Jeffrey Sultanik was quoted in the Lehigh Valley Live article, "Saucon Valley Teachers Say Old Contract Offers Unacceptable to Members." Full text can be found in the December 17, 2014, issue, but a synopsis is below.
Saucon Valley teachers say their prior negotiating team submitted a contract proposal that was unacceptable to the majority of its union members.
Officials with the education association and the school district spent their second day in Harrisburg on Wednesday before a Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board Hearing Examiner. A decision isn't expected for months.
District solicitor, Jeffrey Sultanik, argued throughout the day that the two negotiating teams were very close to reaching a final agreement when the two sides entered fact finding in the fall of 2013. The district wants the state to order the union to return to its October 2013 bargaining position, but is unsure if that is able to be done.
The district argues that in May of this year teachers greatly changed their bargaining position, presenting a more expensive proposal, it amounts to regressive bargaining, Sultanik said.
Sultanik repeatedly mentioned tentative agreements the former association negotiation team reached with the board, which the union now has not agreed to and pointed to that as a sign of backtracking.
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