Catherwood LibraryILR School

Still working without a contract (see WIT for Feb. 15, 2002), and with negotiations with New York City once again stalled, members of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) are calling for the first city-wide teachers strike in thirty years. UFT officials have indicated that with much of the membership feeling that at this point a strike may be the only way to achieve a just contract, a strike vote could be held as early as this month. Despite heavy penalties for striking public-sector workers under state and city laws, the UFT plans to picket schools on April 15th and has promised a strike vote if a Public Employment Relations Board fact-finding report expected later this month does not bring the union and the city closer to a settlement.