The St. Paul Federation of Educators plans to strike on March 8 if it doesn’t reach agreement with the school district on a new two-year contract.
“As we have said before, we do not take the decision to strike lightly, but strongly feel that this action is necessary if we hope to build the schools that our students deserve and the profession our educators deserve,” the teachers union said in an email to members Wednesday morning.
The union represents around 4,000 teachers, educational assistants and school and community service professionals.
Negotiators met in mediation on Tuesday but “did not reach any tentative agreements and made little progress on resolving differences,” the district’s human resources director, Kenyatta McCarty, said in a letter on the district’s website.
The union said the district “made very little movement in their proposals” Tuesday, and there have been no agreements on the union’s top three priorities.
More mediation sessions are scheduled for Friday, Monday and later next week.
Key issues include wages, class-size limits and language that requires the district to employ certain staffers to provide mental health support.
The district has offered the union $9 million in spending increases, which is enough to pay for consecutive 1.5 percent increases to the salary schedules this school year and next. The union’s proposals would cost over $60 million, McCarty said.
“The District cannot spend money it doesn’t have, and a strike won’t change that basic fact,” she said.
Last week, 78 percent of voting union members voted to authorize a strike. Union leaders filed a notice of intent to strike on Wednesday, starting the clock on a 10-day cooling off period before they may strike.
By waiting till March 8, the union would ensure that all district schools will have been open for at least one day of classes in March, which means striking employees will maintain their health insurance for the month.
The second strike in the teachers union’s history, in 2020, lasted three days and resulted in the cancellation of four days of school.