LANGHORNE, PA (October 28, 2012) — Monday Negotiations Canceled as Hurricane Sandy Approaches; NFT Leaders Say District’s Latest Proposal Threatens to Blow Away Recent Progress
Leaders of the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers today called on school district officials to set the record straight on the current status of issues in ongoing contract talks—and to clarify for teachers and the community whether they are committed to reaching an agreement.
The NFT leaders spoke out after news reports in which Neshaminy School Board President
Ritchie Webb discussed matters that remain unresolved in the ongoing negotiations between the NFT and the district. Last week the Board’s attorney offered a partial proposal that had not been fully reviewed by the Board and breaks sharply with progress that has been achieved over the last several weeks as the two sides have bargained over terms modeled after the new Council Rock teachers contract.
Anne Schmidt, NFT vice president and bargaining team member, said that Webb’s comments to the news media “left out the substantial sacrifices that NFT members have offered in the talks.” She also noted that Webb mischaracterized the union’s position on retirement provisions. The NFT’s recent offer unequivocally accepts the Board's demand to end healthcare benefits and the retirement incentive payout for all future retirees.
“Teachers are still reeling from the concessions we offered for the sake of bringing closure,” Schmidt said. “They are stunned and indignant that we’ve given the Board virtually everything they’ve demanded and all it brought was another complete shift—more disruptive tactics from
Mr. Webb and the Board’s attorney. Our members have been patient and hopeful, but they've let us know loud and clear that they are about out of patience.”
She also said that Webb and the district negotiators should be making their statements at the bargaining table. “Mr. Webb said more about the Board’s position in these news reports than he has ever been willing to explain at a negotiating meeting. Too often, their strategy has been to use those meetings for handing papers across the table and then using the press and the board meetings to bash teachers over concerns they have not expressed directly.”
Also today, the two sides agreed to cancel negotiations scheduled Monday evening, after the state mediator guiding the talks suggested that the approach of Hurricane Sandy could make it difficult for him to attend. The next bargaining session is scheduled Wednesday.
NFT President Louise Boyd said that proposal poses “real risks to the quality of education and to the well-being of students” in Neshaminy schools. “We can only hope that they will fill in many of the blanks left by their incomplete proposal,” she said. “As it stands now, this proposal is a step backwards.”
Both NFT leaders said the Board’s latest proposal makes further progress difficult. “We have genuinely tried to keep the focus on what's happening at the bargaining table,” Boyd said, “and it is disappointing that Mr. Webb prefers to express the District’s positions with the media before sharing them at the table. If the Board is more worried about politics and news clippings than good-faith bargaining, the path to a settlement will be difficult.”
Three weeks ago, the NFT made a proposal that offers unprecedented sacrifices by teachers, Schmidt noted. “That proposal modified contract language to address virtually every major objection the Board has raised—including a clarification of the teacher voice provision.
“All we’re asking of Mr. Webb and the Board is to engage with us at the bargaining table on the issues raised in our response to the Council Rock framework,” Schmidt added. “Whether they do that will reveal if they are committed to reaching an agreement. Unfortunately, we're back to asking whether they are at the table with that purpose. We don’t need yet another ‘game-changer’ from the Board. This is not a game, and we want to remain serious about closing in on a settlement.”
