Teachers Union, School Board Resume Talks

By Josh Adams, Eagle Times, Claremont, N.H.

May 7–CHARLESTOWN — Contract negotiations resumed last week between the Fall Mountain school board and the district’s teaching union, and parties on both sides said the exchange of contract proposals may be a step in the right direction. Officials wouldn’t divulge specific differences between the two documents, but health care cost continues to be an issue.

Board member Cheryl Cavanaugh is on the district’s negotiating committee. She said teachers focused on salary and insurance and that the board’s proposal also includes changes to contract language. The board also suggested changes to which insurance plans are offered to district employees, Cavanaugh said.

“It’s a good start,” Cavanaugh said. “I’m not sure we’re there yet.”

Union president Heidi Gove is not on the union’s negotiating committee, but said she understands health insurance continues to be the sticking point. In March, Gove said roughly 70 percent of union members are enrolled in a plan that is offered at no cost to employees. Two other plans offered in the district require employees to pay 15 percent of the premiums.

“Certainly, when you come to the table and both sides have starting positions, that’s a good sign,” Gove said Friday.

Members of the teachers union have worked without a contract for six of the last 10 years. In March, voters rejected a contract proposal recommended by a mediator called in after negotiations broke down between the board and the union.

Gove said teachers are leaving the district for lack of pay, and the history of labor disputes is not helping.

“When you’re a young teacher making $22,000 a year and having to pay $2 and something for gas like everybody else, it’s difficult,” Gove said. “Especially in a district where there’s a pattern of having no contract. They have nothing to gain by staying here.”

Also last week, negotiations with the support staff union resumed and Cavanaugh said the mood is optimistic.

Gove and another dozen or more union members plan to attend a rally Monday in Concord, N.H., where teachers in that city are also working without a contract. The demonstration will be at the state house, Gove said, and teaching unions across the state will participate.

The Fall Mountain Regional School District Board will meet Monday evening.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Eagle Times, Claremont, N.H.

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