When news began to filter out Thursday night via word of mouth and social media sites that a tentative deal had been reached in the ongoing negotiations between Ewing-Northern Grade School teachers and school administration a collective sigh of relief was felt throughout the region.
Labor strife and strikes in any field is rough, tough and sometimes ugly business. But, when that strike involves closing a school and impacting the lives of children and worried parents you can take the words ‘rough,’ ‘tough’ and ‘ugly’ and quadruple them. Kudos to both sides in the Ewing-Northern dispute for making sure that didn’t happen.
To their credit the teachers had worked without a contract since August and had filed an intent-to-strike notice with the state and was threatening to walk off the job if an agreement wasn’t reached. And the board, to its credit, was doing what they were elected to do, that is, be a good steward of the taxpayer’s dollars. A mediator brought both sides to the table on Thursday night and in short order a deal was reached.
And while teachers and board members are happy with the agreement the real winners are the students who can now trudge off to school uninterrupted and without the threat and talk of a work stoppage. Again, a huge sigh of relief is in order for all of us.
While details of the agreement will not be released until after teachers vote and the school board ratifies the contract it appears from what we have been able to gather from parties on both sides of this issue that both sides gave a little ground and a compromise was reached.
Given the nature of politics these days, the key word in that previous sentence is ‘compromise.’
Wouldn’t it be great if that word ‘compromise’ – along with the restraint, level-headed thinking, patience and willingness to work together that was found in tiny Ewing this week would make its way to Springfield and Washington, D.C? Clearly, we would all be much better off if it would.
A tip of the hat from franklincounty-news.com to all those involved on both sides of the fence for seeing this delicate issue through to a happy and successful resolution!
