Sumner Teachers Could Vote For Strike, Contract Expiring Aug. 31

SUMNER, WA - Members of the union representing teachers in the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District on Monday voted to authorize a strike vote if contract current negotiations don't go well. The Sumner Education Association's contract with the district expires Aug. 31.

Monday's vote does not mean a strike is imminent. The vote authorizes the union's bargaining team to call for a strike vote if necessary, according to SEA President Gabrielle Wright, who is a teacher at Bonney Lake High School.

"We have not had a strike vote yet, but it authorizes the team should they need to to call one," Wright said.

The bargaining process is headed in a positive direction, Wright said, although she could not go into specifics.

The SEA is trying to negotiate raises and other improvements for teachers. Last November, the state Legislature passed a budget that included more than $1 billion for teacher raises. That's the result of the McCleary decision, which ruled that the state must step up funding of public education. The state Supreme Court in June ruled that the Legislature had fulfilled the McCleary decision.

Teacher unions across Washington are negotiating with school districts over pay raises in the wake of the new money available from the state. Some districts are negotiating double-digit raises. Bellevue teachers, for example, will get a 17.3 percent increase this year. Teachers in the tiny Ocean Beach district will get a 21 percent increase, according to the Washington Education Association.

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