Teachers strike enters 2nd week; negotiations still ongoing
By WCCO Staff
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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Minneapolis teachers strike entered its second week Monday, and still no resolution appears in sight.
In the morning hours, picketers gathered at the district education center in north Minneapolis. With teachers off the job, that means thousands of Minneapolis students remain out of the classroom.
Union members are asking the district for class size caps, more mental health support for students, livable wages, and competitive salaries.
Meanwhile, the district says it doesn’t have the money to give union members what they want. The latest proposals by the district show the two sides are tens of millions of dollars apart on salary, although the union disputes that.
“The gap really isn’t that big,” said Greta Callahan, of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers. “Our sticking point has not been salary right now, that’s not where we are standing, and that’s what they want to make it about.”
Kimberly Caprini, the treasurer for the Minneapolis Board of Education, says the district has reached its financial limit. Any further permanent spending, she said, “would not be responsible.”
The union says the main problem with the ongoing negotiations is that they want an agreement in more permanent contract language instead of temporary memoranda. The district says it has agreed to some class size caps in contract language.
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