Minneapolis teachers union to vote on strike authorization

The union representing Minneapolis Public Schools teachers and education support professionals will ask its members to vote Thursday and Friday on whether to authorize a strike, allowing them to walk off the job if they can’t reach a contract agreement with the district.

If members authorize a strike, it’s not certain the walkout would happen. Union leaders would still need to decide that a strike is necessary, set a date for it and notify the district. State law requires the union to give the district at least 10 days’ notice before the first day of a strike.

According to a Minneapolis Federation of Teachers news release, the decision to take a strike vote came early Wednesday after an 18-hour negotiation session failed to produce tentative contract agreements. The union has been pushing for wage increases that leaders say will help stabilize staff turnover.

“In the negotiation session that began Tuesday and finished before dawn Wednesday, the district did not improve its salary offer since the two sides negotiated on April 4,” the release said. “This is unacceptable at a time when MPS is losing educators to other districts.”

The Minneapolis Public School district issued a statement Monday saying it “remains committed to reaching a tentative agreement with MFT as soon as possible.”

Over the past few months, district leaders have announced cuts — including the equivalent of more than 200 full-time jobs — to close a historic $115 million gap in next year’s budget, which was calculated based on salary offers made in contract bargaining in early March.

The district’s teachers and support staff have worked on an expired contract for 300 days. Minneapolis teachers and support staff went on strike for nearly three weeks in March 2022.