North Penn contract headed to arbitration

The school board and teachers' union in Montgomery County's North Penn School district agreed to nonbinding arbitration of their labor dispute, ensuring that no strike would take place any time soon, school officials announced late this afternoon.

The North Penn Education Association, the teachers' union in the 12,700-student district, Montgomery County's largest, rejected the board's "final offer" on Friday. It had served notice to the board that teachers would not be at work yesterday, the first day of school, unless new negotiations took place.

The board sought an injunction in Montgomery County Court against such action. On Saturday two sides agreed to delay any work stoppage until a hearing.

The board also proposed nonbinding arbitration, during which no strike could take place, and the union accepted, said Stephen Hladik, spokesman for the board negotiating committee.

Under nonbinding arbitration, a three-member panel will be set up, with one member chosen by each side and a neutral third member selected from a list. The panel will receive each side's proposals, which will be made public, and hold hearings. Then it will propose an agreement based on the two sides' positions.

The process normally takes several months. Either side can reject the proposed settlement; if one of them does, the union can then go out on strike.

The board's last proposal called for a two-year contract with pay raises averaging 2.4 percent in the first year and 3.0 percent in the second.

The union, whose ocntract expried Sept. 1, had proposed a three-year agreement with annual salary increases averaging 3.5 percent in the first year and 4.0 percent each in the second and third.