Minneapolis Public Schools and the union representing teachers have reached a tentative contract agreement, avoiding a strike authorization vote that had been scheduled for Thursday and Friday. However, the vote is still on for support staff in the district, who negotiate a separate contract from the teachers.
Minneapolis public schools and teachers reach tentative contract agreement to avert potential strike
Details will be released after teachers vote to ratify the agreement, district officials said. The district’s support staff is negotiating separately from the teachers.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
April 25, 2024 at 4:21PM
The news of the agreement between the district and the teachers chapter of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers came early Thursday after a long bargaining session that started Wednesday night.
“As we keep our students at the center, we worked together to reach an agreement that honors the hard work of our licensed staff and recognizes our budgetary constraints. We look forward to continued partnership,” Superintendent Lisa Sayles-Adams said in a statement.
No details of the agreement were released and they won’t be until union membership ratifies the deal, the statement from the district said.
Union members were seeking higher wages.
Teachers had been working for nearly a year after the most recent contract expired. Teachers and support staff last went on strike in 2022 when they walked off the job for three weeks.
“We worked together collaboratively in service to the students of Minneapolis Public Schools and reached an agreement that we are both proud of,” said Greta Callahan,president of the union’s teacher chapter, in a statement. “Our time today was incredibly productive, and we believe it is a new day for MPS.”
The results of the strike authorization vote for the educational support professionals — who are also pushing for higher wages — will be announced Saturday. If members authorize a strike, a walkout isn’t inevitable. 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.
The union’s educational support professionals chapter has another mediation session with the district set for May 1.
“We’re happy for our teacher colleagues, but our negotiations with the district are going too slowly,” Catina Taylor, president of the union’s educational support professionals chapter, said in a statement Thursday.
The governor said it may be 2027 or 2028 by the time the market catches up to demand.
