A Common Pleas Court judge Monday granted the
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers' request for a preliminary injunction to
halt the School Reform Commission's plans to impose changes to teachers'
health-care benefits.
After hearing nearly four hours of testimony, Judge Nina
Wright Padilla issued the short order from the bench without elaborating.
Her ruling prevents the SRC - at least for now - from
implementing the broad changes it approved when it voted Oct. 6 to cancel the
PFT contract and require union members to contributed to the cost of their
health-care premiums beginning in December.
The PFT had asked for the injunction to maintain the
status quo while the courts took up the larger issue of whether the SRC had the
legal authority to do what it did.
"The judge's decision - we're pleased with it,"
PFT President Jerry Jordan said moments after the judge issued the order.
"We hope it will end here, but we're pretty sure it won't."
District spokesman Fernando Gallard said the SRC will
appeal to Commonwealth Court.
"We expect this to be just one of many legal steps
we will have to take. We are now moving on to the next," he said.
Source: Philly.com
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