Mediator appointed in Matawan school dispute

Published in the Asbury Park Press 7/27/04

By RODNEY POINT-DU-JOUR
KEYPORT BUREAU

MATAWAN -- Although a mediator has been appointed to help break the impasse in contract talks between the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Board of Education and Matawan Regional Teachers Association, some doubt has been cast on the likelihood of a smooth start of school in September.

The state Public Employee Relations Commission has appointed Thomas Hartigan as the mediator, said Laura Venter, the school district business administrator.

Venter said both sides have a mediation session scheduled for Sept. 9, the day school is to reopen.

Venter said she remains optimistic but is unsure if the talks will be completed by the beginning of the new school year.

"He (Hartigan) is an experienced mediator, and we expect the negotiations to go swiftly and for us to reach an amicable agreement," Venter said.

Officials on both sides have said they hope an agreement is reached by September to ensure classes resume without a hitch.

In 2001, union representatives and district officials agreed to give the union members a three-year contract that came with a 12 percent pay increase staggered over three years. The union members were also given an increase in co-payments for medical insurance, $2,000 in dental coverage and $150 in optical coverage. That contract expired on June 30.

In June, after nearly eight months of negotiations, the regional school board and the teachers union reached an impasse. Despite both sides calling the sessions peaceful, union and board negotiators decided they needed a mediator to help them reach an agreement.

Carl Kosmyna, the president of the teachers association, said the union members want to maintain their benefits and are looking to raise their wages comparable to what teachers are making in other districts throughout the county.

"We're hopeful the mediator will come in, help us with the negotiations and get us a settlement," Kosmyna said. "What we're looking for isn't outrageous. We just want what everyone else is getting."

Among the seven K-12 districts in Monmouth County, teachers in Matawan-Aberdeen had the second highest median salary, $58,400 in 2003-04 school year, according to the state Department of Education's Comparative Spending Guide.

Ocean Township teachers had the highest median salary among the seven with $65,405 for the same school year, the guide indicated. The other five districts are Holmdel, Long Branch, Middletown, Neptune and Wall.

Statewide, the median salary for a teacher at K-12 district is just under $50,000, according to the guide.

The Matawan Regional Teachers Association has approximately 400 members, including teachers, custodians and bus drivers.

This story includes information from previous Asbury Park Press articles.