Wattsburg Teachers Could Strike
A teacher strike in the Wattsburg School District could be just days away, but it appears both sides are going to attempt to come to an agreement in a last ditch effort. Teacher mediators along with members of the Wattsburg school board will meet Tuesday night, but a strike is planned for Wednesday if they're not able to come to a tentative agreement before that. Wattsburg School District teachers have been working without a contract now since August 16th. Negotiations for the new contracts were supposed to begin in January, however the school district pushed those back until May.
Two major issues surrounding the negotiations are salary and health care. District officials presented educators with a revised agreement late last week. According to PSEA representative Marcus Schlegel, the school board has come back with lower increases in wages than they've offered before. Also they're demanding higher insurance co-pays and premiums than previously offered. At this point in time, Schlegel says he's not optimistic about the outcome of Tuesday night's negotiation meeting.
