Teachers in Seattle will vote Tuesday on whether to authorize a strike after contract negotiations between their union and Seattle Public Schools failed to produce a deal over teacher pay.þþIn social media posts over the weekend, the state’s largest school district and the Seattle Education Association, which represents teachers and other school staff, announced their negotiating teams couldn’t reach an agreement Saturday during their last scheduled meeting. The union’s bylaws require that members have at least 72 hours to review any tentative deal on a new contract before voting to approve it.þþBut without a deal in place, the union instead will ask members to authorize a strike when it holds a general meeting Tuesday evening.þþLate Monday, a smaller group of union members who represent individual school buildings voted unanimously to recommend the general membership vote to authorize a strike, “if a tentative agreement is not reached by start of school,” the union announced on Twitter.þþThe planned vote on Tuesday and prolonged negotiations come on the eve of new district Superintendent Denise Juneau’s first school year, with classes scheduled to resume Sept. 5. Juneau did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday evening, but she told The Seattle Times this past month that she was “hopeful that (negotiations are) going to be successful.”þþIn a statement sent to The Seattle Times on Monday evening, the district said it had been informed of the vote and remains optimistic that schools will start on time.
Source: Seattle Times
