Following the Ambridge Area Education Association (AAEA) strike which ended in early January, the Ambridge Area School District and the Association entered into non-binding arbitration in an effort to resolve the ongoing contract negotiations. The arbitration hearing was held on April 12, 2017. Typically, the hearing is closed and an award is reached in 20 days. However, in this case, the parties requested that the arbitrator keep the hearing open if he did not think the decision would result in a settlement.
The case remained open and there were to be on-going conversations occurring between the parties to work towards an agreement. Unfortunately, the first conversation did not occur until a month after the hearing with future meetings to be scheduled. In June, the AAEA representative reached out to the arbitrator to seek resolve. In July, the AAEA representative again contacted the arbitrator in an attempt to move the process. When the reality was that the AAEA twice attempted to reach out to the arbitrator attempting to advance the process, the neutral arbitrator claimed, “this is where the good faith attempt to reach agreement came to a sudden halt.”
The AAEA refutes the statement that the second proposal was a reiteration of its original position. The revised proposal significantly changed the method and the amount of healthcare premium sharing. In fact, the healthcare changes proposed by AAEA would result in one of the cheapest healthcare plans in the county with the highest premium sharing by the end of the contract. The changes would have resulted in a quarter million dollars savings in healthcare alone. Furthermore, the district proposal requires the teachers to pay a higher percentage than all other employees – including administrators.
With regard to salaries, the arbitrator points out that the Association increased the fifth year of the agreement and did not make any other changes. While this is true, the district previously proposed the step plus $1000 in the February 1, 2017 last-best offer. The fact is the salary schedule has not increased in five of the last six years. The arbitrator failed to point out that the district’s revised proposal for 2016-17 eliminated the retroactivity for 2016-17, which was regressive. Additionally, the arbitrator failed to see that the district proposed, in the initial last-best offer, step plus $900 for the 2017-18 school year but revised their proposal to lower the offer to $750 plus step, which is also regressive. The district regressed once again when they lowered the 2019-20 proposal from step plus $1000 to step plus $900.
The AAEA has consistently focused on trying to reach a fair settlement for the teachers, students, and the community. The membership will vote on the opinion within the ten-day window.
The AAEA refutes the statement that the second proposal was a reiteration of its original position. The revised proposal significantly changed the method and the amount of healthcare premium sharing. In fact, the healthcare changes proposed by AAEA would result in one of the cheapest healthcare plans in the county with the highest premium sharing by the end of the contract. The changes would have resulted in a quarter million dollars savings in healthcare alone. Furthermore, the district proposal requires the teachers to pay a higher percentage than all other employees – including administrators.
With regard to salaries, the arbitrator points out that the Association increased the fifth year of the agreement and did not make any other changes. While this is true, the district previously proposed the step plus $1000 in the February 1, 2017 last-best offer. The fact is the salary schedule has not increased in five of the last six years. The arbitrator failed to point out that the district’s revised proposal for 2016-17 eliminated the retroactivity for 2016-17, which was regressive. Additionally, the arbitrator failed to see that the district proposed, in the initial last-best offer, step plus $900 for the 2017-18 school year but revised their proposal to lower the offer to $750 plus step, which is also regressive. The district regressed once again when they lowered the 2019-20 proposal from step plus $1000 to step plus $900.
The AAEA has consistently focused on trying to reach a fair settlement for the teachers, students, and the community. The membership will vote on the opinion within the ten-day window.
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