Negotiations Update

MEMORANDUM

TO: MARSD Parents, Staff, and Community

FROM: Board of Education

RE: MRTA Negotiations (2007)

DATE: December 19, 2007

Dear Parents, Staff, and Community:

Please allow this memorandum to serve as an update as to the current status of negotiations between the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District Board of Education (BOE) and the Matawan Regional Teachers Association (MRTA) for a successor collective bargaining agreement (CBA). As you likely know, the last collective bargaining agreement ran from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2007.

Negotiations for a new CBA began on January 29, 2007, where the ground rules were established for further meetings. On February 8, 2007, the BOE and MRTA mutually exchanged proposals for changes to the CBA. On February 15, 2007, the BOE and MRTA met and posed questions to one another regarding each other’s proposals. The major issues involved in these proposals were health insurance, salary, and workday schedules.

On March 8, 2007, the BOE and MRTA again met. Shortly after the meeting began, the MRTA declared impasse. Impasse is declared when a party believes that the negotiations cannot continue without the assistance of a third party neutral, in this case the Public Employment Relations Commission. The BOE did not initially consent to this declaration. The BOE believed the parties had not met long enough for the Association to appreciate the Board’s proposals, especially the ones pertaining to health insurance costs. In spite of this, the MRTA filed a Notice of Impasse with the Public Employment Relations Commission. On March 30, 2007, PERC found that an impasse existed and appointed Lorraine Tessauro as mediator. The total combined time for all three meetings between the Board and Association was approximately three hours.

An initial mediation session was conducted on June 7, 2007, wherein both the BOE and MRTA advised the mediator of their positions. The mediator scheduled a second mediation session for August 30, 2007. Ultimately, because of the mediator’s schedule (involving an all-night negotiations in another municipality the night before), the August 30, 2007 meeting was cancelled. Subsequently, the mediator provided proposed meeting dates in October, 2007, however, the MRTA’s representative had a preplanned vacation for those dates and hence they were not mutually agreeable.

A second mediation session was conducted on November 12, 2007. During this session, the mediator again discussed the parties’ concerns with both the Board and the MRTA. Following this meeting, the mediator scheduled a third mediation session for February 26, 2008.

The Board of Education looks forward to meeting with the MRTA at that time so that the outstanding issues may be resolved quickly and amicably and in the best interests of the students and taxpayers.