Teachers Seeking Payment From Diocese

The following article appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, January 26, 2010:


With attorney fees and interest included, the amount sought could easily top $1 million.
The first filings are expected to be done today, according to Michael Milz, a former teacher at Bishop Hoban High School and president of the Scranton Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers.

“There is a two-step process,” Milz said. “The first step is to file paperwork to affirm the awards we won in arbitration cases going back better than a year now,” he said, adding that separate filings were required for each school. “The next step is to file paperwork to attempt to force them to pay.”

The association had represented some teachers until 2006, when then-Bishop Joseph Martino restructured the entire system, eliminating local school boards and parish councils the union had dealt with.

The union asked to represent teachers under the new system of four regional school boards, but was rejected. The diocese opted to start an “Employee Relations Program” it repeatedly insists gives all school employees fair representation.

The union argued the contracts teachers had before restructuring guaranteed that teachers who lost their jobs during the restructuring were eligible for accumulated sick leave and severance pay. The union filed grievances and says that, since May 2008, separate arbitration hearings were held for teachers at Bishop Hoban, Bishop Hafey, Bishop Neumann, St. Vincent Elementary and Bishop O’Reilly Junior and Senior high school.

The union says arbiters rule in its favor in most cases and ordered the diocese to immediately start paying the teachers, but the diocese has not done so. The filings will launch a lawsuit attempting to force payment.

The diocese has previously said it intends to honor the awards but was not sure where the money will come from. Financial struggles were a key reason given when the school restructuring was done, closing many area buildings.