St. Paul Public Schools food-service workers took the first step toward a possible labor strike Monday, one week after the school district promised to raise hourly wages to at least $15 by 2020.
As negotiations over their expired contract have dragged on, union members have taken their demands for a living wage directly to the school board by demonstrating at the start of the board’s monthly meetings.
The school district says it is focused on raising wages for its lowest-paid employees but can’t afford what the nutrition staff has proposed.
Earlier this year, the district agreed to a contract with teaching assistants that will raise their base pay to at least $15 an hour by next school year.
“We think that folks in nutrition services should be afforded the same opportunity,” said Brian Aldes, secretary-treasurer and principal officer for Teamsters Local 320.
About 110 of the district’s 284 nutrition workers make less than $15 an hour. Pay for nutrition assistants starts at $11.66 and for supervisors, $14.26.
Aldes said 92 percent of members voted Monday to authorize a strike. In order to actually strike, the union would have to file an intent with the state Bureau of Mediation Services, then wait at least 10 days.
“Our goal is not to put people out on strike. The goal is to reach a fair and equitable settlement,” Aldes said.
The next mediation session is scheduled for Oct. 24.
“We’re hopeful a deal can be reached before a strike happens,” Jim Vollmer, assistant director of employee and labor relations, said in a prepared statement.
The school district served about 8 million meals last school year, including breakfast, lunch and supper, plus more than a million snacks. The federal government covers the full meal cost for about 80 percent of students.
Meals and snacks would continue to be served in the event of a strike, the district said Tuesday, but students would get cold box lunches instead of hot meals. Choice bars, catering and special menus that use local ingredients would be put on hold, but special dietary needs, such as gluten-free, would be accommodated.
“The threat of a strike provides uncertainty for students and their families who rely on SPPS meal options. The district is fully prepared to continue serving meals to all its students. An action team is in place to address reduced staffing in the event of a strike,” the district said in a news release Tuesday.
School district leaders last week released a set of guiding principles for contract negotiations, asserting they will not reach labor agreements they can’t afford. It would cost the district about $350,000 a year to move to a $15 hourly wage now, officials have said.
“Saint Paul Public Schools will not commit to a contract that we cannot reliably fund into the future,” the district said of the food-service contract Tuesday.
The union says the district has enough money in its food-service reserve to increase wages.
During the 2015-16 school year, the most recent to be audited, the food-service fund brought in $2.05 million more than it spent. For 2016-17, that figure was projected to be $800,000, according to a June report to the school board.
If the workers do strike, the union says employees will have access to a $150 million International Brotherhood of Teamsters strike fund and a local Teamsters-run food shelf.