Mat-Su teachers' union initiates strike vote

The Mat-Su Education Association warned two weeks ago that a strike vote could take place if negotiations for teacher contracts did not resume.  On Tuesday, the union made good on that statement.

For the last eighteen months, teachers in the district have been working without a new contract, as negotiations between MSEA and the school district have continued. The latest impasse arose after the district made and publicized what it termed a “last, best offer” to teachers in late August.  Dianne Schibe and the MSEA criticized the district’s negotiating team’s move, saying it amounted to walking away from the table.  Since then, both the union and the school district have issued press releases and statements outlining their positions as negotiations remain stalled.

If the membership agrees to strike, it’s unclear what that would mean.  Mat-Su Education Association President Dianne Schibe says the current situation is unprecedented in the borough.

“We’ve never had a strike, and of course the pandemic changes everything, so I’m not sure what the day-to-day is going to look like.”

Tuesday morning, Mat-Su School District Superintendent Randy Traini spoke with Big Cabbage Radio’s Emily Forstner.  He laid out the district’s case. One major point he makes is that revenues are anticipated to drop in coming years. On Tuesday, Traini was asked when negotiations might resume between the district and the union.

“I’m not sure.  I know that that will happen because it has to, but I don’t think anything has been set up as for a time or anything like that.  We haven’t been approached by the union to meet again, and we haven’t approached them.”

Dianne Schibe disagrees with the superintendent’s claim.  She says MSEA has contacted the school board via email since the district’s last offer, and that she has personally appealed to the school board at public meetings to ask for a return to negotiations.

“Let’s settle this.  Come back to the table.  There’s absolutely no reason that they’re not sitting down with us, and if [Superintendent] Traini needs a personal invite, I will do that for him.”

MSEA members have three days to vote on whether to initiate a strike, after which, the League of Women Voters in Anchorage will take the final tally.