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Jailed N.J. Teachers to Return to Work NewsMax.com WiresTRENTON, N.J. -- A judge ordered the release of more than 200 jailed teachers Friday morning after their union agreed to end a week-old strike without a contract. Steve Wollmer, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, said the union representing more than 1,000 teachers and support staff in Middletown Township signed off on a report by two state mediators that would have increased employee insurance costs substantially over three years. But a few hours later, the school board rejected the same report. Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Clarkson Fisher Jr., who ruled the strike illegal Monday, appointed his own mediator. "He is sending a very strong message to the board that this thing needs to get resolved," Wollmer said. But he acknowledged that the judge has little power to compel the Board of Education to reach an agreement. The strike, the first in New Jersey this year, began on Nov. 29, forcing the closing of Middletown's 17 schools. With 10,000 students, the district is one of the biggest in New Jersey and the largest in Monmouth County. On Monday, Fisher jailed four teachers, taking the strikers in alphabetical order. The judge picked up the pace as the week went on, and by late Thursday, with two other judges holding hearings, more than 200 teachers were behind bars. At Monday's hearing, he also suggested that strikers might be fired if they continued to remain off the job. Under New Jersey law, there are no automatic penalties for school strikes, but back-to-work orders are routinely granted and judges have enormous discretion in fashioning penalties for disobeying them. Fisher is the first judge in more than 20 years in New Jersey to order rank-and-file union members imprisoned, although other judges have sent union leaders to jail, imposed fines and kept strikers in custody during school hours. The NJEA is lobbying for legislation that would require binding arbitration when negotiations prove fruitless. The main issue in the strike has been health insurance. The board wants to increase the cost to employees, basing the hike on a percentage of salary. Wollmer said the union agreed to a flat increase phased in over the life of a new contract.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
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