Some experts and local officials say the outcome of the ongoing labor dispute between North Pocono School District officials and its teachers could have significant implications for other negotiations around the region.
Like teachers in several other Lackawanna County school districts - including Dunmore, Old Forge, Abington Heights and Carbondale Area - North Pocono teachers do not contribute toward health insurance premiums.
North Pocono district leaders consider health care to be the top point of contention in negotiations that led to a brief strike on Thursday, stopped by a temporary injunction order signed by a county judge. Students returned to school Friday.
The district's last offer called for teachers to contribute 99 cents toward premiums each two-week pay period in the first year of the contract, $5 in the second year, and $10 in the third and fourth years.
"I think (Pennsylvania State Education Association representatives) see this as a test case for other districts," North Pocono School Board member William Burke said.
John Holland, a regional director for the PSEA, said he is not thinking about implications for other districts while at the table for North Pocono but did say agreements "always have a ripple effect."
Although Joseph Slater, Ph.D., a University of Toledo professor of law and values, is not familiar with the specifics of the North Pocono labor situation, he thinks it is likely that teachers agreeing to contribute toward premiums would put pressure on their counterparts in surrounding districts to do the same.
Several experts told The Sunday Times that as the cost of health care skyrockets, pressure has dramatically increased on state and local government budgets, which has led to a growing number of government leaders seeking employee contributions.
North Pocono officials have said that during the last contract with the association, health care costs have grown from about $4 million to $5.5 million.
In the past 10 to 15 years, those costs have already been passed on to private-sector workers, said retired University of Scranton economics professor Frank Corcione, Ph.D.
Dr. Slater said the extent to which public employees contribute toward insurance costs varies. Often, he said, the benefits packages for public workers are a trade-off for salaries that are lower than what private-sector employees would expect.
Dr. Corcione said it is not sustainable for employees to not contribute toward premiums and that eventually, political pressure or the loss of jobs as agencies and schools cut positions to balance budgets will force unions' hands.
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