SAINT LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - Teachers for St. Louis Catholic schools met on the steps of The Cathedral Basilica Sunday to pray for resolution in their contract dispute. Monday, Catholic high school students rallied to voice their support.
Teachers overwhelmingly rejected the Archdiocese's latest offer on March 10. In a statement sent to KMOX News, Kathryn Williams-Heese President of the St. Louis Archdiocesan Teacher Association says the Archdiocese is "forcing" teachers to sign at-will contracts this week, in advance of a meeting later this week. Williams-Heese says the union has requested an extension of this deadline as a sign of good faith.
Here is the statement:
SLATA and the teachers want to negotiate a fair and just Labor Contract. We can't do this alone.
For over 50 years, the Union and the Archdiocese have had a relationship based on mutual respect, something you would think is a no-brainer for the Catholic Church. Not this year. We do not understand the anti-union position of the Archdiocese especially in view of the fact that Archdiocesan teachers taught live in our schools throughout the pandemic and that many Archdiocesan teachers have dedicated their lives to teaching and literally taught thousands of people living and working in St Louis (many of them now active union members for various industries and trades in the area.)
The teachers overwhelmingly rejected the Archdiocese's offer on March 10. We immediately contacted the Archdiocese about returning to negotiations, something our members directed us to do. It is almost 3 weeks later and the earliest the Archdiocese has agreed to meet with us is March 30. However, the Archdiocese is forcing teachers to sign at will contracts as early as tomorrow March 29. We have requested an extension of this deadline as a sign of good faith, but the Archdiocese has not yet responded.
The Archdiocesan teachers represented by SLATA would like to say to the parents and to our students about the need to call out sick: "The teachers want to be with our students; we want to teach in our schools. But one of the primary lessons we teach students is treating everyone with dignity and respect. Due to the actions by their employer, the Archdiocese and ultimately Archbishop Rozanski, your teachers have not been afforded this dignity and respect. We areextremely concerned about the position of the Archdiocese which is so contrary to Church teaching on social justice and workers’ rights.
KMOX News has reached out to the Archdiocese for comment. Some teachers called in sick, leading to closure of several St. Louis Catholic high schools Monday.
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