Teachers pack meeting as strike looms
Walkout set as school opens
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YOUNGSTOWN - A few hundred Youngstown Education Association members in red T-shirts attended Wednesday's Youngstown Board of Education meeting to show their solidarity and resolve in averting a possible teacher strike.
A strike could interrupt the start of the 2023-24 school year.
Among them was Eric Teutsch, YEA president, who made it clear he and other union members want to reach an agreement with the school district to avoid a strike that could start close to the first day of school, which is Aug. 23.
Teachers are supposed to report for work Tuesday.
"I don't think the community needs that," he said after the meeting, at which contract negotiations were not brought up during the regular session at Choffin Career and Technical Center.
Earlier this week, the union announced a 10-day strike notice to the district. The teachers' contract expired June 30.
Teutsch said that the YEA has been trying to "hammer out a deal" with the district for a new contract since early March and was critical of the board, saying it has failed to bargain in good faith with union members. A strike also would set a poor example for students and the community, he contended.
Teutsch noted that the core issues keeping the sides apart are working conditions and certain contract language more than wages.
Jim Courim, YEA spokesman, said that before Wednesday's board meeting, between 300 and 400 members of the 450-member union attended an informational session at Our Lady of Mount Carmel church. The consensus was a wish for both sides to return to the bargaining table and avert a work stoppage, he explained.
Late last month, Courim said that the union and district were far apart regarding wages.
Board President Tiffany Patterson said that the district is "willing and ready" to negotiate with the YEA for a fair contract.
In a statement released after Wednesday's meeting, the board contended that it has an "open door" to continue negotiations with the YEA. On the last day of mediation with the Federal Mediation Service, Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor offered additional dates for continuing with negotiations, the board stated.
Instead of following through on the offer, the union negotiating team declared an impasse, the statement contends.
"My team was not the team who left the table," Batchelor said. "The district is willing to meet with the union at any place or anytime to continue discussions for a new contract."
In addition, the district offered the union a 2 percent across-the-board raise while contrasting that amount with the 0 percent to 1.5 percent raises that other district nonunion employees are to receive, Batchelor contended.
The two sides have agreed, however, on a health insurance package, along with "several other provisions that helped modernize some of the school district administrative practices," he continued.
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