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Diocese and Employee
Councils Continue To Meet
Meetings between the Diocese and
representatives of Catholic school employees
are continuing to discuss wages, benefits,
the grievance process and working
conditions.
The sessions are part of the Employee
Relations Program that covers teachers and
support staff. The program consists of
Employee Councils comprised of
representatives chosen by their peers at the
schools in the four regional systems as well
as members of the regional system boards.
The fifth joint meeting with the Employee
Councils from the Holy Cross System and the
Holy Redeemer System was held on May 16. The
primary focus of this meeting was health
care.
“Based upon input received from the Employee
Councils, we are working on providing an
option for employee medical coverage,” said
James Burke, Diocesan human resources
director.
A representative from Blue Cross of
Northeastern Pennsylvania made a
presentation on the current plan offered to
school employees in these systems (Blue Care
PPO) and also compared it to another Blue
Cross plan (Blue Care HMO) that may be
offered.
“This would give employees a choice based
upon their health care needs,” Mr. Burke
said. “There was enough interest from the
Employee Councils, so we went ahead and
scheduled open enrollment meetings for all
school employees in these two systems so
that any interested employee could change
plans if they feel it better fits their
medical needs.”
The meeting also resulted in finalizing an
early retirement package that will be
offered to eligible employees who meet the
established criteria. According to Mr.
Burke, the package has been received well
and to date approximately 20 employees have
indicated that they will take advantage of
this one-time offer.
An Employee Council meeting for the St. John
Neumann System was held on May 19. The
employee representatives presented to the
System Board a list of concerns and issues
that are important to them. These issues
will be reviewed and discussed further at
the next meeting, which is tentatively
scheduled for June 5.
The next meeting in the Notre Dame System
will be scheduled before the end of the
school year.
The Employee Relations Program is the format
for regular dialogue between the Diocese and
school employees. Its implementation is part
of the final decision that the Scranton
Diocese Association of Catholic Teachers (SDACT)
will not be recognized as a bargaining agent
for teachers.
Most schools are participating in the
Employee Relations Program.
“Our meetings have been very productive,”
Mr. Burke said. “The employees are asking
valid questions and making good suggestions.
We have already made a lot of progress.”
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