Union suspends strike; school to start Thursday in Seattle
Source: Seattle Times
By Paige Cornwell, Walker Orenstein
After four months of negotiations, a five-day strike and one final all-night talk, the Seattle teachers union and Seattle Public Schools reached a tentative contract agreement early Tuesday, and school is scheduled to start Thursday for the citys 53,000 students.
The Seattle Education Associations board of directors and its elected building representatives both voted Tuesday afternoon to suspend the strike, recommending the unions membership approve the deal. The agreement will go to a full vote of the unions 5,000 members at a Sunday meeting.
The building-representative vote came after hours of deliberation, where cheers and fervent discussion could be heard outside a packed room at the Machinists Hall in South Seattle.
Union bargaining chair Phyllis Campano, exhausted after one hour of sleep after the marathon negotiation session, declared victory.
FULL story & more photos at link.
Teachers-union bargaining chair Phyllis Campano speaks Tuesday evening about the tentative deal between the union and district. It was a long day for negotiators, who reached the agreement after... (Dean Rutz/The Seattle Times)
Read more: http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/seattle-teachers-and-district-reach-tentative-agreement/