Penn Hills School District leaders warn of possible support staff union strike

Penn Hills School District officials are preparing parents for the possibility that the start of the school year is impacted by a potential support staff strike. 

The support staff union, the Penn Hills Education Support Professionals, represents a range of staff from teachers' aides to secretaries and nurses and authorized a strike last month. That doesn't guarantee a strike will happen, but gives union leadership the ability to institute one. 

"Do I want [school] to be pushed back? No, I want them to be in school," Ken Moses, a parent of a rising second-grader, told KDKA-TV on Thursday. 

But that could be the reality if the strike takes place. 

"With the day and the economy and everything like, I think they should be compensated," Moses said.

Annie Briscoe, an advocacy coordinator for the Pennsylvania State Education Association who works with the local union, told KDKA-TV members are trying to get a fair contract. 

"Our members care deeply about this school district, this community, and these kids. They do not want to go on strike, but they do have a very strong passion for making sure that they get a fair contract," Briscoe said. 

Asked where the union is in negotiations, she said it believed so strongly that a fair contract was within reach that it had set up times next week to bring a proposal to a vote. 

"We had all intentions of making sure that we could get a contract done within a matter of weeks here," Briscoe said. "But I think one thing that our members can't do is go backwards."

The district, she said, backed out of a tentative agreement that would have prevented them from paying substitutes they outsource more than those who work for the district and are part of the union.

"Our support staff, union members, our leaders feel like that's just not fair," Briscoe said 

They say the outsourced substitutes, which the district has been using more of, aren't as good as union members for multiple reasons. The union cares about quality, she said. Members are also at odds with the district over a 4 to 5 percent pay increase. 

"We're not talking about anything that's unreasonable," Briscoe said. "We're not talking about anything that is out of the financial ability of the district."

The district, in a statement to KDKA-TV, said its offer the union rejected included salary adjustments, adding it is committed to working collaboratively to reach a fair and sustainable agreement with the union. 

"They should go ahead and do what they need to do, negotiate," Moses said. "Hopefully they get a good contract, and we can get our kids in school."

The Penn Hills school board authorized the district to increase its financial offer to the union members, and it is awaiting a response, it said. The district told families on Thursday it is drawing up contingency plans to minimize disruptions.

KDKA-TV reached out to the district's lawyer to see if they would speak on-camera or provide an additional statement, and we did not hear back on Thursday.