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Members of the Philadelphia lecturers union voted to authorize a future strike Tuesday, flexing their political muscle tissues amid contract negotiations with the varsity district.
The Philadelphia Federation of Lecturers stated 94% p.c of members in attendance at a gathering Tuesday night voted to provide leaders the facility to name a strike if the union and the varsity district fail to succeed in an settlement by August when their contract expires.
The chance of a strike is unclear. But when PFT leaders do name a strike of their 14,000 members, it may disrupt the opening days of the brand new college yr. The 2025-26 college yr begins August 18 for workers and August 25 for college students.
The union and district return to the negotiating desk Wednesday. Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, stated in an e-mail Tuesday that district officers are “optimistic that we are going to attain an settlement on a successor collective bargaining settlement.”
PFT President Arthur Steinberg stated in a press release that the union already “has made progress towards an settlement that demonstrably improves members’ working situations.” However key calls for stay, particularly modifications that might deal with the district’s staffing scarcity “that has left lecturers, counselors, and different college workers juggling duties past their very own job descriptions.”
The district began the varsity yr with 347 instructor vacancies.
Tuesday’s vote indicators that the union is taking inventory of its political energy within the metropolis. It’s the PFT’s first strike authorization vote because the district regained native management from the state.
When the varsity district was below state management from 2001 to 2018, the PFT was barred from placing and lecturers went with out an lively contract for 5 years. In consequence, union management says instructor salaries have lagged, which has contributed to instructor churn.
The typical Philly classroom instructor wage in 2024-25 was $85,719, in response to information from the Pennsylvania Division of Schooling.
In February 2024, the union and district had been on good phrases. Each events agreed to a one-year contract extension that included raises and retention bonuses effectively earlier than the earlier contract’s expiration date in August 2024.
The district could have some further assets to supply — however not for a number of years. Mayor Cherelle Parker and members of Metropolis Council reached a price range settlement this month that might improve the district’s share of property tax income from 56% to 56.5% in 2030. Parker stated that improve will present a further $12 million per yr for instructor salaries.
Carly Sitrin is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Contact Carly at csitrin@chalkbeat.org.
