Teachers in Minneapolis, Robbinsdale schools staging contract-related protests Wednesday
MINNEAPOLIS — Educators in two Twin Cities school districts will be staging protests on Wednesday.
Teachers and education support professionals in Minneapolis Public Schools and Robbinsdale Area Public Schools want to bring attention to their respective contract woes.
Minneapolis walkout
Minneapolis Federation of Teachers members say there's a growing frustration with the pace of contract talks, and they've been working for seven months on expired contracts.
Union members tell WCCO they've met with the district in 10 different negotiation sessions.
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MFT is looking for 8.5% salary increase in the first year of their next contract and another 7.5% in the second. They say pay raises are vital to teacher retention.
Educators will walk out at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday outside Southwest High School. This is the first of potentially several walkouts in the district.
Robbinsdale demonstration
Leaders of Robbinsdale Area Public Schools are expected to meet privately Wednesday evening to discuss labor negotiation strategies.
In response, teachers and education assistants of the Robbinsdale Federation of Teachers union will gather outside to demonstrate.
Teachers are currently employed under expired contracts and they're frustrated. The school district is facing $17 million in budget cuts, and it paused contract negotiations just before winter break. Before that happened, there were still eight bargaining items on the table.
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RFT members tell WCCO $10 million in salaries and wages and another $3.1 million in benefits is expected to be cut.
Discussions between union members and the district are scheduled to start next month.
Union members will demonstrate Wednesday outside the Robbinsdale Area Schools Education Service Center in New Hope at 6:30 p.m. They hope to catch district leaders as they walk into the building for the meeting.
The district oversees schools in Robbinsdale and several other metro cities, including Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope and Plymouth.
WCCO has reached out to both districts for comment.
