The Albert Lea teachers’ union and the Albert Lea school board will meet again Oct. 6 with a mediator to work toward a resolution to the teachers’ contract.

The two groups will meet with mediator Josh Tilsen for the third time at 11 a.m. at Brookside Education Center. Because more than a month has passed, Tilsen said he hopes the two sides will bring fresh ideas as they try to reach an agreement on the contract.

Bill Villarreal, lead negotiator with the board, said the main unresolved issues are the 403(b) tax-sheltered annuities, the potential salary freeze and family medical leave.

“We’re hoping another shot at mediation or even the possibility of meeting without a mediator can help in getting it taken care of. We’re still hopeful,” said Villarreal.

The two groups last met Aug. 18, and Villarreal said no formal proposals were exchanged during the four hours of negotiations that day. He said much of the negotiations consisted of “what-if” scenarios.

Jim Munyer, president for the Albert Lea Education Association, the teachers’ union, said he’s hoping the two sides can reach a resolution.

He said he doesn’t know what to expect but declined to discuss the negotiations further.

The proposed salary freeze has made the current negotiations more difficult, Villarreal said.

After the Aug. 18 meeting, Villarreal said the two groups may have been further apart than when the meeting started. However, both sides are hopeful a compromise can be reached in future negotiations.

“I’m guessing that their side will be just like us. We don’t want to waste any more time. If we can’t come to a conclusion then we need to move on,” Villarreal said.

Moving on could include arbitration if the two sides aren’t able to come closer to an agreement. If that were to happen, both sides would need to agree to go to arbitration, and they’d need to agree on the type of arbitration.

“As long as we’re making progress, we’ll keep meeting with a mediator,” Villarreal said.