Jeffrey Sultanik was quoted in the Lehigh Valley Live article “Saucon Valley Teachers Urge State Labor Relations Board to Rescind Complaint.” While the full text can be found in the September 24, 2014, issue of Lehigh Valley Live, a synopsis is noted below.
The Saucon Valley Education Association is urging the state to throw the school board’s unfair labor practices complaint and cancel a scheduled hearing.
The Saucon Valley School Board filed an unfair labor practices complaint against the teachers in June alleging they were bargaining in bad faith by asking for millions more than at the start of contract talks.
Sultanik, board attorney, said he is puzzled why the union is responding so long after the board filed the order.
“We’re confident the labor board will have to find the union’s bargaining in bad faith because the union’s current position is much higher than where the union started out in the collective bargaining process,” Sultanik said.
The two sides have been negotiating since January 2012. The contract expired in June of that year.
If the school district is victorious in its unfair labor practice complaint, the teachers union will have to agree to a contract that fits within the school district’s proposed contract budget, Sultanik said.