Teachers' union and BOE continue contract talks


 


WEBUTUCK


- Representatives from both the Webutuck Teachers Association (WTA) and the Board of Education (BOE) are optimistic that upcoming negotiations will bring about a contract agreement.

 

The WTA has been without a contract for a year and is currently at an impasse with the district. However, union leader Nancy Gagne said she is optimistic.

"It's just a matter of us sitting down face to face and ironing it out," Gagne said. "We're scheduling another meeting and we'll see how it goes from there."

Gagne said the main issues that are being debated between the union and the district include health insurance issues and monetary issues.

At a Board of Education meeting two weeks ago, the board voted to form a negotiating committee, made up of members from the board, to negotiate a new contract.

Board president Dale Culver said the negotiations will move more smoothly now that board members are directly involved.

"My personal view is that people work best when they are directly involved," Culver said. "When there are outside forces, there is tension. These [outsiders] sometimes do not know all of the history and sometimes create hard feelings without realizing it. I believe we should treat the teachers' union with respect and then I think we will get where we need to be."

At press time, no further contract negotiations had been announced. But both Culver and Gagne said negotiations would resume soon.

In a previous interview, district Superintendent Richard Johns said a fact finder would still be entering into the contract negotiations.

Johns said that the fact finder will be used to determine whether or not one side has more merit than the other.

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