No deal in sight in vo-tech stalemate Mediation session unsuccessful. State appointing fact-finder. Thursday, February 07, 2008 • By SARA K. SATULLO • The Express-Times FRANKLIN TWP. | After a 10-month stalemate, Warren County Technical School's board members met Tuesday night with its education association for an unsuccessful mediation session. The contract dispute will be handed over to a state-appointed fact-finder, who will recommend a nonbinding settlement. "We could be easily talking about going through the end of this school year," said John Ropars, field representative for New Jersey Education Association. The association has been working without a new contract since June 2006. The association ratified a tentative agreement in May, which the full board rejected in a 4-2 vote in September. All of the major facets of the contract, including pay raises, have been agreed upon but talks have stalled over longevity pay for coaches and extracurricular stipends. The association had refused to return to the bargaining table until recently. The board claims it negotiated a freeze of stipend pay at 2005-06 levels for the new contract. The Warren Tech Education Association argues two coaches, including WTEA President Ed Yarusinsky, are at the top step and should receive a 4.25 percent increase each year of the contract. "There's a sense of entitlement here that is offensive to the board that you are entitled to unlimited raises," school board President Harold Warne said. "Our coaches are paid well." Ropars said the board rejected a suggestion to enter into neutral third-party binding arbitration because the board knows it's wrong. Warne says he wasn't aware of the offer. "We aren't going to be giving them binding arbitration on any issue," Warne said. "That would be abrogating our responsibility to the taxpayer. We have a responsibility to bring costs under control." The board wanted to make the contract more transparent by eliminating longevity pay for staff members at the top of the salary step guide, which is based on education and experience. Under the old contract, 25 percent of the staff had maxed out but continued to get two pay raises a year. Warne says that is not a correct figure. "It seems like a petty issue but it's not. There's a limit to what we will pay for a certain position," Warne said. "They seem to think since it's the county's money they can take whatever they want." Reporter Sara K. Satullo can be reached at 908-475-2174 or by e-mail at ssatullo@express-times.com.