As the Penns Manor Teachers Strike enters its fourth day, the union representing the teachers addressed a point that has been brought up by the district recently in strike-related discussions with the public.
In a prior statement and during last Monday’s informational session, officials with the district said that one of the points of the strike proposal that was presented by the PMEA last weekend called for the reduction of compensation for all supplemental positions in the district like coaches, department chairs, club and team advisors and others by 25 percent and freezing those salaries for the term of the agreement. The district claimed that the move would only affect six teachers and of the remaining 47 supplemental positions, only five were held by people not in the union. The district’s position was that it would represent a large loss for the residents in the district that hold those positions.
The union issued its own release yesterday, saying the reason they proposed the reduction was to find a way to preserve the current level of family healthcare coverage for teachers, which has been a sticking point in the negotiations. They claimed that the union included all supplemental positions in the proposal, and that many teachers hold supplemental positions. The reason for the proposal was to find a way to provide the same amount of savings that the district was seeking in the healthcare concessions. This proposal was rejected by the district last Saturday.
As teachers remain on the picket lines today, there will be no classes for district students. Both sides have expressed an interest in returning to the bargaining table, but district officials say that the state-mandated mediator needs to set the dates.
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