Parties Negotiating Bridgewater-Raritan Schools Labor Contract Remain Apart

On Thursday evening, March 15, negotiators for the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education and their counterparts for the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association met at a mediation session held at the Wade Administration Building in Martinsville. 

Mr. Dave Doheny, a member of the teachers' union
 negotiating team is shown taking notes at the Board of
Education meeting on February 29, 2012.  (Bergeron Image)

They had hoped to make progress in their ongoing labor contract negotiations – but, to no avail.

Reached early Friday morning, Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education President Evan Lerner was succinct in his comments:  “The news is that we did not reach a settlement last night.  We (the B-R BOE) need to regroup and figure out what the next step is, and what comment is appropriate” to provide for the public.

Mr. Lerner was reluctant to disclose any specifics of that meeting.  It was still early in the morning when I contacted him, and members of the board had yet to be briefed.

School Officials and Union Continue to Negotiate

Tonight, at the Wade Administration Building, two negotiation teams, one for the Bridgewater-Raritan School District, and the other for the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association, will meet again.  They will continue to discuss their positions and offers at an official mediation session. 

Burning the midnight oil at the Wade Administration Building

Previously, according to Board President Evan Lerner, the teams had met on February 29, 2012 to swap views informally.

In a brief talk with me this afternoon Mr. Lerner acknowledged that the key topics center on the provider of the union’s health care plan; teacher work rules; and salary.

In a prior interview with Lerner on February 6th, he had been hopeful that a consensus might have been reached on a potential savings of $80,000 per month in health care premiums to the current 2011/2012 school budget ending June 30^th, but that did not happen.

Also on the negotiating table are the length of the teacher work day, and the salary issue.

‘Eagle Writers’

Mr. Joseph Diskin, upper center, presents the Eisenhower
Intermediate School writing program to a
packed conference room. (Bergeron Image)

The topic presented and discussed at Bridgewater-Raritan’s School Board meeting several weeks ago by Mr. Joseph Diskin, Principal of the Eisenhower Intermediate School is one of my favorites – writing.
 
When Mr. Diskin began his PowerPoint presentation before a conference room full of admiring parents and other observers, ten ‘Eagle Writers’ – all students from Eisenhower – sat  attentively in the front row, concentrating on their principal’s words, in eager anticipation of what would be an opportunity to speak individually about each one's own writing experience.

Sanofi Chief Likes Bay State Biotech

Sanofi-Aventis sign, just outside of the Bridgewater, NJ,
facility on Route 202/206 south. (Bergeron Image)

New Jersey may be the pharmaceutical capital of the east coast, if not of the entire United States, but it’s getting plenty of competition from the Boston area, especially in the market segment of biotechnology. 

Boston has caught the eye of Sanofi chief executive, Christopher A. Viehbacher who, while addressing The Chief Executives’ Club in Boston characterized the Boston-Cambridge area as having “the most fertile environment in the world today,” as a result of  “its innovation ecosystem,” which Viehbacher attributes to “the area’s dense cluster of universities, hospitals, biotechnology start-ups, and venture capital firms.”

That’s very sobering news for New Jersey, because it may very well be true.  Yet, I hope it is not, because it’s already costing New Jersey jobs, something that you may not be fully aware of.

Muzzling the Speaker.

I wonder what’s going on within the leadership of the Clinton Township Board of Education.  At first glance, what is reported to have happened at Monday night’s meeting doesn’t pass the smell test. 

The Red Mill, Clinton, NJ (Infrared Photo Courtesy
Peter Falke/Google Images)

In an article by staff writer Mark Spivey which appeared in today’s print edition of the Courier News, former Clinton Mayor Nick Corcodilos is reported to have been escorted out of a Board of Education meeting by local police.  That occurred after he continued to speak after exceeding the three minutes allocated to persons wishing to address the Board.

Three minutes?  Jeeeesh!!!

According to the Courier News write-up, Jim Dincuff, President of Clinton’s Board of Education called law enforcement to have Corcodilos ejected from the meeting.  Kevin J. Carroll, Clinton Superintendent of Schools supported Dincuff’s action, yet Carroll explained that he tried to have the time for Corcodilos’ comments extended.