The Penns Manor Education Association has announced that their membership authorized a strike over the contract negotiations that have been going on over the past few months.
The contract between the school district and the PMEA expired July 31st of this year. In a statement released from the PMEA, the two sides continue to hold negotiation sessions, but “the Association is within their right to call for a strike since they are working beyond the expiration of their contract.” The strike authorization vote was held on November 10th, and while the union is authorized to strike, it does not mean that a strike will be held.
Association President and Chief Negotiator Todd Shobert said that the goal is to not let it come to a strike, but to get a contract that’s fair for the teachers and the community. One of the sticking points has been raises for teachers, which according to Shobert, have not been seen in seven of the last 10 years. That point was disputed by the district in their own statement, saying that raises have been seen in six of the last ten years, and each raise was negotiated and agreed upon by the PMEA and the District.
The latest negotiation session was held last night. The district says the next negotiating session will be held on Monday, December 12th. Formal negotiations have been going on since mid-July.
Both statements can be viewed through the links below:
PMASD response – November 18, 2022
PMEA 11-10-22 strike authorization statement
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