Arbitration ends, no imminent strike in Peters
The arbitration hearing between Peters Township School District and the Peters Township Federation of Teachers Local 3421 ended after only three hours Friday, and now the matter is in the hands of the three-person arbitration panel who will meet April 12 to discuss the findings from the hearing.
Once those discussions – which have no set length – are complete, the panel then has 20 days to make a final recommendation to both sides.
The district and the union have 10 days to either accept or reject the recommendation, which means a second work stoppage by the teachers could not take place until mid May. The last day of school in the district is June 23. Panel members include Timothy Tietze, a Chester County attorney who is the neutral party; Gretchen Love, the district’s attorney; and Paul Homer, a staff representative of the union.
The outstanding issue between the teachers, who have been working without a contract since Aug. 31, are salaries and health care costs. The average teacher’s salary is in excess of $70,000 a year in Peters. After failing to reach an agreement last fall, the district’s 285 teachers walked off their jobs for three weeks and returned to work the day after Thanksgiving.
“We feel the district was able to present a compelling narrative to support its position in the negotiations,” said Pittsburgh attorney Russell Lucas, who represented the district during the two days of arbitration. “The federation declined to make a presentation.”
Kris Bergman, the union president, said he was pleased with the hearing.
“We went through the process and look forward to the arbitrator’s award,” he said. “I am confident in the process.”
If the final recommendation is rejected by either the district or the union, then both sides will return to the negotiating table. Because state law requires that the district get in 180 days of instruction by June 30, a second strike would not be as long as the one in the fall. The union must give the district a 48-hour notice if it intends to go on strike again.