. &#8220;Most recently in the last six months, the parties realized that in order to get an agreement, they would have to go around John Holland because he&#8217;s an obstructionist.&#8221;
Audi said union President Ed Clarke last week sent LIU Executive Director Tony Grieco a private email saying, &#8220;If you put this on the table, we&#8217;ll have an agreement.&#8221; Audi said he presented those exact terms at the negotiating table, but Clarke &#8220;backed off&#8221; and he and Holland refused to present the offer to the union membership.
Then, Audi said, the LIU published the offer on the &#8220;employee only&#8221; section of the LIU website. &#8220;This is America. We&#8217;re allowed to do that. It would have been unlawful if we sent it to the membership without going to the union leadership first,&#8221; Audi said.
&#8220;We felt it was time the union members knew what was happening at the table. Apparently, what has happened is that there has been a groundswell of outrage from the membership that union leadership didn&#8217;t give them the opportunity to vote on the proposal. We understand that next week, union members are meeting without the consent of leadership to vote on the contract and get Holland out of the LIU,&#8221; Audi said.
The contract at the LIU expired August 2010.
Disputes uncommon
Contract disputes at the LIU are rare. Regional intermediate units were set up by the state to provide a variety of services to area schools, most often special education.
Intermediate units do not have school buildings, usually operating in space provided by school districts. They also do not have any taxing authority, relying primarily on payments from member districts for those services, and some direct payments from districts to cover the administrative budget.
The LIU is run by a board comprised of representatives from school boards of each of the 12 member districts. Teacher contracts have traditionally been based on an average of salaries and benefits for staffs in the member districts.
The claim against Audi &#8212; and the harsh words from Holland, who called him &#8220;unethical&#8221; and &#8220;deceptive&#8221; &#8212; have a special timbre in view of their history. Audi previously worked in the same union building as Holland, often serving as the legal arm in contract disputes &#8212; including filing unfair labor practices.
Audi was also a former hearing examiner for the state Labor Relations Board, Holland said, and as such has ruled on such complaints.
Audi has repeatedly said the chief hang up is an &#8220;escalator clause&#8221; in old contracts that allows teacher pay to &#8220;creep up&#8221; well above the average of member districts, and that the LIU board wants the clause removed.
Holland has countered that the board wants changes in contract language that are &#8220;unacceptable.&#8221;
Times Leader staff writer Steve Mocarsky contributed to this story.

Labor grievance filed in LIU contract negotiations.