Arbitrator: Warren County Technical School Board violated contract by not providing pay hike to teacher

FRANKLIN TWP. | The Warren County Technical School Board violated the contract with its teachers union by not giving one employee the same salary increases as her colleagues, according to a recent decision by an arbitrator.

Helen Liebow, a member of the child study team, received a pay cut at a time when all employees were supposed to receive annual increases of more than $2,000 as part of the four-year contract approved last summer, according to Thomas D. Hartigan, the independent arbitrator selected to resolve the matter.

"Clearly, the intent of the parties was to distribute the negotiated percentage increase on the basis of equal dollar increases for every employee," Hartigan wrote in his May 18 decision. "This is the overriding agreement between the parties."

Hartigan recommended that Liebow receive the same salary increases. Since Hartigan's decision represents an advisory opinion, the school board could reject it, but the union would then file a lawsuit over a breach of contract, according to John Ropars, field representative for the New Jersey Education Association.

This matter comes amid the ongoing dispute over the school board's dismissal of culinary arts teacher Joe Delesky. The school board dismissed Delesky because he lacks the proper qualifications to run the new hospitality, tourism and culinary arts program. About 100 supporters turned out to a recent board meeting to oppose that decision.

The ruling in Liebow's case marks the first decision to be returned out of five grievances the union is taking to arbitration, Ropars said. These filings are the first matters filed by the union for arbitration in more than 10 years.

The school board and the union "had a relatively cooperative relationship until this most recent round of negotiations," Ropars said.

Chief School Administrator Robert Glowacky and school board President Bradley Bartow did not return calls for comment Thursday. Nor could attorney Allan P. Dzwilewski, who represented the school board in the Liebow case, be reached for comment Thursday.

The dispute over Liebow's salary increases stems from an oversight by the school board and the teachers union.

Both parties failed to include a salary on the new guide that was consistent with what Liebow should have earned, given the salary increases for all employees, according to the arbitrator's decision. A Warren Tech employee since 1991, Liebow was included in the teachers union for the first time under the new contract.

Warren Tech officials later placed Liebow on the guide with a salary that was closest to what she had been earning in the school year prior to the start of the new contract, according to the decision. The board had argued that Liebow's salary and guide position were reflective of her years of experience, according to the decision.

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