The School Committee has requested mediation to break a bargaining deadlock with the teachers' union, primarily over health insurance costs. The Educational Association of Worcester, the local teachers' union, has rejected a school board proposal to increase the employee cost of health insurance by 10 percent. "Given the EAW's refusal to engage in meaningful negotiations regarding health insurance, the School Committee has determined it appropriate to exercise its statutory right to seek the appointment of a mediator," the board said in a prepared statement.
In response, EAW lead negotiator Louis J. Cornacchioli said, "We're not going to cave." The EAW was "absolutely surprised and somewhat concerned" about the School Committee's call for mediation, he said, and he added that introducing a mediator will just muddy the process. He also said that School Committee members have rarely attended negotiations between EAW and School Committee representatives. "They really don't have the understanding of what's going on in bargaining," he said, calling the request a tactical move to delay bargaining and make the EAW look greedy.
"I challenge the School Committee to reject the mediator and to come back to the table," he said. "Let's sit down again and let's keep going until we hammer out a contract. If we go this route, it'll be summertime and we'll be without a contract." The annual cost to the school board for employee health insurance is $16.2 million. The board proposed reducing its share of employee health insurance premiums from 90 percent to 80 percent for current employees and 75 percent for new hires. The decrease would be phased- in and, according to the board, the savings passed on to employees.
Stephen Mills, deputy school superintendent, faulted the union for the breakdown in negotiations. "It is unfortunate that the teachers' union refuses to work with the School Committee to address this problem," he said. "The union does not view this as a common concern but instead believes this is the School Committee's and city's problem. This kind of thinking makes it nearly impossible to make any meaningful progress at the bargaining table."
Mr. Cornacchioli, though, sees it differently, and said he believes the EAW and School Committee representatives were making good progress with negotiations. He also explained that the EAW is not opposed to the premium increase for its members, but said they'd like to see it phased in over three years.
"We understand how everybody's suffering from health insurance," he said. "We're willing to make concessions on health insurance, but we're not willing to jump completely to 80-20 and devastate the vast majority of the people we represent."
The school board said the union canceled two negotiating sessions scheduled for this month, most recently one slated for Tuesday. In its prepared statement, the school board referred to the move as "delay tactics clearly intended to frustrate efforts by the School Committee to enact meaningful health insurance reform at the start of 2006."
The statement also cited, as evidence of the union's unwillingness to bargain, the union's refusal of a school board offer in August to reinstate 10 classroom teachers in exchange for an agreement to expand high school classroom sizes to 27 for one year.
In response, EAW lead negotiator Louis J. Cornacchioli said, "We're not going to cave." The EAW was "absolutely surprised and somewhat concerned" about the School Committee's call for mediation, he said, and he added that introducing a mediator will just muddy the process. He also said that School Committee members have rarely attended negotiations between EAW and School Committee representatives. "They really don't have the understanding of what's going on in bargaining," he said, calling the request a tactical move to delay bargaining and make the EAW look greedy.
"I challenge the School Committee to reject the mediator and to come back to the table," he said. "Let's sit down again and let's keep going until we hammer out a contract. If we go this route, it'll be summertime and we'll be without a contract." The annual cost to the school board for employee health insurance is $16.2 million. The board proposed reducing its share of employee health insurance premiums from 90 percent to 80 percent for current employees and 75 percent for new hires. The decrease would be phased- in and, according to the board, the savings passed on to employees.
Stephen Mills, deputy school superintendent, faulted the union for the breakdown in negotiations. "It is unfortunate that the teachers' union refuses to work with the School Committee to address this problem," he said. "The union does not view this as a common concern but instead believes this is the School Committee's and city's problem. This kind of thinking makes it nearly impossible to make any meaningful progress at the bargaining table."
Mr. Cornacchioli, though, sees it differently, and said he believes the EAW and School Committee representatives were making good progress with negotiations. He also explained that the EAW is not opposed to the premium increase for its members, but said they'd like to see it phased in over three years.
"We understand how everybody's suffering from health insurance," he said. "We're willing to make concessions on health insurance, but we're not willing to jump completely to 80-20 and devastate the vast majority of the people we represent."
The school board said the union canceled two negotiating sessions scheduled for this month, most recently one slated for Tuesday. In its prepared statement, the school board referred to the move as "delay tactics clearly intended to frustrate efforts by the School Committee to enact meaningful health insurance reform at the start of 2006."
The statement also cited, as evidence of the union's unwillingness to bargain, the union's refusal of a school board offer in August to reinstate 10 classroom teachers in exchange for an agreement to expand high school classroom sizes to 27 for one year.
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