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VINDY EXCLUSIVE | Poland teachers authorize 10-day strike notice
POLAND
The Poland Education Association voted unanimously to authorize its bargaining team to issue a 10-day notice of intent to strike when it deems necessary.
The bargaining team has not issued a 10-day notice but now has the authority to do so.
Poland teachers are working in their eighth week without a contract and are in mediation.
During negotiations, Poland administration offered teachers zero percent raises for the duration of their next three-year contract, a source told The Vindicator.
“It’s insulting,” the source said.
The teachers’ last agreement from 2016 to 2018 gave educators a 1 percent raise each year of a two-year contract. It also stipulated that teachers contribute 10 percent of all health care costs in 2016-17, and 10.5 percent in 2017-18.
Under the terms of their previous three-year contract, teachers got a 0.5 percent raise for half of the first year; a 0.75 percent raise the second year; and a 0.5 percent raise the final year, bringing them to a collective 3.5 percent raise over the past five years. Before that, teachers were working under a salary freeze for two years.
Per the final year of the previous contract, teachers with a bachelor’s degree could have made between $35,298 and $70,243; master’s, between $39,534 and $76,597; doctorate, between $43,770 and $78,715.
Most recently, Campbell teachers negotiated a contract that gave them a 2 percent raises each year of a three-year contract.
When asked about the Poland schools administration’s contract offer, Superintendent David Janofa said he could not talk about negotiations.
A PEA spokeswoman said she also would not comment on the details of the negotiation process.
Although the union has authorized the bargaining team to issue the strike notice, it hopes the board of education will come back to the bargaining table, according to a union statement.
“We urge parents to attend the Oct. 22 board meeting at 6 p.m. at the Poland Township government building to urge the board to return to the table to negotiate a fair, equitable contract that would make a strike unnecessary,” the statement said.