St. Cloud teachers to vote on contract

St. Cloud sign
St. Cloud sign
Tim Post/MPR Photo

Teachers in St. Cloud will vote on a new two-year contract today. Teachers in the central Minnesota city have been working without a contract since last summer.

Negotiations to hammer out a deal have been ongoing for more than a year.

The latest offer gives teachers a two percent raise in each of the next two years, and a seven percent increase in health benefits.

Union president Mary Broderick says while the deal is not perfect, she thinks the union's 750 teachers will accept it.

"I think we're positive this is the best deal we could bring them, I think it's time to get this thing done and get it behind us. We're not going to sugar coat this to our membership at all it's not the greatest contract in the world. But you know what, it never is. That's the way negotiations work," said Broderick.

Since the contract wasn't settled by a January 15th state mandated deadline, the St. Cloud School District faces a penalty of more than $250 thousand dollars.

St. Cloud is one of 14 Minnesota districts that has yet to ratify a new contract, according to the statewide teachers' union Education Minnesota.

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