East Providence lawyer to be appointed mediator in teacher union’s stalled contract talks with city

WOONSOCKET — The president of the Woonsocket Teachers Guild says he is expecting East Providence lawyer Frederic Marzilli to be appointed as mediator in the union’s stalled contract talks with the city.

WTG President Jeffrey Partington said he and Charles Ruggerio, lead negotiator for the city’s team, have both agreed to accept Marzilli as the mediator, but they are awaiting an official appointment letter from the state Department of Labor and Training.

Marzilli’s name was one of approximately 15 that DLT offered to the two sides as possible mediators after School Committee Chairman Soren Seale requested an appointment from DLT early this month. Partington said he and Ruggerio traded several e-mails before settling on Marzilli as a mutually agreeable choice.

The request for a mediator came after the union declared an impasse in contract talks on Aug. 24. Teachers returned to school about a week later without a contract for the first time in about 30 years.

Wages are the sole issue upon which the talks broke down, but Partington says he is hopeful the appointment of a mediator will enable the two sides to bridge the gap.

“I’ve always believed that reasonable people can sit down in a room and come to a reasonable conclusion,” the union president said. “If it takes a mediator...that’s fine.”

The two sides met for collective bargaining 16 times since April before the talks were suspended. A short time later, the WTG advised mem- bers to work to rule, which generally means they’re performing only the duties explicitly required in their contract. They’ve sharply curtailed most uncompensated chores that take place before and after the normal school day.

The WTG ruled out a strike some time ago, but members have engaged in informational picketing at least once, staging a demonstration outside a campaign fundraiser for Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt at River Falls.

Neither side has divulged the monetary terms in play, but the union has made no secret of its contention that a salary hike is overdue. Portraying city teachers as the lowest-paid in the state, the WTG says members have received one raise of just 2 percent since 2012 – during the final year of its last contract, which expired on June 30. Before that, the WTG’s last salary hike was in 2009.

Union members say they agreed to a pay freeze in all but the final year of a five-year pact it negotiated with the Budget Commission in 2012 in a spirit of sacrifice. The commission was appointed by the state to prevent the city from lapsing into bankruptcy, but the WTG argues that the city has recovered financially and can afford to pay teachers more now.

The response from the city has been less vocal, but members have pointed out that its negotiating positions reflect “fiscal realities” that the city still faces.

Ruggerio, the lead negotiator for the city, couldn’t be reached for comment on this story. Follow Russ Olivo on Twitter @russolivo