This story was posted at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7. It will also be in the March 12 edition of the Pine Creek Journal.

All sides in the teacher contract negotiations at Shaler Area School District and Hampton Township School District have agreed that bargaining is moving slowly at this time.

Hampton negotiators met last Wednesday and Shaler negotiators met last Thursday, and no significant new progress was made at either meeting.

Patrick Clair, soilictor for Hampton, feels that the last few meetings have established some momentum that he hopes continues.

“We’ve come close to a final resolution on a broad spectrum of issues,” Clair said. “I think things are progressing nicely.”

Alisa Murray, president of the Hampton Township Educators Association, said that the small group discussions have been frank and amiable, but is still frustrated that they’re 15 months into bargaining without a contract.

After a seven-hour session last Wednesday, Murray said there are still 21 outstanding issues.

The two sides have planned their next bargaining session for March 19, during the district’s spring break.

Shaler’s meeting on Thursday ended with no resolution, and the two sides are still held up by money and benefits issues, said superintendent Dr. Don Lee.

About 250 teachers showed up at the intermediate school to show their support of finding a settlement.

Jo Ann Noble, president of the Shaler Area Educators Association, said the meeting was unproductive.

In November, the union rejected an offer that would increase salaries by about 4.5 percent each year, and included health care premiums that could have hit $150 per month, according to a release sent out by the SAEA.

Noble said the union is seeking an increase of about 4.9 percent with lower employee contributions to benefits that would cap the share at $100.

Lee said that it is true that certain families could reach the $150 cap by the fourth year of the contract. But that is only for teachers whose families are in the PPO plan, as opposed to the HMO plan.

The PPO plan allows members the option of going outside of the network of health providers, but requires a $1,000 deductible and 20 percent payment on any bills, Lee said.

The HMO plan allows members to go outside the network only if the care is not available in the Pittsburgh region.

A study done by Highmark showed that about half of the teachers are in the PPO and half in the HMO. All of the custodians and clerical staff are in the HMO plan. The study found that members of the PPO only went outside the network 2.5 percent of the time for doctors. No one left the network for hospitals, tests or outpatient procedures, Lee said.

Lee said the PPO plan costs taxpayers about $100,000 a year over the HMO plan. So district officials thought it would be fair for the PPO members to pay the difference, but capped it at $150 in the fourth year, even if rates increase.

For families, the caps for each year would be $125, $135, $145 and $150. For individuals it would range from $70 to $110.

The SAEA officials informed the district officials that they would now request fact finding.

Fact-finding is a non-binding form of dispute resolution under Act 88 designed to let the District and the union each present its side to an impartial fact-finder appointed by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.

That fact-finder, within a 40-day period of his or her appointment, recommends either the district’s or the union’s proposal as the basis for a new agreement. In addition, the fact-finder has the ability to devise his or her own recommendation to settle the dispute.

If either party votes down the fact-finder’s recommendation within 10 days after it has been made, the fact-finding report will be published in the local media. Then, not less than five days nor more than 10 days after publication of the report, the parties must once again inform the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board whether or not they accept the report.

There is no new bargaining session planned for the two Shaler sides.

The contract in Shaler, which covers about 429 teachers, expired on Aug. 15, 2007.

The contract in Hampton, which covers about 225 teachers, expired on June 30, 2007.