BVA teachers ‘silent picket’ amid contract negotiations

By CHRISTINE HAINES
chaines@yourmvi.com
In a show of solidarity 75 to 80 members of the Belle Vernon Area Education Association lined the sidewalks around the Belle Vernon Area Administration Building in the hour prior to the start of negotiations Wednesday.
Negotiations between the teachers’ union and the school board, overseen by a state mediator, got underway at 5 p.m. The teachers have set 7:30 a.m. Friday as their strike deadline. Daneen Watson, president of the BVAEA, said the union was willing to negotiate for as long as it would take to reach a settlement. As of presstime, negotiations were still ongoing.
“We don’t want to go on strike. We want to teach. We want to do what we love,” Watson said.
The union gave the notice of its intent to strike the day after the school board canceled the negotiating session, which had been scheduled for Feb. 26. The union called the canceling a stalling tactic.
“Let me be crystal clear, the Association representative I spoke with that week understood that we were looking to postpone the meeting because the board needed more time to review nearly a dozen newly presented financial scenarios. These scenarios included multiple projections related to future financial obligations — all of which impact the district’s long-term stability. This is a responsibility the board takes seriously,” the district’s solicitor Ira Weiss said in a news release.
“They keep saying they need to review financials. I don’t know how many times you review financials,” Watson said.
Watson said there are five remaining open issues in the negotiations. There were 94 issues when talks began in January 2019. The teachers have been working without a contract since June 30. The union represents 159 teachers and education specialists.
Teachers and their supporters stood silently near the entrances to the administration building Wednesday prior to the start of negotiations.

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