Unions and School District Work to Avert Strike
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
With less than a week to go before Pulaski County schools are scheduled to open their doors, a big question hangs in the balance: will the district be able to iron out its differences with teachers and support staff?
Sandy Hawkins leads the charge for PASS, the Pulaski Association of Support Staff. "We want the schools to open," she says. "We don`t want to take job-action, but it`s out there if we need to." Hawkins says the district needs to raise workers` pay and expand insurance coverage.
Assistant Superintendent James Sharpe says he`s hopeful a compromise will be reached, but he says it could come in the last hour. "Sometimes it comes down to the final moment before deals are cut," he says. "Before you reach a final settlement."
Monday night, hundreds of support staff workers met to discuss their options. They say if no agreement is reached by the start of school next Monday, they will go on strike. Before that could happen, they`ll be meeting this Saturday for an emergency meeting.
