Minneapolis teachers set to vote this week on strike authorization

Minneapolis Federation of Teachers members will vote Thursday and Friday on whether to authorize a possible strike. The move comes after the union and district failed to reach a contract agreement after an 18-hour mediated negotiating session.

Educators in the district have been without a contract since last summer. In a statement Wednesday, the union said its negotiators and the district are “not light years apart” but that “after our mediation sessions, we expected some sort of movement on pay.”

The district’s current offer “is below the state average and will only set us further behind surrounding districts,” the union said, adding that members would likely reject it in a vote.

Minneapolis school officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike authorization vote.

The district is currently facing a more than $100 million budget deficit and has warned that music teachers, nurses, custodians, content experts, information technology workers, athletics, transportation and special education positions are all facing cuts.

St. Paul teachers in March authorized a strike in March as negotiations continued on a new contract. That union and the St. Paul school district came to agreement before a walkout happened.

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