SALEM, Ore. — After close to a year of bargaining, Salem-Keizer teachers overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike Friday, with more than 94% of voting members voting in favor of a strike authorization. More than 99% of members in the union cast a vote.
"Today, Salem-Keizer educators have made it clear that they want our bargaining team to continue to fight for a contract that makes substantial improvements for students and educators in our neighborhood public schools," Tyler Scialo-Lakeberg, the president of the Salem-Keizer teachers union, said in a release.
For months, Scialo-Lakeberg has said that teachers do not want to go on strike but will do so if it leads to a better contract.
The biggest sticking point in contract negotiations is over teacher workload. Union leadership said the school district's proposal could decrease some full-time educator roles to part-time.
"Our district, with the FTE (full-time equivalency) language that they have proposed, and the way they have implemented it in the past, could have people working and being paid an hour or two less a day, but still teaching the same amount of classes," Scialo-Lakeberg said on Tuesday.
Scialo-Lakeberg said there are also concerns over class size, however the union has made concessions on that issue. The two sides are also close to reaching an agreement on teacher raises, which will likely be around 10% over the next two years, Scialo-Lakeberg said.
Salem-Keizer Public Schools released a short statement Friday afternoon in response to the authorization:
"The district is aware that the Salem-Keizer Education Association has announced the affirmative result of the strike vote. We know that a strike will cause lasting impact to our schools and community. The district is focused on reaching a fair and responsible contract for our licensed staff during mediation. The parties are working together, making progress and are looking forward to being back at the table on Monday."
In previous months, Superintendent Andrea Castañeda has disagreed with union leadership assertions over FTE and said the school district does not want to make teachers part-time employees.
Castañeda has also mentioned that due to budget restraints, the school district cannot meet union demands. Salem-Keizer is currently facing a $30 million budget shortage.
District officials said after bargaining on March 20, there was positive movement. The two sides will continue bargaining on Monday.
Scialo-Lakeberg said that if teachers do strike, it could happen in the first or second weeks of April.
If Salem-Keizer teachers do strike, it would mean that teachers in Oregon's two largest school districts both went on strike in the same year. Portland teachers were on strike for close to a month in November.
This is a developing story, and KGW will continue to update this as more information is available.