PALMER -- The union representing hundreds of teachers in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District has voted to authorize a strike.
The Mat-Su Education Association announced Monday morning that 85% of eligible members voted in favor. Teachers voted last week. The results were certified by the Anchorage League of Women Voters.
The authorization doesn’t mean a strike will occur, but instead gives the union the legal authority to strike if a settlement isn’t reached with the district bargaining team, union officials say. The union must give the district 72 hours' notice prior to a strike.
The union and district bargaining teams are still in negotiations, which resumed Monday morning.
The district had no comment Monday, a spokeswoman said.
The union represents roughly 1,200 certified employees in 44 schools. Teachers in Mat-Su have been working on an expired contract for more than 18 months as negotiations on a new contract continue.
The union says its employees are paid less than Anchorage and Fairbanks counterparts yet teach in the most crowded classrooms with the lowest teacher-student ratios in the state.
The contract negotiations started in March 2019 and are stalled on three major issues. The union wants the contract and pay increases to begin retroactively in the 2019-20 school year, while the district is instead offering a one-time bonus to make up for that time period. The parties have also proposed different yearly percentage pay increases for teachers, and the district aims to include in the contract language the ability for it to seek a new health insurance provider.
The soonest a strike could occur is next month, union officials have said.
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Mat-Su teachers vote to approve strike as negotiations with school district continue - Anchorage Daily News
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