W-b Owes To Two Firefighters

Albert Stravinsky 
Feb. 5, 1994 
Albert J. Stravinsky, Of Walnut Street, Luzerne, Died Saturday At Riverstreet 
Manor, Wilkes-barre.

By ANNE KAROLYI and MITCH MORRISON; Times Leader Staff Writers
 Tuesday, February 08, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A QUICK WORDS: WVW TEACHERS, BOARD
CAN'T SEEM TO BURY CONTRACT 





KINGSTON -- The contract battle between Wyoming Valley West teachers and
the school board could start again. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Three months after the district and its teachers ended two years of bitter
negotiations, the school board is considering filing an unfair labor-practice
action with the state over the still-unsigned contract, according to two
school officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The contract has remained unsigned because the school board and teachers
union are at odds over how the raises included in the four-year contract would
be distributed among teachers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The school board met privately to discuss the contract after a public work
session Monday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Under state procedures, the teachers union would have to respond to the
board's planned complaint to the state. The state then could order both sides
to return to the negotiating table, or the state could take a side. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Union head Tony Kane said Monday he won't comment on the issue until after
Wednesday's board meeting. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It is unlikely the labor complaint will force both sides to start
negotiations anew. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Because the agreement is not signed, the salary dispute could be enough for
directors to demand the contract, or at least the salary and benefits package,
be renegotiated, Superintendent Norman Namey said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I certainly thought when they ratified that contract it was over," Namey
said. "But the damn thing is coming back to haunt us. It's going on too long." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Nov. 3, with a 5-4 vote, the former school board approved a contract
including 16 percent raises over four years. The contract, retroactive to the
1992-1993 school year, will raise the average teacher salary from about
$41,000 to about $47,500 by its final year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 All seemed settled, except for the salary schedule. Teachers are paid
according to a 14-step scale; as they gain more experience and education, they
move up the schedule. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The district approved about $6,900 more for each teacher during the four
years, but left the decision of the schedule, or how to distribute the money
on the scale, to the union. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The union submitted a salary schedule, which the board approved, Namey
said. The union "fine-tuned" the agreement and presented another schedule to
the teachers, which they approved, said Gloria Bartnicki, a field
representative for the Pennsylvania State Education Association in
Wilkes-Barre, which represents teachers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 For the district, the two schedules will cost the same amount of money. For
the union, teachers at the lower end of the 14-step scale would receive about
$200 less, while teachers at the top would receive about $100 more, Bartnicki
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The board refused to approve the second schedule, noting that directors
approved and were paying teachers according to the first. The union filed a
grievance with Namey and refused to sign the contract until the matter is
resolved. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We said it might need some fine-tuning, and when we fine-tuned it, they
wouldn't approve it," Bartnicki said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now, both sides are once again deadlocked, and reopening the contract could
spark great debate. Because of changes after the November election the new
board is missing three of the five directors who carried the final,
affirmative vote on the contract: George Dervinis, Ed D'Amico, and Loretta
Farris. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Directors Jim Burns, Jim Youngblood, Kevin Warman and Paul Dietrich voted
against it, and new directors Mike Barna and Paul Cwalina spoke out against
the contract before they joined the board. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 New director Daniel Chipego declined to take sides before he was sworn in. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Directors originally had been pushing for 9 percent raises over three
years, or 3 percent raises each year. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Once (the schedule) was approved, they had no right to change it," Warman
said. "Maybe, at this point, we should say, let's get back to the table and
see what's going on here." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If directors wanted to reopen the contract, they should never have
recognized it, Bartnicki said. They paid teachers retroactively for the first
year, instituted benefits and began paying salaries according to a new
schedule, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They certainly recognize that it's been ratified," Bartnicki said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Directors could just approve the new schedule, as it makes no difference to
the district budget, Bartnicki said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Warman said he is opposed to that idea. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "After the abuse I've taken for two years from Tony Kane and his cohorts, I
think not," Warman said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Since the settlement, the district slowly has been creeping back to normal,
Namey said. Teachers continued to work with student clubs during the eighth
period of their school days, and some have resumed unpaid, after-school
activities such as tutoring, Namey said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 During the conflict, teachers stopped all volunteer work in the district.
Teachers are including materials in their instructional budgets for
traditionally volunteer events such as History Day and the spring science
competition as well, Namey said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "So that ... was a good sign," he said. "And now this."

Wvw Teachers, Board Can't Seem To Bury Contract Hatchet 
How Raises Would Be 
Distributed Has Hung Up The 
Signing Of The Contract, And 
The Board May File An Unfair 
Labor-practice Action

Wvw Teachers, Board Can't Seem To Bury Contract Hatchet How Raises Would Be Distributed Has Hung Up The Signing Of The Contract, And The Board May File An Unfair Labor-practice Action