Union talks at an impasse

GREAT MEADOWS | Deadlocked in a battle over insurance benefits, teachers in the Great Meadows Regional School District and board of education members want state mediators to settle the longstanding contract talks.

"We've been negotiating for about a year, and we're no closer to a settlement than we were a year ago," said John Skodocek, co-president of the teacher's union, the Great Meadows Regional Education Association.

Skodocek said the teachers decided to go to mediation after the board rejected their last offer in mid-October. Though he wouldn't go into specifics about the terms of the contract, he said the teachers told the board if they didn't accept it, mediation was the only avenue left to take.

New Jersey Education Association spokesman Steve Wollmer said when two parties such as the teachers and the school board can't reach an agreement in face-to-face negotiations, the next option is to file a petition with the state and then a state-appointed mediator steps in.

"(The mediator) is not there to take sides but to help the parties reach an agreement," Wollmer said.

Skodocek said he didn't expect mediation to become an option in the negotiations.

"I thought we be able to settle by the end of June," the eighth-grade language arts teacher said.

The teachers' three-year contract expired in June. Since then, the district's 86 teachers have been working without a contract. The starting salary for a teacher is $38,000.

Skodocek said teachers conducted business as usual over the summer months, setting up bulletin boards, hanging decorations and attending professional development activities. Even now, the teachers still run after-school activities.

"We're continuing to act professionally until the contract is settled," Skodocek said. "We don't want it to affect the students or the children at all. They're who we're in business for."

Skodocek said it wasn't until a Nov. 23 meeting that anybody knew there was a problem in the district. The teachers at each of the district's three schools have since started meeting before and after school to march en masse into and out of their schools.

"The process has unified the association," Skodocek said. He said the teachers plan to gather each morning and afternoon until the contract is settled.

Once the application for a mediator is received by the state, it can take to six to eight weeks before a mediator is assigned, said Pam Niles with the New Jersey Education Association's regional office, which serves Warren and Sussex counties.

An agreement can still be reached while the parties are waiting for a mediator, Wollmer said.

"It's a long process. I hope to be able to contact the board and settle this before mediation occurs. That's the goal," said Skodocek.

The district's three schools serve Independence and Liberty townships.