Mediator To Start School Talks

State MediaTor Robert Blackwell is scheduled to arrive in Ann Arbor at 10 a.m. tomorrow in an attempt to resolve the impasse in salary negotiations ' between the Ann Arbor Board of Education and the Ann Arbor Edueation Assocration (AAEA). Both Thomas W. Hill, negotiatpr for the Board of Edueation, and Harold Collins, president of the AAEA, indicated a news "blackout" will be mainjtained during the mediation process. Blackwell is expected lo remain at the bargaining table through Wednedsay r.nd perhaps longer. He is a veteran mediator from the State Labor Mediation Board who recently helped resolve the dispute between the Saline Board of Education and the Saline Education Association. A contract between the two sides was ratified last Thursday. . Hill said today long sessions are the "normal" thing during medration. The mediation talks are usually "very intense," hel said, and often go around-theclock. Hill said he is hopeful the sessions will produce "an agreement to start school." Collins said he is "not overly optimistic" the mediation sessions will break the deadlock, but he hopes a "salary settlement will be reached" as a resull of thehiteri'entioohe ■■"1 hope the Board of Education has now come to the realization that excellent, professional salaries must be paid the Ann Arbor teachers," he added. James Scheu, executive secrelary of the AAEA, commented he hopes the Board of Education's negotiators w i 1 1 take a "reasonable attitude" toward salaries during the upcoming sessions. The job of a mediator is to iutervene in order to assist the parties in arriving at a settlement. His suggestions or recommendations are not binding. There is, in fact, no type of binding arbitration in teacher talks. A state mediator was jointly requested by bargainers for the AAEA and the school board I July 23 when it became evident the two sides were stalemated on economie issues. Steady progress has been reported on resolving non-economie issues, however. The main economie issues yet to be resolved are salary and fringe benefits for the 1968-69 school year for the Ann Arbor teachers. Negotiations b e g a n eignt months ago, but progress on economie issues has been very slow. The two sides are pres- ently about $800,000 apart. An agreementmustbe reached by late this month or early September if school is to start on schedule. Classes are slated to begin for high schooiers Sept. 5, for junior high students Sept. 9, and for elementarv school students Sept. 6.