The Dallas Post Foe 3 Rit A wel Seno «14 Dallas, PA Wednesday, March 11, 1992 BR = 15% raise (continued from pg. 1) year teacher pay freeze, and the implementation of a merit-pay fl system for teachers at Dallas. Joe 'Kunec, vice president of the Tax- § payers Forum said the group has ff about 6,000 supporters. = When Kunec introduced him- © selfat the meeting as a teacher and | taxpayer, he was greeted with boos rom several of the teachers in the udience, as well as some ap- Dlouse Kunec worked as an Eng- lish teacher in Maryland until he = retired in 1970. + Kunec blasted the current law ~ pertaining to public employes and teachers’ bargaining rights, Act ~ 195, and called it the road to “chaos and confrontation.” “We the hard-pressed taxpay- ‘ers [eel Act 195 is a failed policy,” ~ said Kunec. “Nationwide, public | school business is big business.” ' Kunec commended the board | for taking a hard stand in negotia- | tions. | Board member John George | pointed out that when the county | increased property taxes 25% everal weeks ago, “there was not A ! f i A one taxpayer there and I was ex- tremely disappointed.” “We're like the army putting out the fires in Kuwait,” said Kunec. “We'll put out this fire first.” “We will not be the one to raise your laxes,” said William Wagner. “We've kept silent, we've kept ne- gotiations where they should be. I would ask you to be patient. In the end the truth will come out. [ think that you will look back at this and you will agree that it has been an awful lot of hype.” “I would like to publicly thank the teachers for continuing to work even though they don't have a contract,” said school board presi- dent Ernest Ashbridge at the meeting's conclusion. The teachers’ and school board's negotiating committees will meet Thursday, March 12. William Wagner said that while the union does have the authori- zation to strike, he doesn't “think it's any more likely than before.” In the event there would be a strike, both school board mem- bers and superintendent Wycallis have said at previous meetings that the district does have a plan. “I think we're very close (to an agreement),” said Wagner after the meeting. “I think we can work this out.” Regular school board business During its regular meeting, the Dallas School board approved the following substitute employees for the 1991-92 school year: Donna Kravabloski of Sweet Valley, Mark Koval of Shavertown, and Melanie Coscia of Trucksville. Anthony Chiarucci was ap- pointed assistant in charge of the Middle School Softball team for the 1991-92 school year. Brad Baker was named head track coach, and SamuelJayne IV assis- tant track coach. Board member John George reported that rumors that West Side Tech will drop its athletic program are just that, rumors. West Side Tech will keep its athlet- ics, he said. | Strike law (continued from pg. 1) i abill, 727, changing the laws which |, allow school teacher strikes. The | House made amendments to the 1991. It now wails foraction in the | Senate Rules Committee. State Rep. Phyllis Mundy calls the bill a tool to prevent strikes, and when there are strikes, make ‘them shorter. As amended by the House, the | bill would require teachers to give . 48 hours notice before a strike, ~ and would ban selective strikes | ~ altogether. | However, a house amendment to the bill would also limit a school ~ district's ability to replace striking | teachers by stipulating that the | By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff The Dallas Education Asso- | ciation (the teachers’ union) has charged the Dallas School Dis- i trict with “unfair labor prac- R | tices.” At the school board's Monday I meeting, board member James I' Richardson announced that the I Dallas Education Association { has filed a complaint with the I Pennsylvania Labor Relations } Board. M4 ' The complaint, filed March 2, } charges that the board's nego- } tiations from January through if February 4 were a “sham and ~ surface bargaining designed not } to reach an agreement, but | designed either to cause a strike ' or to reduce the Complainant ' (the teachers’ union) to total ~ submission.” Richardson said the charge “galls me to no end,” and he's _ got better things to do with his ‘time than conduct sham nego- bill and passed it in December of replacement teachers have to have been active in the district within the past year. That stipulation would prevent districts {rom bus- ing replacement teachers from across lhe state to teach class. While admitting that the stipu- lation restricting hiring replace- ment teachers would be unpopu- lar with some people, state Rep. Phyllis Mundy said that it was a necessary compromise needed to get enough votes to pass the bill. “This was all part of negotia- tions," said Mundy, who supported the bill. “This bill is the first time in 21 years that makes any changes to Act 195." tiations. The unfair labor practices charge is a result of the board's reduction of it's offer of $2,450 in the fall of 1991, to 4% in February of 1992, or approxi- mately $1,600 for each teacher over a two or three-year period, whichever they preferred. The $2,450 flat sum offer equaled an average increase ol 6.32% in the first year, to a 5.611% in- crease in the third year of the offer. Richardson said that the board also threatened to reduce that offer further to 3% if the 4% offer was not accepted, but never carried out that threat. The Dallas teachers voted 113 to 14 to reject the 4% offer. “We've reduced our original offer not without reason,” said Richardson. “The economy has worsened.” Patricia Crawford, Secretary of the Labor Relations Board, said that the charge of unfair practices will first undergo a Bill 727 also gives the Secretary of Education the authority toask a judge to order an injunction to stop a strike, Mundy said. Under current law, only one of the parties involved, the teachers or school board, can request an injunction. If the court does order an in- junction to stop a strike, it has the authority to order the two sides to submit to binding arbitration based on the last best offer of one of the two sides or a factl-finder's recom- mendations, either as packages, on an issue-by-issue basis, or with economic and non-economic is- sues dealt with separately. Dallas teachers’ union complains of | unfair labor practices by school district preliminary review to determine whether there is an unfair prac- tice assuming the