Local 51 union in Morgan Local School District issues 10-day strike notice

MCCONELSVILLE, Ohio (WTAP) - Members of the Local 51 union of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees filed a 10 day strike notice with the State Employment Relations Board (SERB) on February 17.

The union represents 100100 bus drivers, classroom aides, health aides, mechanics, maintenance workers, custodians, food service employees and secretaries in Morgan County.

Local 51 president, bus driver Tom Quaintance, told WTAP that the dispute is primarily over wages. “What they’re offering right now is not up to what is, according to SERBS, the current rates, Quaintance said. “We’re just looking to get a livable wage in this economic situation.”

A statement from the union noted that bus drivers in other districts in the region, including Fort Frye, Nelsonville, and Eastern Local, receive several dollars more per hour than bus drivers at the same level at Morgan Local.

Negotiations began in May of last year. Morgan said things started out well. “Beginning, the first meeting we had went fairly well,” Quaintance said. “Then when we got to the wages, that’s been the primary holdout right there. And it has been over the course of the period.”

Quaintance said that the superintendent has said the district doesn’t have the money to fund any pay raises. Despite this claim, Quaintance said, a new stadium is being built outside the high school, with funds that could go a long way toward supporting the staff.

Quantance said the strike notice was well supported within the Local 51 union. “We had 95% of the membership vote to authorize the strike, and that’s a pretty powerful message, I think. Because these people are underpaid for this area, even.”

The union hopes that an agreement will be reached before March 1st.