EXETER — The teachers union for the Wyoming Area School District issued a media release Thursday announcing teachers “will be gathering outside of the Intermediate Center” Tuesday rather than heading into the classroom, but the district later posted a statement on its website indicating the problem had been resolved.
The upshot: classes should be held Tuesday.
The union had put the blame for the “work stoppage” squarely on the shoulder of the district and school board,” calling it a “lockout,” not a strike. The district posting said the two sides had reached a “tentative agreement to extend” the current contract until August 2020.
“The board enters into this agreement to avoid certain disruption to our student education, legal ramifications and significant associated costs.” the post said.
The earlier union release contended the school board “violated the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement” with the union “resulting in an illegal lockout of its professional teaching staff,” the release said.
The union argues that, at a non-public executive session on Tuesday, the school board voted to break the contract by refusing “to authorize already negotiated pay increases” which, in turn, “is resulting in an illegal lockout of its workforce.
The term “lockout” refers to the physical act of locking the doors and preventing workers from getting in and doing their job, but there are other legal definitions, including coercing a change in conditions or compensation of employees.
The union has filed an unfair labor practice “for failure to follow an arbitration award,” the union release notes.
“Our courts have already held that in this situation that locals should receive the salary increases provided for in the contract. The board’s refusal to follow the law will result in greater costs to the taxpayers due to the unnecessary litigation that will result due to their reckless conduct.”
Union President Melissa Dolman expressed disappointment, quoted in the release saying teachers “want to be in our classrooms educating our students.”
The current contract expires Saturday. Typically, if an agreement isn’t reached before a contract expires, teachers continue to work under the terms of the expired contract until a new contract is worked out. Such a situation keeps teacher salaries unchanged until the new contract goes into effect.
“This situation has nothing to do with bargaining,” Dolman is quoted as saying. “It has everything to do with the fact that the school board is blatantly breaking the law and disregarding the current agreement that was negotiated and agreed upon.”
The district posting promises: “The Board remains committed to working to find savings for the residents of the District. The Board will continue to address savings in wages, health care, and costly benefits in a time of extreme financial challenges within the District.”