allegations in the complaint are true. If the complaint passes the preliminary review a hearing is held before a labor relations hearing officer todetermine what actually happened. Even if the hearing officer de- termines that an unfair practice did occur, the penalties are remedial, not punitive, said Crawlord. Since the charge in this case is that the board's negotiators reduced their offer without good reason, they would be ordered to stop reducing their offers. “Even il the remedy is not pu- nitive, there is a certain onus about being found guilty of an unfair practice,” said Crawford. The Dallas Education Asso- ciation's complaint had not been reviewed Tuesday, said Crawford. She expected that new infor- mation might be available on the complaint in about a week. Tainted soil (continued from pg. 1) RRR SABA mation operator was unable to find a telephone number for this com- pany. Previous owners included Mi- | chaeland Ruth Slimak, whobought the property from the Luzerne Humane Association, who had operated an animal shelter there I. for several years. Although the parcel's compli- cated history indicates the merg- ing of several adjoining properties by a succession of owners dating back to 1859, no one knows who installed the oil tanks, when or why they were installed. The supervisors said that DER is checking an adjoining 3/4-acre parcel containing a “Delta Oil” sign for more tanks and possible con- tamination. The township does not own this land. Supervisor Walter Glogowski said that the supervisors will dis- cuss with solicitor Blythe Evans the possibility of holding the land's former owners liable for part of the cleanup costs. Glogowski and Stager con- cluded, “We have inherited a very unfortunate situation. We are doing everything that we can to deal with it in the best way possible and to Penn State Wilkes-Barre 111s Fourth Annual Baseball Clinics : in the NEW Athletics & Recreation Building on the Campus in Lehman protect our citizens.” State Wilkes-Barre. Ra © PENNSTATE i] B= Wilkes-Barre Ww Campus The bases are loaded with coaches and the Penn State Wilkes-Barre team to help you with pitching, catching, hitting and bunting, target throwing, fielding, and base running and sliding. The Clinic Staff, under the direction of Coach Jack Monick, includes Mark Ambrose and Tom Wasilewski, former Major League pitchers; Steve Madrovsky, one of the top fast-pitch pitchers in Wyoming Valley; Al Cihocki, softball coach at Southern Columbia High School; Frank Galicki, . former catcher, and principal of Dallas High School; and Chip Sorber, head baseball coach at Penn LIMITED ENROLLMENT! To register, call Melissa Noderer Dallas Youth Basketball holds a coaches dinner The Dallas Youth Basketball program held a coaches dinner at the Dallas American Legion on March 5 to celebrate the end of a successful season. The organization, started 20 years ago with about 50 children participating, has grown to include 150 children on teams. Shown from left are, seated: Rich Jumper, Lynn Jumper, Jeff Wilt, Bonnie Habrack, Paul Jobson Sr., Paul D. Jobson Jr., director, Roger Bishop, Rob Blase, Jim Tucker, Bob Bohlander. Standing: Jim Valvano, Steve Withers, Bob Bayer, Tom Ash, Larry Lettie, Gerald Wycallis, Daniel Fetko, David Domzalski, Bernie Kovaleski, Bruce Kunkle, Joe Liparela, Ken Getz, Bill Race. (Post Photo/Eric Foster) Home values (continued from pg. 1) Another Realtor, who asked not to be identified, threw the letter in the garbage after it was received. “Most people that read it took offense to it. People that read it didn't like it,” said the Realtor. Though Wagner's letter raises the specter of a teachers’ strike, Wagner said Monday night that though the union has the authori- zation to call a strike, a strike’ $\ not any more likely at this tithe than it has been in the past. By Eric Foster Dallas teachers’ union president's letter to realtors Professional Real Estate Bro- kers of the Dallas Area: As you are well aware from reports in the media, the profes- sional educators of the Dallas Education Association have been attempting to collectively bargain a contract with the Dallas School District since January, 1991. Our efforts, to date, have been unsuc- cessful in reaching an equitable settlement. These efforts have recently met interference from the Dallas Taxpayers Forum, a small group claiming a huge following who espouse anarchy in public education, and who have demon- strated that philosophy at Dallas board meetings. We are proud of our service to our community, and proud to be continuing to work with the youth of the Back Mountain in our class- rooms, without interruption, and without a contract, since school started in September. However, the brutal reality is that this impasse cannot continue forever. As president of the asso- ciation of professional educators, | feel obligated to inform you of the potential for more dramatic ac- tions on the part of our members, perhaps in the witholding of in- structional services, if this impasse cannot be overcome. We under- stand that such an action will impact on the community at large, on local businesses, and on real estate values. I, therefore, suggest to you that you honestly discuss the turmoil and discontent within the Dallas School District with your customers who are considering the purchase of property within dis- trict boundaries. Statistics generated by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and used by our commonwealth to determine school subsidies atiest objectively to the reasonableness of our proposals. An objective fact - finder has confirmed the financial stability and fiscal security of the Dallas School District and the greater Dallas area. We are pre- pared to provide details of these statistics, at your request. Il is unfortunate that such irrefutable facts are not given due considera- tion in attempts to bring this $ pute to a conclusion. i We sincerely regret the ultimate impact of this situation in the greater Dallas community; we expect that the first impact will be felt in the real estate market. There- fore, we offer to open lines of communication with you to per- haps reduce your potential losses through disappointing real estate sales within the Dallas School District. If we can be of any further assis- tance lo you, please do not hesi- tale to contact us. oh. William R. Wagner, Presidel.). 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