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The Catholic teachers’ strike has entered its second week. Yesterday morning, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced that all 22 of its high schools would be closed. No announcement had been made at press time regarding tomorrow’s classes.
Negotiating teams from the archdiocese and the Association of Catholic Teachers Local 1776 are scheduled to meet today at 3 p.m. In the meantime, neither side is speaking publicly about the contract talks.
The Church released a statement yesterday that said, "Because the talks have reached a critical juncture, by mutual agreement with the union, we will not be making any comment until further notice."
The two sides met Tuesday for almost 12 hours, concluding the meeting shortly before midnight.
In a letter written by ACT president Rita Schwartz on Tuesday and posted on the union’s Web site, the labor leader said ACT’s executive board unanimously rejected the archdiocese’s latest contract offer.
"Although progress has been made in the area of medical benefits, caps on the maximum amount of co-pays have not been agreed upon," Schwartz wrote. "The [archdiocese] salary offer continues to be unacceptable."
The union briefed its representatives Tuesday and passed along information to teachers on the picket lines.
Catholic League sporting events continue to be canceled during the strike. The archdiocese has said once a contract is in place, athletic directors will meet and produce a new schedule.
The last Catholic teachers’ strike took place in 1997 and lasted 10 days.
For the latest information, parents and students can log onto www.archdiocese-phl.org and click on "teacher contract negotiations."
