St. Louis teachers consider strike

ST. LOUIS -- Public school teachers in St. Louis expect to vote Wednesday on whether to strike.

Union leaders say salaries and the number of hours teachers must work are among the issues that need to be resolved. The school district, however, argued it has offered teachers a fair contract.

The executive board of Local 420 of the American Federation of Teachers would need approval from two-thirds of the membership to set a strike date, local president Mary Armstrong said.

Missouri law bars teachers from striking, but the repercussions are unclear. Missouri statutes don't specify a penalty for striking teachers.

On Dec. 1, the school board voted to implement a new work arrangement for teachers, with or without the union's approval.

The deal boosts most teachers' salaries over a four-year period but also increases the number of days and hours that teachers will spend on the job.

The new salary schedule, which is based on projections for salaries at the five other districts, is expected to cost the district $22 million over the next four years. The goal is to provide a series of salary increases that will place the district's teachers on par with their suburban counterparts by the 2007-2008 school year.

A teacher who started this year with a bachelor's degree and earns $31,200 currently would get a raise of nearly $8,000 over the four-year contract.

"For the first time, the district is really hitting the parity issue head-on," said District attorney Ken Brostron.

But Armstrong said more experienced teachers won't benefit as much as less experienced teachers.

Armstrong said that the union sacrificed its sick-day system and salary increases last year to help the district balance a budget with a $72 million deficit. But the district reneged this year on some of what the union gained in return for its sacrifices, benefits such as binding arbitration for grievances, Armstrong said.

Union officials in St. Louis said in recent days they won't back down, despite the potential consequences.

"Do you think I would like going to jail? I wouldn't," Armstrong said, referring to the arrests of union leaders who have headed previous strikes. "But I will if I have to, because our cause is just."

Brostron said the district could take legal action if teachers decide to strike. The district also could take disciplinary action against teachers who violate the board's no-strike policy, he said.

Mark Van Zandt, a lawyer for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, said school districts may have the legal grounds to fire teachers who strike. But he said districts are unlikely to do so because of the burden of finding replacements.

Van Zandt said class time lost during a strike would have to be made up.

St. Louis' three previous teacher strikes led the courts to order teachers to return to the classroom.

The city's union teachers held a strike in 1973 that ran for 28 days. In that case, a judge fined the union $680,000 for disobeying an order to return to work. The union's longest strike lasted 56 days in 1979, and the most recent strike pushed back the start of school by four days in 1983.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch