Photos: UNO Teachers Picket As They Inch Closer To A Strike

By aaroncynic in News on Oct 13, 2016 8:08PM

Teachers within the UNO charter school network picketed the network’s headquarters Thursday afternoon as a potential strike could begin as early as next week if a contract agreement isn’t reached.

Representatives with the United Educators of UNO have been bargaining with the charter network for the past seven months and union members voted overwhelmingly in favor of striking last week. Should they walk out next week, it would be the first time in history charter school teachers went on strike.

“Up until about two weeks ago, management had a total lack of urgency. Since the strike vote, they’ve gotten more of a sense of urgency and know the pressure is on,” said Erica Stewart, a 5th grade teacher at Sandra Cisneros spokesperson for the UEU.

Representatives from the union say management is demanding concessions that threaten the economic security of teachers as well as classroom conditions. Additionally, the UEU says that the network’s priorities are skewed.

“UNO budgets $1.5 million per year to compensate its top management -- and has announced no cuts to compensation for management -- eliminated dozens of positions in August of 2016 for direct services in its classrooms,” said the UEU in a Thursday morning press release.

“This is about quality education for our students. We asked for the status quo of 32 kids per classroom to maintain and frankly that’s a lot. They’re asking to have more,” said Stewart.

“We value our teachers and want to ensure they are fairly compensated, but have to do so in a way that allows us to continue providing the quality education that UCSN is known for and that our students deserve,” said the network in a statement on Sept. 30.