Teachers Strike To Begin Wednesday In Cleveland Heights

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — The Cleveland Heights Teachers Union will begin its strike on Wednesday.

The union, which is made up of educators in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Schools, announced their intention to strike last week. On Wednesday, every school in the district will have a picket line manned by 10 teachers. There will also be a car caravan at each school, according to Union President Karen Rego.

Rego said the union is following recommendations from the Cuyahoga County Board of Health on how to proceed with the strike. She said the picket lines will move forward, regardless of weather.

A major snowstorm is expected to hit Northeast Ohio on Monday evening and linger in the region through Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

The union is striking due to stalled negotiations with the Heights Schools. Rego and union officials said the district has not negotiated in good faith — the district denies those allegations.

The crux of the disagreement is health care for the union workers. The district said it needs to create a "fiscally responsible" plan, while union leaders said their counter-proposals have been ignored.

The district said the union's proposals would cost the school system somewhere between $1 million and $1.75 million per year.

"That proposal only exacerbates the District's grim financial reality and was rejected," the district said in a statement.

The union said its offers to the district have been fiscally fair.

"We would never make an offer the board couldn't afford. After many hours of negotiating and the Boards refusal to move we were left with no choice but to strike," Rego told Patch.