South Burlington teachers voted Tuesday afternoon to strike if a contract agreement isn’t reached by next Tuesday, Oct. 14. Health care and salaries are the primary sticking points in negotiations.
A press release from the South Burlington Education Association, associated with the Vermont chapter of the National Education Association, criticized school board members for “walking out” of negotiations Monday evening.
Eric Stone, the union’s chief negotiator, stated that South Burlington is the only district in Chittenden County that’s yet to reach a contract.
“They had a great opportunity to reach a settlement with us last night, when we came prepared to bargain through the night,” Stone said in the release. “Instead, the board walked out after saying they were unprepared to respond to our latest offer.”
In a statement dated Tuesday, the school board said the union’s latest offer was the first it had received since June. The statement said members would prepare a response by the end of the week.
Teachers have been working without a contract since the summer, according to SBEA. Their vote to authorize a strike came during a members-only meeting earlier Tuesday afternoon, held at the Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School. Teachers also are holding informational pickets today and Thursday this week.
According to the school board, the union’s Monday offer would have preserved teachers’ current health care plans and provided salary increases over the next three years, for added costs of more than $2.7 million.
“The union provided no ideas to offset the incremental cost to the District of preserving the current healthcare plan, which is expected to exceed $792,000,” the board’s statement said. According to the board, South Burlington teacher salaries average $75,000, plus $18,000 in health care benefits.
In addition to disagreements about compensation, Stone took issue with the board for refusing to agree to the union’s request for mediation services to help settle the contract dispute.
SBEA represents about 200 teachers in South Burlington.
