Neshaminy School District Teachers Threaten To Strike Again
By Brad Segall
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) - Contract negotiations are scheduled to resume later this week in the Neshaminy School District in Bucks County amid a looming strike deadline set by the teachers.
The teachers walked off the job for eight days back in January and are now threatening to walk again Monday if there isn't significant progress during talks this Thursday. Neshaminy Federation of Teachers head Louise Boyd says the school board is asking for further concessions, leaving them no choice but to move toward another strike.
"Our membership voted to accept the arbiter's report with reservations and two days before we accepted the report the board had already rejected it 9-0."
The school year is scheduled to end June 15th, but a strike could push that back to the end of the month.
Boyd says the teachers are disheartened they don't have a contract, but says, "We're a very cohesive group. We're looking to end this sooner rather than later and right now the actions of the board give us no choice; really they give us no choice."
The 630-member union hasn't had a new deal in more than four years. The main sticking points continue to be wages and health care costs.
